Agenda item
Reports from the Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny Committees
To receive reports from the Chairs of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in accordance with Standing Order 41.
Minutes:
Councillor Kabir (Chair of Health Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee) reported on behalf of the chairs of the overview and scrutiny committees. She first reported from her own committee which had considered the results of the Brent GP patient survey for the final quarter of 2010/11. Councillor Kabir stated that this had been an important issue for the committee, as members were not convinced that Brent residents were getting the service from GPs they deserved. Satisfaction with GP access remained below both the London and national average and the emerging GP commissioning consortia in Brent had been asked to attend the next meeting of the committee to discuss the matter. The committee had received a presentation from North West London Hospitals and NHS Brent on plans to close the paediatric assessment unit at Central Middlesex Hospital. The unit had only been open since October 2010, but the majority of cases were seen at the Urgent Care Centre at the hospital, meaning that it was an underused service. Although the case for closing it appeared strong, the committee was concerned that this would result in no paediatric consultant cover at the hospital. As a result, members asked that the trust consult informally with service users, especially sickle cell patients, before a decision was made whether to go out to formal consultation on the proposal.
Councillor Kabir reported that she and the vice-chair of the committee had met with members of Brent’s Local Medical Committee (LMC). The LMC represents local GPs in discussions with NHS Brent and on issues connected to their services in the borough. She stated that she was keen for the Health Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be informed by as many relevant groups as possible and so was pleased to have formed a relationship with a group like the Brent LMC.
The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee had discussed a number of issues including services for children with learning and physical disabilities (which would be a standing item for the committee), the implications of the Government’s policy on academies, which included contributions from members of Brent’s Youth Parliament. Their views on this issue, based on their experiences in their own schools, had been extremely useful for the committee. The committee also discussed the final report of the Youth Offending Task Group, which was approved and would be submitted to the Executive.
The Partnership and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee had focussed on the performance of Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in Brent and the impact of the Localism Bill on registered providers. Representatives from Stadium Housing and Octavia housing had engaged with members on a number of issues including developing further family size housing provision, the impact of changes to housing benefit, the level of rent RSLs were able to charge, changes to tenancies and housing maintenance. The Committee had received a report on Ward Working May 2010–May 2011. Discussion had covered work undertaken on outreach, communications, partnerships, consultations and the projects on which ward budgets were spent. The Committee also received a presentation on partnership working in Brent. Members were keen to focus on recent partnership projects, in particular the intelligence hub, which would enable intelligence sharing with partners and Community Based Budgeting.
The Budget and Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee had reviewed the budget strategy 2012/13 to 2015/16. Members had explored issues relating to spending and resource assumptions, pensions and the capital programme. Members were also informed on the proposals in the local government resources review.
The One Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee had not met since the last Council meeting but was due to discuss the delivery of the Waste and Street Cleansing Review, council performance and receive an update on the Localism Bill.
Finally, Councillor Kabir reported on the ‘One Community Many Voices’ event the overview and scrutiny committee chairs would be hosting as part of Local Democracy Week. It was to take place on 10 October at 6.30pm at the Town Hall and would be an informal café style ‘speed dating’ event to allow participants to raise issues they would like overview and scrutiny to look at. All members were invited to join the event.