Overview and Scrutiny Committee 21 November 2012
Agenda Item No__14__
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY UPDATE
Summary:
Conclusions:
This report updates the Committee on progress with topics in its agreed work programme (attached at
Appendix A ) and invites Members to identify any arising items for future meetings. The Scrutiny
Committee’s working style and role is attached at
Appendix B .
That progress is being made in some areas, others need to be monitored and opportunities for scrutiny should be discussed.
That Members should consider any follow-up actions required on these topics.
Recommendations:
Cabinet Member(s)
Mr K E Johnson
Ward(s) affected
All
Contact Officer, telephone number and email:
1. Introduction
The Scrutiny Update report is a standing item on all Overview and Scrutiny
Committee agendas. The report updates Members on progress made with topics on its agreed work programme and provides additional information which Members may have requested at a previous meeting.
2. Progress on topics since the last meeting
2.1 Ambulances
A speaker from the East of England Ambulance Trust will be attending
Overview and Scrutiny on 21 November 2012. All Members have been invited to attend and submit questions in advance.
2.2 Figures from Joint Staff Consultative Committee
At the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 25 September
2012 a query was raised regarding a perceived discrepancy between sickness absence figures reported to Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny in
September and figures reported to the Joint Staff Consultative Committee
(JSCC) in the same month. An email from the Policy and Performance
Management Officer has addressed this query:
“The quarter 1 figure of 1.12 days sickness per FTE presented to
Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny is not the same as the figures

Overview and Scrutiny Committee 21 November 2012 presented to JSCC. The figures presented to JSCC were the total number of FTE days (288.71) and the average no. of staff (FTE) (254.17).
This gives a figure of 1.14 days per FTE. The slight difference (0.02) is due to the difference in the time that the figures were calculated and a slight difference in the method of calculation.”
2.3 Public Transport Task and Finish Group
As a result of receiving the final report on 23 October Members resolved to form a Task and Finish Group comprising the same Members who were on the Joint Time and Task Panel – Mr T FitzPatrick, Ms V R Gay, Mrs B A
McGoun and Mr R Reynolds. Support will be provided by the Coast and
Community Partnership Manager’s team.
2.4 Outside Bodies
The following recommendation has been forwarded to Full Council for 19
December 2012:
•
To note that Norfolk Tourism was not a Council appointment and that
NNDC is represented by the Portfolio Holder.
•
To continue to be represented on the Norfolk Skills Partnership.
•
To remove the North Norfolk Community Transport Partnership, the
Norfolk Playing Fields Association and the Norfolk Rural Community
Council from the official list of Outside Bodies.
2.5 Health and Wellbeing
At the last meeting the Portfolio Holder, Mrs A M Fitch-Tillett recommended that Health and Wellbeing should be included as a consideration on the report template. Her recommendation was formally proposed to the Committee by
Ms V R Gay, seconded by Mr P W Moore and resolved. This has been sent to
Corporate Leadership Team for approval. At the meeting of CLT on 5 th
November it was agreed that this would not be introduced at this stage but would be considered as part of the overall review of the committee template.
2.6 Recommendations from Task and Finish Group
The following recommendation has been forwarded to the Chairman of the
Constitution Working Party and to the Monitoring Officer:
“To forward the recommendations (Minute 80, recommendations 1 – 10) to the Constitution Working Party so that they might consider if the Constitution should be reviewed to accommodate any agreed changes from these proposals”.
2.7 Community First Responders
At the October meeting a question was asked regarding Community First
Responders. The following information has been received from the Health
Improvement Officer:
“In North Norfolk there are six Community First Responder Teams covering the following towns and surrounding areas:

