Overview and Scrutiny Annual Review 2011 – 2012
Chairman’s Introduction
This is the eighth report by North Norfolk District Council’s Overview
and Scrutiny Committee, which gives an overview of the Committee’s
activities over the past year and its plans for the future as well as
explaining the aims and functions of Overview and Scrutiny.
This report covers the first year of the new Council that was elected in
May 2011. With a new Council administration in place it meant that
most members of the Committee were new to its work. For members of
the Committee who had previously served on the Council it often meant
a re adjustment in roles and for members of the Committee elected to
the Council for the first time a quick learning curve. The fact that the
Committee has quickly got to grips with the roles and responsibilities of
scrutiny is a credit to its members.
The Committee has a wide ranging brief over the Council's work. Its role has often been described
as that of a 'critical friend'. It has led the Committee in the past year, for example, to suggest
improvements (which were accepted) to the operation of the Council's new Big Society grant
funding programme, to ask searching questions on the implementation of the Council's new waste
collection and cleansing contract and to help bring together community representatives and the
Environment Agency over concerns arising from the flooding at Walcott in November 2011.
I should like to thank my Vice Chairman Cllr Barry Smith, Democratic Services Team Leader Mary
Howard and Democratic Services Officers Emma Denny and Alison Argent for their help and
support throughout the year.
Residents of the District are most welcome to attend any of the Committee's meeting so they can
learn more about the Council's work and how it is scrutinised. Members of the public are also
entitled to ask questions and make contributions. Several have done so during our meetings and I
hope this can be continued and developed in the future.
Councillor Eric Seward
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1. What is Scrutiny?
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee is the Council’s watchdog, ensuring that the
Cabinet is held to account and is carrying out the Council’s aims as well as getting the
best value for money as a result of its decisions. Originating from the Local
Government Act of 2000 Scrutiny Committees not only keep an eye on the Council but
can also review the work of other bodies such as the Police, our utility providers and
the voluntary sector.
The remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee also includes undertaking policy
review and development, monitoring performance management, promoting community
well-being and improving the quality of life in the District. Scrutiny is Member-led and
independent of political party arrangements. At North Norfolk District Council the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee is chaired by a member of the opposition. Scrutiny is
a function which belongs to, and benefits the whole council.
2. Who gets involved in Scrutiny?
a) The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee take a
pro-active role throughout the process, attending pre-Agenda meetings and steering
and scoping the direction of questioning and investigation. They attend, when
appropriate, meetings with relevant officers at other authorities or with other bodies,
and participate in internal and external training.
b) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee Members – Scrutiny is different from other
committees and calls for Members with investigative and creative minds who are
prepared to “do their homework” out of the Council Chamber and to think outside of
the usual committee framework, tailoring the method of review to suit the topic.
c) Cabinet Portfolio Members are always invited to attend meetings of Overview and
Scrutiny which involve their portfolio. The aim is that the Portfolio Member, as well
as the officers, should respond to questions and, where appropriate, introduce the
topic.
d) All non-Executive Members are invited to attend, to ask questions or to suggest
topics for scrutiny.
e) Officers are involved in a number of ways – those directly involved in supporting the
Scrutiny process and those who are called to make reports to the Committee.
f) Invitees and Witnesses can be called not just from within the Council, but from
partners and utilities providers.
g) The public are always welcome to attend meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee and to suggest areas of public concern that they would like to see
tackled by the Committee. A pro forma to request scrutiny of a topic can be found
on page 6.
3. Overview and Scrutiny Activities
Scrutiny activities include:
a) Scrutiny of Decisions made by Cabinet – Call-ins. The Overview and Scrutiny
Committee can “call in” a decision which has been made by the Cabinet but not yet
implemented. This enables the Committee to consider if the decision is appropriate
and it may recommend that the Cabinet reconsiders the decision.
b) Commenting on Budget Proposals – Budget Monitoring and Draft Budget reports
are cyclical items on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme.
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c) Pre - Scrutiny:
• Commenting on and making input into Corporate Priorities
• Contributing to the Development of Draft Policies
• Looking at key agenda items before they go to Cabinet.
Pre – Scrutiny enables greater co-ordination between the Cabinet and Scrutiny
work programmes ensuring Overview and Scrutiny Committee input into key
agenda items, thus reducing the likelihood of Call–ins.
d) Performance Monitoring – this is a regular cyclical item on the work programme.
Performance Monitoring reports are a useful tool in highlighting areas which may
require further investigation. They are equally important for showing areas of the
Council’s work which are going particularly well!
e) Reviews – the Overview and Scrutiny Committee may choose to look at a topic in
depth and over a period of time. This could be undertaken by the whole Committee
or by a Task and Finish Group.
