As requested at a previous meeting, the Head of Policy and Communications presented an update on the enhanced Scrutiny arrangements and the possible re-introduction of public debate meetings.  It was noted that:

·  As part of the review of the enhanced Scrutiny model, a short survey was undertaken of all Members.  Nineteen responses were received and ten of the respondents thought that there had been an improvement in Scrutiny since the changes.

·  A Communications and Engagement Plan had been produced to support the final year of the Strategic Plan.  The purpose of the Plan was to ensure that the Council communicated and engaged effectively with residents and partners etc. to meet its priorities.  A Communications and Engagement Strategy would be developed in 2014/15 to support the new Strategic Plan for 2015/20.  Consideration was being given to different ways to engage the public, including the use of Facebook and Twitter, and this might lead to the decision not to proceed with the public debate meetings.

In response to questions by Members, the Head of Policy and Communications explained that the success of the enhanced Scrutiny model was very much dependent on Members.  There was a whole raft of ways to use Scrutiny effectively to hold the Executive to account and to influence policy development etc., including call-ins and pre-decision scrutiny.

During the discussion reference was made to the possibility of returning to the Committee system of decision making, the merits of the new enhanced Scrutiny arrangements and the disappointing response to the survey of all Members undertaken as part of the most recent review.  The Committee felt that Members needed to be more engaged in and supportive of the Scrutiny system to get things done to make it meaningful, but was unable to make any recommendations at this stage as to how that might be achieved.  It was suggested that Members should reflect on this and pass their comments to the Head of Policy and Communications.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the update on public debate meetings be noted; and

(b)  That the review of the enhanced Scrutiny arrangements be noted and that the Head of Policy and Communications be requested to report back to a future meeting with Members’ thoughts on how the Scrutiny system might be more meaningful.