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V28-463 : CAPITAL COST OF EARLY RETIREMENTS 1999/2000

The Panel considered and received the report of the Corporate Director (Corporate Resources and Policy) on the capital cost to the authority of early retirements in the previous financial year. (Para. 1)

The meeting was concluded at 9.10pm.

Chairman
APPENDIX

SCRUTINY PANEL GUIDELINES

The main objective of the Scrutiny Panel will be to challenge the way the Council works and is run, and to improve the delivery of policies and services.

1. Routes and sources of material destined for the Scrutiny Panel.
2. Procedures for bringing material to the Scrutiny Panel.
3. Criteria for selecting those topics to be reviewed by the Scrutiny Panel. 4. House rules for the Scrutiny Panel.
5. Involvement of others in the work of the Scrutiny Panel.
6. Reporting outcomes of the Scrutiny Panel's deliberations.
7. The Scrutiny Function: some further questions.
8. Scrutiny Panel checklist.

These guidelines do not cover the role as Standards Panel.

"Effective accountability through scrutiny is at the heart of good governance. Scrutiny is not a mystery - it is a common sense process of review and evaluation. Scrutiny is not the sole preserve of the Scrutiny Panel, it is the responsibility of every member."

1. Routes and sources of material destined for the Scrutiny Panel.

(i) Statutory requirements, e.g. Best Value Performance Plan, reports from District Audit, the Audit Commission, and the Best Value Inspectorate.
(ii) The Executive Panel minutes.
(iii) The letters and complaints procedure.
(iv) Issues from members of the Scrutiny Panel.
(v) Other Councillors
(vi) Other Panel minutes
(vii) The media
(viii) Issues from members of the public
(ix) Officers
(x) Other employees of Waveney District Council.
(xi) Anonymous sources if the issues are serious enough, e.g. allegations of fraud or corruption. (xii) Area Forum.
(xiii) Town or Parish Councils.
(xiv) Tenants' and residents' associations.
(xv) Voluntary bodies working in the Waveney area.

2. Procedures for bringing material to the Scrutiny Panel.

The action detailed below refer to the courses listed at 1. above.
(i) Placed on the agenda by officers with the agreement of the Chairman. (ii) and (iii) covered in the Scrutiny Panel meeting.
(iv) to (xv) Items to the Chairman of the Scrutiny Panel; criteria applied by officers, agreed by the Chairman, and if appropriate placed on agenda. Copies of any topics thus screened out to go to members of the Scrutiny Panel.

3. Criteria for selecting those topics to be reviewed by the Scrutiny Panel.

(i) Significance for the corporate strategy.
(ii) Significance in the budget.
(iii) Significance for a service outcome.
(iv) Affected by recent policy or legal change.
(v) Importance to the Area Forums or having other strong local significance. (vi) Importance to outside organisations.
(vii) Concern to Town or Parish Councils.
(viii) Poor statistical comparison with other Council's performance indicators. (ix) Capability for improvement.
(x) Topics in the media that appear greatly to concern the general public. (xi) Any items that the panel feels worthy of further investigation or scrutiny.

4. House rules for the Scrutiny Panel.

(i) Any one member of the Scrutiny Panel can call a pre-meeting to take place up to 45 minutes before the scheduled meeting. The meeting must not be a substitute for debating issues that should be aired in public. Members should give a week's notice of an intended meeting. (ii) Any one member can request an emergency meeting of the Panel. The request to be made to the Chairman who can call a meeting if he agrees the need,
(iii) The Panel can set a meeting when in session.
(iv) The above two procedures are to be used sparingly and must be justified. (v) Panel members will ensure that any substitutes are fully briefed, but should make every endeavour to attend all meetings thus obviating the need for substitutes. (vi) Panel members should seek to work co-operatively and to judge issues fairly and impartially,

5. Involvement of other in the work of the Scrutiny Panel.

A view is that we should let the work of the panel bed in before involving others and at the right time consult on the most appropriate model for co-option. The general view for (ii) is that we should err on the side of providing information but give some thought to what the information is and how it should be conveyed.

(i) Do we co-op the Chairmen or their representatives from the Area Forums, and if so, how many?
(ii) We send relevant Scrutiny Panel reports to the Area Forums.
(iii) When necessary the Panel can call for the attendance of individuals or groups to answer questions from the Scrutiny Panel? Notice generally four weeks but less notice in more urgent instances; written questions in advance with verbal supplementary only.

6. Reporting outcomes of the Scrutiny Panel's deliberations.

(i) Minutes should be presented to Council for approval.
(ii) Scrutiny Panel decision sent to source with attendance of Panel member if the panel so decides.
(iii) Where the source is a Panel of the Council then, if the Council accepts the Scrutiny Panel's report, the source Panel is to produce an action plan or reply which is then to be sent to the Scrutiny Panel for their consideration.
(iv) Scrutiny Panel deliberations are in the public domain; but the Panel may decide to issue a special briefing to the media, in which case the Chairman must liaise with the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive to ensure that the Council speaks with one voice.

7. The Scrutiny Function: some questions for further consideration.

(i) When the Scrutiny Panel is split in two sub-groups, the Chairman and Vice-Chairman will each Chair one sub-group.
(ii) When considering Best Value are there ways of involving members not on the Panel? (iii) Are there ways of involving other members of the Council in the scrutiny process? (iv) Might Scrutiny Panel Sub-Groups be set up, chaired by a member of the Scrutiny Panel, but composed of members from one Panel of the Council who would scrutinise the work of another Panel?
(v) What resources, including officer support, will be allocated to the Scrutiny function? (vi) How do we advertise the role of the Scrutiny Panel to Council members and the public? (vii) Do we need more meetings to determine how we operate?
(viii) That for particular issues, a small Sub-Group of two members may be appointed to cover the issue quickly and report back.

SCRUTINY PANEL - 14/09/00

SCRUTINY PANEL - 14/09/00

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Volume 28 Minute 462

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