To conduct the annual review of the effectiveness of the Council’s involvement in the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee in order to authorise payment of the Council’s contribution to the running costs for the forthcoming year.

66.1          The Chair left the meeting for the consideration of this item and the Vice-Chair took the chair.

66.2          The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 29-32, asked the Committee to consider the effectiveness of the Council’s continued involvement in the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and that, subject to the Committee being satisfied that value for money is achieved, Officers be authorised to make the payment of £2,500 from the Council’s base budget.

66.3          The Head of Corporate Services advised that this was an annual report which followed a legacy decision by the Executive Committee that asked the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to endorse the payment which was made to support the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The contribution gave the Council a ‘place at the table’ and offered the opportunity for the Council to speak and ask questions within an area for which it had no direct responsibility but in which it had a particular interest.

66.4          The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee indicated that she gained a lot of information through the Committee – she had found it a lot of work, particularly in recent times, with two meetings per month rather than one since adult social care had been separated from health. There was some information coming through which could not wait for the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee so she had been circulating that separately. All of the districts were represented at the meetings, so she felt it was important that Tewkesbury Borough Council continue to attend. She made summary reports of the meetings she attended but the full reports were always available on the County Council website should any Members wish to read the more in-depth information. She welcomed questions from Members to take back to the County group and advised that she often asked questions herself at the meetings.

66.5          A Member expressed the view that it was difficult to approve the ongoing commitment, and understand if the Council’s contribution offered value for money, without any metrics to show the impact/influence Tewkesbury Borough Council had on the Committee. In response, the Head of Corporate Services confirmed that the Council did not have any formal metrics but if it did not attend the meetings it would lose its voice at them. The Member felt it might be helpful if there was an item on the Agenda for those meetings to ensure there was a way for the districts to input to the meetings. In response, the Council’s representative advised that she would speak to the Chair and other Councillor representatives to see what they thought about that idea. The Chief Executive advised that £2,500 was not a very large contribution so there was not room to suggest things that would spend more than the contribution covered - such as asking for a lot of data that would be difficult to collate. The place at the table allowed the Council to find out about things that it would not necessarily know otherwise. There was nothing to stop the Council’s representative requesting items to be placed on the Agenda for meetings so if Tewkesbury Borough Council wanted something specific raised then it could. It also allowed the Council to monitor health issues that were not within its remit but were of great interest to Councillors. The Head of Corporate Services reminded Members that, in the past, health representatives had attended the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as a result of having a seat around the table.

66.6          A number of Members agreed that Tewkesbury Borough Council should not be the only district that did not participate and that the £2,500 contribution represented good value in terms of the Council having information about the important area of health within the Borough. The Council’s representative agreed and felt that Members would notice if they did not receive the local information about matters such as Tewkesbury hospital.

66.7          In terms of the amount of influence the Council had on the County Committee, the Chief Executive advised that it was up to the Council to make its presence felt if it had a reason to do so. The Council had, in the past, asked for health representatives to talk to its Overview and Scrutiny Committee so that was always open to the Council; the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee focussed on health meaning the NHS but there was an element about health that was not well discussed, but was of great interest to the Council, which was public health and the health of its residents. There was a project across the county looking at public health and it may be possible, and of interest, to look at the effectiveness of such partnerships as a scrutiny project in the future. He felt that public health was an interesting issue as, at a County level, adult social care and public health were combined under one Director. There was work ongoing on Integrated Health Partnerships which came from a reorganisation of the primary care system which would look at community health on a Borough basis rather than NHS boundaries. That work was just starting and was very much at Officer level but he was interested to see how it progressed and would ensure Members were briefed when there was something to report. He felt questions such as who did what and what the effect of the split was in terms of separating health from adult social care were interesting queries that would be picked up outside of the meeting.

66.8          Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

                 RESOLVED           1.  That the Council continue its involvement in the                                                 Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

                                                2.  That Officers be authorised to make the payment of £2,500                                    from the Council’s base budget as it contribution to the                                          Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.