Agenda item
Quarterly Recommendation Tracker
Minutes:
The Board considered the latest edition of the Overview and Scrutiny Quarterly Recommendation Tracker. During consideration of the tracker a number of key points were discussed in detail.
Planning Policy Task Group
The Head of Planning and Regulatory Services had confirmed that through service transformation a review and mapping process had been carried out in respect of planning and she had offered to provide this work for the board’s consideration. Members agreed that this would be a suitable subject to investigate further at the February meeting of the Board.
Detailed responses had been provided to the group’s fourth and ninth recommendations and it was therefore agreed that these items could be removed from the tracker.
Youth Provision Task Group
Members were advised that the Chairman of the Task Group, Councillor J. M. L. A. Griffiths, had not yet delivered a presentation on the subject of the group’s findings at a meeting of CALC. This was largely due to CALC only meeting on a quarterly basis and had key topics to discuss at each meeting. However, Members noted that following recent changes to the provision of youth services in the county it would be useful for this presentation to take place and Officers were asked to draw this recommendation to the attention of CALC.
Air Quality Task Group
The Board were advised that no further updates had been received following publication of the agenda. A detailed review of the recommendations was due to take place during the April meeting of the Board and this would provide Members with an opportunity to discuss the matter in further detail.
Members noted that they had not yet requested an update from Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) regarding reminders to taxi drivers about leaving their engines running when waiting for a customer. However, some Members noted that they had observed taxi drivers running their engines in taxi ranks in recent months and therefore it was considered timely to request an update on this matter. The Board discussed a number of actions that could be taken by the Council and WRS to discourage this type of behaviour by taxi drivers and it was agreed that any suggestions should be raised with WRS Officers when they attended a future meeting of the Board.
Artrix Outreach Provision Task Group
The Chairman of the group, Councillor S. P. Shannon, and Head of Leisure and Cultural Services had met with the new Artistic Director of the Artrix following her appointment. There had been a positive response to the group’s recommendations and it was anticipated that these would be implemented. The group’s second, fourth and ninth recommendations had already been acted on and for this reason Members agreed that no further updates would be required. Members also noted that the Artrix continued to make activities available during school holiday periods.
Leisure Provision Task Group
Councillor R. J. Shannon confirmed that he had agreed to award some of his ward funding to finance the installation of an additional noticeboard. However an update was requested regarding the noticeboard referred to in recommendation 3a.
Recommendations Arising from meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Board
Members were advised that the recommendation concerning the Dolphin Centre business case and finances for the new leisure centre had been rejected by the Audit Board and could therefore be removed from the tracker.
Joint WRS Scrutiny Task Group
The Board was advised that during consideration of the group’s recommendations by the Worcestershire Shared Services Joint Committee a number of the group’s recommendations, primarily concerning the governance of the service, had been rejected. These recommendations could therefore be removed from the tracker. The Overview and Scrutiny Board would be expected to track implementation of the remaining as the Council was the host authority for the shared service.
Members discussed arrangements for the operational management of WRS following the departure of the Head of Regulatory Services. Officers confirmed that the Chairman of the WRS Management Board would provide a strategic lead to the service during the interim period whilst the governance and budget for the service was reviewed.
RESOLVED that the Overview and Scrutiny Quarterly Recommendation Tracker be noted.
Supporting documents:
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