Overview and Scrutiny Committee 21 November 2012
•
Cromer and Mundesley
•
Sheringham
•
Fakenham & District
•
North Walsham
•
Wroxham & Hoveton
•
Potter Heigham
A Community First Responder scheme is made up of groups of volunteers who, within the community in which they live or work and have been trained to attend emergency calls received by the NHS ambulance service, providing first aid until an emergency ambulance arrives. When a 999 call is made an ambulance or response vehicle is dispatched to attend - if appropriate a CFR will also be dispatched.
The CFR will probably arrive first, as they are likely to be closer to the incident than the ambulance.
The CFR will be able to:
• Clear and maintain the airway of an unconscious patient
• Administer oxygen to patients who are short of breath or who have chest pain
• Provide resuscitation and defibrillation when required
• Control haemorrhage
• Put the patient at ease
• Take basic observations like pulse and respiratory rate
2.8 Health Trainer Service
The following information has been received from the Health Improvement
Officer in response to a query regarding referrals to the Health Trainer
Service:
“Fakenham Surgery runs a weight management programme so they have referred people from that to the health trainer service. In terms of
% referrals per area most up to date shows a slight change.
Where the patient has suffered a cardiac arrest the CFR can provide vital, rapid defibrillation (an electric shock to the heart), which plays an essential role in allowing the heart to re establish normal activity.
The quicker the patient receives this treatment the greater the chances of success, if you can get to a patient in the first 8 minutes you have a very high chance of saving their lives. Made up totally of volunteers from the community, whilst the group works with the
Ambulance service, it does not receive any financial support from the
NHS or Ambulance Service, so is a charity and relies on donations.”
•
Cromer 20.6%
•
Fakenham 14.7%
•
Birchwood (North Walsham) 12.9%
•
Sheringham 6.6%
•
Hoveton & Wroxham 5.9%
•
Stalham Staithe 4.4%
•
Mundesley 4.0%

Overview and Scrutiny Committee 21 November 2012
3.
4.
5.
•
Paston (North Walsham) 2.9%
•
Wells 2.2%
•
Ludham and Stalham 1.8%
Wells Surgery offers the health trainers a room for ½ day a week but don’t get large number of referrals from Wells area. There is no real engagement with Wells hospital.”
Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Review 2011 - 2012
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Review 2011 – 2012 was received by Full Council on 24 October 2012. It has now been published on the Council’s website.
Community Safety Workshop – County Hall 26 th
October 2012
Emma Denny attended this on behalf of the Committee. The aim of the workshop was to provide an understanding of community safety issues and community safety working in Norfolk and to demonstrate how agencies are working together to prioritise these issues and develop services that respond to them. The following were invited to attend:Norfolk Police and Crime Panel members, Norfolk County Council Community Safety Partnership Scrutiny
Body members, Norfolk County Community Safety Partnership representatives, Norfolk County Council Cabinet member for Community
Protection (Nigel Dixon) and County and District Scrutiny officers
There was a brief outline of the role of the Norfolk County Community Safety
Partnership (NCCSP) and it was explained that from April 2013 the NNCSP’s grant funding will transfer to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) who can then commission community safety services. The PCC and the NCCSP have a duty to work with each other and consequently there is likely to be a shift towards more dynamic partnership arrangements, with the NCCSP focussing on informing and influencing services.
The individual workshops focussed on three of the main priority areas for the
CSP:
•
Young people, anti-social behaviour and crime
•
Domestic
•
Reducing re-offending in adults
There was a slant towards restorative justice and the potential this approach had to reduce crime.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee used to receive 6 monthly updates in community safety issues. This could be reinstated if there is an interest amongst members. An alternative would be to have a series of items on specific issues under the community safety ‘umbrella’ and the County Council ahs offered to provide some support on this. Nigel Dixon chaired the workshop and he has offered to attend committee as County Cabinet Member for community protection – to answer any questions that Members may have.
Changes to the Work Programme and Future Topics
No changes were made to the Work Programme at the meeting of 23 October
2012. However, to accommodate the presentation by the Ambulance Service

Overview and Scrutiny Committee 21 November 2012 on 21 November it was decided to defer the item on planning performance to
January (to coincide with the item on planning fees) and the update on the
Big Society Fund to December. It is intended that this will include a review of the Fund.
Members should also be made aware that it may be necessary to hold a series of special meetings in January to approve the final version of the
Council Tax Support Scheme. It is hoped that we will be able to keep the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on the scheduled date but it may be necessary to schedule a special meeting of Cabinet and Full Council.