4. The work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2011 - 2012
There have been a number of areas of work carried out by the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee over the year:
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Call-in and holding the Cabinet to account
Budget monitoring
Pre-scrutiny
Review work
Time limited task and finish review work
Joint Scrutiny
Minutes and reports of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings can be found
on the Council’s website via the link below:
http://www.northnorfolk.org/apps/committees/default.asp?pathh=Scrutiny%20Committee
a) Call-in
Members called-in one decision made by the Cabinet in 2011 – 2012. This was In
December 2011 and concerned the Cabinet’s decision relating to the Council’s
approach to Localism and the establishment of a Big Society Fund. As a result a
report on the Big Society Fund was brought to the Committee for pre-Scrutiny at a
special meeting on 31 January 2012 and a further report made to Cabinet and Full
Council in February 2012.
b) Budget Monitoring
Budget Monitoring reports were received in September and November 2011 and
February and March 2012. Reports have also been received on the Base Budget,
Final Accounts and Treasury Management.
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c) Pre-scrutiny
Pre-scrutiny in the year 2011/12 has included the Community Infrastructure Levy
and the Big Society Fund.
d) Review work
Reviews have included Affordable Housing, Development Management and Land
Charges Performance, Flooding at Walcott, Fuel Poverty and the Victory Housing
Disposal Strategy. Regular updates have been received on a number of topics of
relevance to local residents including environmental issues, health and customer
services. The Committee has also monitored the new waste contract and the
introduction of shared services for Revenues and Benefits.
e) Time limited task and finish review
In January 2012 a task and finish group was appointed by the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee to consider ways of increasing the effectiveness of the scrutiny
process at NNDC. This included sequencing of meetings, and improvements to the
work programme and methods for evaluating topics. This work should be completed
in autumn 2012. The Members of the Task and Finish Group are Mr P W Moore, Mr
R Reynolds, Mr B Smith and Mr G Williams.
f) Joint scrutiny
In September 2011 the Committee embarked on a joint scrutiny of public transport
with Broadland District Council. The Members from NNDC were Mr T FitzPatrick,
Ms V R Gay, Mrs B A McGoun and Mr R Reynolds. The work has been completed
and implementation of the final recommendations, grouped according to the themes
of Awareness, Lobbying and Funding, will be considered by the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee in Autumn 2012.
5. Successes and challenges
In 2011 – 12 the Overview and Scrutiny Committee began with an almost completely
new line-up, including a significant number of newly elected Members. That the new
Committee was up and running so quickly and is working well together is, in itself, a
success story and a tribute to the hard work and commitment of Members. A
successful and well-attended all-day induction event was delivered on 16 September
2011 by Dave Press of Affirm4 and was appreciated by Members.
Overview and Scrutiny has seen increasing public attendance in the last year – in
particular there has been interest, including public questions, in the Council’s Approach
to Localism and the Victory Housing Disposal Strategy.
On 25 January 2012 a review was held to address concerns following flooding at
Walcott in November 2011. This was attended by representatives from the
Environment Agency and the local community as well as the local Member and the
County Councillor for Walcott. As a result of this review a number of issues were
resolved and ways forward identified. This was a good example of scrutiny addressing
an issue of public concern and achieving a positive outcome.
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Challenges for 2012/13 include:
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Implementing the recommendations of the task and finish group to improve the
scheduling of meetings, methods of evaluating topics and getting the best out of
witnesses.
Building on public participation, taking scrutiny out into the community and
choosing topics that are of public concern and interest.
Monitoring performance against the Annual Action Plan.
Changes brought about by internal re-structuring at North Norfolk District
Council.
6. Members of the Committee 2011 – 2012
Councillors: Eric Seward – Chair, Barry Smith – Vice Chair
Annie Claussen-Reynolds, Ann Green, Benjamin Jarvis, Peter Moore, John PerryWarnes, Roy Reynolds, Norman Smith (since February 2012), Richard Smith, Peter
Terrington, Glyn Williams, Russell Wright (until February 2012)
7. How to get in touch with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Members of the public wishing to find out more about the scrutiny process are
requested to contact Democratic Services at democraticservices@north-norfolk.gov.uk
If you have any topic suggestions for scrutiny please use the form attached at the end
of this document.
If you would like this document in large print, audio, Braille, alternative
format or in a different language please contact democraticservices@northnorfolk.gov.uk
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Request form to raise an item for Scrutiny Review
Councillors should be asked to carry out the following scrutiny review:
Please give your reasons (continue on a separate sheet if necessary)
Name:
Address:
Daytime Tel No
Email:
Signature
Date
Please return this form to Democratic Services, Council Offices, Holt Road, Cromer,
NR27 9JW
Tel 01263 516047
Email: democraticservices@north-norfolk.gov.uk
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