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Maidstone Borough Council

Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Tuesday 5 August 2008

Speed of Council Decision-Making - Scoping

Report of: Senior Overview and Scrutiny Officer

1.�� Structure of the Review

1.1�� Before beginning its review, the Working Group will need to carry out the following tasks to ensure an effective, focussed review:

� Election of Chairman

� Set timescale for review

� Set terms of reference (aims and anticipated outcomes of the review)

� Identify possible witnesses

� Set meeting dates

2.�� Issues to Consider

2.1�� The suggestion to review the speed of Council decision-making came from a parish council.� Therefore, it would be appropriate to contact the parish council in the first instance to request more detail.� Further to this, it could be useful to contact all parish councils in the Borough to ascertain their experiences for comparison purposes.

2.2�� The Working Group will need to outline what types of decision will be looked at as part of this review; should the review investigate the length of time it takes to agree an internal issue, or focus solely on those decisions affecting the public and the Council�s partners, for example planning, licensing and housing decisions?

2.3�� Mystery shopping exercises could be useful to establish how long the Council takes to arrive at decisions for different issues.� However, it would be beneficial to establish an estimated time before carrying this out, as this could delay the review if the process is long.

2.4�� Councillors may also wish to consider the following as part of the review:

� Legislation

� The Constitution

� Other local authorities

� What causes delays in decision-making

� What processes reports have to go through before a decision is taken.

2.5�� The issues identified above are by no means exhaustive, and the Working Group is encouraged to consider whether there are other issues that should be considered as part of this review.