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Maidstone Borough Council

Corporate Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Monday 5 April 2011

The Leader of the Council Progress Over the Year

Report of: Overview & Scrutiny Officer

1.      Introduction

1.1        As the meeting on 30 November 2010 was cancelled due to snow, the Committee heard part of his mid-year update in the meeting on January 10 2011. The purpose of this item is for the Leader of the Council to update the Committee on the progress made over the year, and highlight future activities within their portfolio.

 2.     Recommendation

2.1        That the Committee interview the Leader of the Council with regard to progress that has been made on the priorities within the Corporate Services portfolio.

3.      Progress Over the Year

3.1    The Committee interviewed the Leader on 6 July 2010, the relevant extract from the minutes is set out below:

“The Committee considered the Leader of the Council’s vision statement for 2010/11. Members were surprised and concerned that the Local Development Plan did not feature on the Leaders vision statement given that he had recently transferred the responsibility of this role to his portfolio. The Committee therefore agreed to contact the Leader to ask that this be added to his priorities to ensure that local policy documents were delivered.

Members noted that the Local Development Plan came under the remit of the Leisure and Prosperity Overview and Scrutiny Committee but felt that scrutiny of the Local Development Plan should also be undertaken by the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee from a corporate standpoint. The Committee noted that the Leader’s portfolio was currently scrutinised by three of the four Overview and Scrutiny Committees and agreed that there would be benefit in aligning the Scrutiny Committee remits to Cabinet Member portfolios.

Resolved: That

a) The Leader of the Council add the Local Develop Plan to his list of priorities for 2010/11;

b) The Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee consider the Local Development Plan from a corporate aspect; and

c) The remits of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees be reviewed to consider aligning them to Cabinet Member portfolios.”

3.2    The Committee could choose not to interview or receive written statements from the Leader of the Council, however in doing so they would not be fulfilling the crucial role of holding the executive to account.

4.      Impact on Corporate Objectives

4.1     The Committee should seek to review whether the Leader of the Council’s achievements are aligned to the Council’s corporate objectives as set out in the strategic plan.