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Agenda item

Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2022/23 Financial Contribution

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 and to recommend to the Executive Committee that, subject to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee representative’s continued monitoring and regular reporting to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, that the specific consideration of the payment of the sum on an annual basis no longer be required.

Minutes:

83.1          Attention was drawn to the report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 22-25,  which asked Members 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 and to recommend to the Executive Committee that, subject to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee representative’s continued monitoring and regular reporting to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, that the specific consideration of the payment of the sum on an annual basis no longer be required.

83.2          The Head of Corporate Services advised this was the annual report to the Committee seeking endorsement of the contribution of £2,500 towards the running costs of the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee which allowed Tewkesbury Borough Council to have a representative on the Committee.  Going forward, it was proposed that this report no longer be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis as the contribution was for a minimal amount which was included in the base budget and the Council’s representative would continue to attend meetings and report back to Members on a regular basis.

83.3          The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee advised that all Gloucestershire authorities were represented on the Committee and none had indicated they intended to stop their contributions.  She provided summary reports to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on matters discussed which included links to a wealth of more detailed reports which Members could read including performance reviews for different parts of the Trust.  In addition, regular press releases and documents were circulated by email which were often relevant to all Members and shared accordingly via Democratic Services.  In her opinion, representation on the Committee was needed and the contribution was value for money. 

83.4          During the debate which ensued, a Member indicated that, whilst he was happy to support authorising payment for the forthcoming year, he was of the view that it was appropriate for this to continue to be done by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis.  The Chief Executive explained that the Council had a representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and a reserve representative had been appointed by Members earlier in the meeting, so there was an expectation that those representatives would report back to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee if they felt it was not working as it should be, or if it no longer represented value for money, and the Committee could then decide whether to make further payments.  The Council’s representative provided both verbal and written reports so Members should be able to gauge from those whether Tewkesbury Borough Council’s continued membership was beneficial.  The Member expressed the view that it would be unfair to place this responsibility on the Council’s representative and he felt that decision on the Council’s finances should continue to be remain with the relevant Committee. 

83.5          Another Member pointed out that £2,500 was a minor amount and he questioned the value of the Committee debating this on an annual basis, particularly as it was included in the base budget.  The Council’s representative indicated that her feedback would be the same whether the financial contribution was discussed annually by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or not and, although being the Council’s representative was quite a commitment, she did feel it was valuable.   The Head of Democratic Services clarified that if at any point the Overview and Scrutiny Committee did not feel it was getting value for money from having a representative on Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Members would have the opportunity to reconsider.  The Chief Executive indicated that the £2,500 itself was relatively insignificant so the decision that needed to be made was in relation to whether attendance by the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee was valuable in terms of what the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was getting – Members could make that assessment every time they received a report.  Nevertheless, if Members preferred to receive an annual report then of course that could continue to be done.  The Head of Democratic Services pointed out that, at the recent training session on effective scrutiny, Members in attendance had suggested that considering the annual report was not the best use of the Committee’s time and, as the Chief Executive had said, Members should know if the Council was getting value for money on the basis of the reports received from the Council’s representative.

83.6          Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED          1. That Officers be authorised to make the payment of £2,500 from the Council’s base budget.

2. That it be RECOMMENDED TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE that, subject to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee representative’s continued monitoring and regular reporting to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the specific consideration of the payment of the sum on an annual basis no longer be required.

Supporting documents: