Agenda item

5.1  The committee agreed to the same structure of cabinet member interviews as in the previous year noting that, in addition to interviews at overview & scrutiny committee, the housing & community safety and regeneration & leisure sub-committees would be able to invite cabinet members to attend their meetings for specific issues.  It also agreed to invite Councillor Fiona Colley, cabinet member for regeneration & corporate strategy, for interview towards the end of the municipal year.  Members discussed the range of experience of interviews.  It was felt that a high number of questions did not necessarily result in a useful discussion and that a mix of written questions and identified themes could produce a more successful outcome.

5.2  The committee considered how to begin a discussion of the budgetary savings to be made in the 2012/13 municipal year.  Members asked for a breakdown of the current scrutiny budget and any comparison with savings made by other boroughs but agreed that the focus for discussion by the committee should be around the future role of scrutiny in Southwark and that decisions around resources should be left to the strategic director for communities, law & governance.  Members also agreed that an informal away day would be a good starting point for reviewing the role of scrutiny and asked the head of overview & scrutiny to look into possible dates.

5.3  The chair drew members’ attention to the likelihood of pre-budget scrutiny taking place around December time and invited suggestions for individual reviews that the committee might wish to undertake.  Members suggested two possible areas for review, customer services and senior officers’ pay, which were both supported by the committee.  It was agreed that the work programme of the committee be agreed at its next meeting and that chairs of sub-committees report back on any proposals for the sub-committee work programmes.

  RESOLVED:

1.  That cabinet members be invited for interview by the following:

Overview & scrutiny

Leader of the council (Councillor Peter John)

Deputy leader & housing (Councillor Ian Wingfield)

Finance & resources (Councillor Richard Livingstone)

Regeneration & corporate strategy (Councillor Fiona Colley)

Education & children's services

Children’s services (Councillor Catherine McDonald)

Environment, transport, communities & citizenship

Transport, environment & recycling (Councillor Barrie Hargrove)

Equalities & community engagement (Councillor Abdul Mohamed)

Health & adult social care

Health & adult social care (Councillor Dora Dixon-Fyle)

Housing & community safety

Community safety (Councillor Richard Livingstone)

Regeneration & leisure

Culture, leisure, sport & the Olympics (Councillor Veronica Ward)

2.  That the committee hold an away-day to begin consideration of the future role of scrutiny, bearing in mind budget savings to be made in 2012/13.

3.  That the committee undertake reviews of customer services and senior officers’ pay, the committee’s work programme to be agreed at its next meeting.

4.  That chairs of sub-committees report back to the next meeting on any proposals for the sub-committee work programmes.