Agenda item

To receive reports from the Chairs of the Council’s Scrutiny Committees in accordance with Standing Order 36.  The reports have been attached as follows:

11.1    Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee

11.2    Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee

(Agenda republished to include Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee Chair’s Update report on 16 November 2022)

Members are asked to note that this session will include an opportunity (within the time available) for Non-Cabinet Members to ask questions of relevant Scrutiny Chair’s in relation to the remit of their Committees.

NOTED the update reports provided by the Chair of the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and Chair of the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee.

Before being presented with the updates from each Scrutiny Committee, the Mayor reminded members the time set aside for this item was 12 minutes, with each Chair having up to three minutes in which to highlight any significant issues arising from the work of their Committees.  Once these updates had been provided, the remaining time available would then be opened up for any other non-Cabinet members to question (without the need for advance notice) the Scrutiny Committee Chairs on matters relating to the work of their Committee.

Councillor Ketan Sheth was then invited to introduce the update report on the work being undertaken by the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, with the following issues highlighted:

·            Key issues considered at the previous Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee had included a review of the Council’s Early Help Strategy and Family Wellbeing Centres, with Brent recognised as being ahead of the national debate on Early Help with the introduction of its hub model of service delivery.  In addition, the Committee had reviewed the impact arising from implementation of potential changes to the services for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) including the High Needs Funding Block, as set out within a recently published Green Paper.  The Committee had been keen to focus these reviews on the outreach support being provided for the most vulnerable families as well as the engagement with key partners and associated funding impacts.

·            In terms of the North West London Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) the committee remained focussed on the emerging priorities of the newly established North West London Integrated Care System (ICS), with the previous meeting having included a review and made a number of recommendations in relation to the primary care strategy and performance across North West London.  In addition, the Committee had reviewed and made recommendations in relation to Accident and Emergency Pathways and London Ambulance Service Performance across North West London before receiving an update on the Community based specialised Palliative Care Improvement Programme and work streams being progressed by the North West London ICS with the ongoing importance in scrutiny continuing to work in partnership with the NHS to ensure the best outcomes were being delivered for local residents again highlighted.

·            As a further update, members were also advised of the first meeting of the four acute provider Trusts in North West London which Brent had been pleased to host, given Councillor Ketan Sheth’s role as Chair of the North West London JHOSC.  It was felt this provided further evidence of the increasing collaboration between acute Trusts across North West London as well as highlighting Brent’s ambition to contribute towards and support the vital role of the NHS across North West London.

·            As a final update, Councillor Ketan Sheth also highlighted the progress being made by the Task Group establishment by the Committee to explore and review the use of social prescribing in Brent along with their participation in the Scrutiny Budget Task Group.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Ketan Sheth for his update and then invited Councillor Conneely as chair of the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee to introduce the update report on the work being undertaken by that Committee.  The following issues were highlight as part of the update:

·            The broad ranging nature of the Scrutiny Committee’s ongoing work programme for 2022-23.  Key issues considered at the Committee’s previous meeting had included the Council’s community grants programmes, development of the emerging Borough Plan 2023-27, Safer Brent Annual Report 2021-22 along with an update on police engagement within Brent.

·            As part of the work undertaken at the previous meeting the Committee had been pleased to welcome a number of voluntary and community sector representatives and local residents in order to review their experience on delivery of the community grants and “You Decide” participatory budgeting programmes, with members keen to ensure the funding being awarded as a result were focussed and targeted to support residents and areas most in need in a way that was also representative of the borough’s demographics.  The review on development of the Borough Plan had focussed around the strategic priorities, with the Committee keen to ensure these were designed to not only reflect the current financial pressures on the Council but were more specific and measurable in terms of outcomes being sought, including a more prominent focus on climate action, and measures in place as part of the ongoing consultation and engagement process to secure as wide and representative a range of views as possible.

·            The Committee had also welcomed the engagement of the police in reviewing the effectiveness of ward Panels, with members keen to ensure that local ward councillors were better utilised as a means of increasing participation and engagement in the work of the Panels.

·            As a final update, members were advised of the progress being made in relation to the Budget Scrutiny Task Group.  It was noted that members  as part of the review had already recognised the impact of the challenging financial environment in which the Council was operating given the long-term reduction in Government funding, level of savings already achieved, current economic challenges and increasing complexity of demand for Council services on development of the budget proposals supporting the need for a fairer funding settlement by central government.

The Mayor thanked Councillors Ketan Sheth and Conneely for presenting their updates and it was RESOLVED that the contents of both reports be noted.

Following the updates provided, the Mayor advised that the remainder of time available would be open for questions from non-cabinet members to the Scrutiny Chair in attendance.  As no questions were raised the Mayor advised he would move straight on to the next item.