Issue - meetings

Discussion paper by the Director of Commissioning. (20 mins)

The Director of Commissioning introduced the report which had been circulated with the agenda. They report invited members to comment on the committee's draft work plan for the coming year set out in Appendix 2. It also invited members to comment on the general effectiveness of scrutiny and make any suggestions for improvement.

Councillor Massey referred to risk 29 in the council’s Risk Register concerning information management and requested that the committee receive an update on the information strategy.

In response to a question about when the 12 month review of the Gloucestershire Airport business plan was due, the Director of Resources advised that there had been a delay due to the complications regarding Blenheim House. These had only recently been concluded and so the 12 month review would be due from that date.

Members had some discussion regarding the briefing note which had been circulated on mobile telephony and whether it was a topic for further scrutiny. The chair also referred to some exchange of a communication regarding a Freedom of information request on this topic but he advised that the majority of questions had probably now been answered.

It was felt that the briefing note had raised some questions and it was appropriate for this committee to ensure that the council was getting best value from their use.  They decided to extend the topic to include mobile communications but would not be getting into the sort of detail covered in the freedom of information request.

Commenting on the effectiveness of scrutiny, Councillor Peter Jeffries suggested that this committee should receive more financial information in its reports rather than words and there should be more focus on the economic aspects of any issue.

Councillor Massey suggested that the full committee was in a good position to give feedback on items it received on a regular basis. With the introduction of commissioning there was a broader question regarding whether smaller task and finish groups would be more effective.

Resolved that the workplan 2011/12 be agreed with the additions requested at this meeting