Agenda and minutes

With sadness, the Chair referred to the passing of Councillor Maureen Rowles who had died in the early hours of that morning (Tuesday 4 April)

All members present stood in silence as a mark of respect to the memory of Councillor Rowles.

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2017.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 28 February 2017 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made.

RESOLVED – That in order to prevent the disclosure of information which was not for publication, the disclosure of which would not be in the public interest, would not be fair and would be in breach of Data Protection principles, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the ‘not for publication’ appendices to the following agenda item in the event that the content of this appendices needed to be discussed:-

(Executive Decision Record and report enclosed)

To consider the call-in of executive decision ED1899

This decision has been called in by Councillors Malcolm Allan, Christine Corris and Lisa Smart. The call in deadline was 4pm on 21 March 2017

Reference ED1899 - "Constitutional Review - Area Committees"

The Scrutiny Committee was informed that the Executive Decision ED1899 referring to decisions taken at the Executive on 14 March 2017 in relation to the Constitutional review of Area Committee  had been ‘called in’ by Councillors Malcolm Allan, Christine Corris and Lisa Smart.

Councillors Smart, Corris and Allan outlined the reasons why they had called the decision in. They explained that they were concerned that the decision in relation to the proposed changes to the names of the Werneth and Marple Area Committees had not followed the usual practice of consultation with affected area committees prior to a decision being made.

Councillors Malcolm Allan, Christine Corris and Lisa Smart answered Councillors questions in respect to why they had called the decision in for scrutiny.

The Executive Councillor for Reform & Governance (Councillor David Sedgwick) responded and stated that he was happy for the Executive to reconsider its previous decision.

It was then

RESOLVED (five for, three against, one abstention) – That the Executive be requested to reconsider its previous decision in relation to the proposed changes to the names of the Werneth and Marple Area Committees and  the Werneth and Marple Area Committees be consulted on the proposal prior to a final decision being made.

There were no further call-in items to consider.

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

This report updates the Committee on the approach Stockport Council is taking with its partners to assist residents and service users to improve their digital skills and access the services they need through digital means.

Recommendation

Members are asked to note the progress to date particularly the programme of events held in February to promote being online and developing digital skills and to comment on the next steps.

Officer contact Janet Wood on tel: 0161 474 4443 or by email on janet.wood@stockport.gov.uk

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) updating the Scrutiny Committee on the approach Stockport Council is taking with its partners to assist residents and service users to improve their digital skills and access the services they need through digital means.

The Executive Councillor for Reform & Governance (Councillor David Sedgwick) attended the meeting to answer members’ questions.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:

·         Concern was expressed that there were still some people that would be unable to use digital services..

·         Information in relation to the outcomes from the digital marketing workshops should be made available to members of this Scrutiny Committee

·         It would be helpful if when ringing the contact centre, the position in the queue was stated.

·         It was confirmed that the council was working with a number of organisations and is planning to involve other community organisations such as the Wellspring and AgeUK and a further workshop is being organised for May which they would be invited to.

RESOLVED – (1) That the progress to date particularly the programme of events held in February to promote being online and developing digital skills be noted.

(2) That the Growth Team be requested to provide details of the outcomes from the digital marketing workshops to members of this Scrutiny Committee

(3) That a further report be submitted to this Scrutiny Committee identifying those groups that had been identified that would not be able to take advantage of digital technology and the steps being taken to address this issue.

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

The purpose of this report is to invite the Scrutiny Committee to comment upon the proposal to appoint a framework of suppliers to deliver Mechanical and Electrical projects, which will be submitted to the Executive for approval at their meeting on 25 April 2017.

Recommendation

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to comment on the following recommendations to the Executive to authorise:

·                Awarding of a two year contract (plus two optional one year extensions) to the suppliers identified in this report for the provision of both Multi-Disciplinary Design (MDD) and single discipline projects on behalf of Stockport Council in relation to Mechanical and Electrical works;

·         Should any of the proposed suppliers fail to enter into a contract with the Council, it is recommended to award to the next highest bidder in sequence attaining the minimum quality score threshold as identified at 5.4 above;

·         Authority be delegated to the Borough Treasurer to finalise and agree the frameworks following consultation with Executive Councillor (Reform & Governance);

·         Authority be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive or Borough Treasurer in consultation with the Executive Councillor (Reform & Governance) of subsequent call-off contracts under the frameworks;

Officer contact Paul Edgeworth on tel 0161 474 1934 or by email on paul.edgeworth@stockport.gov.uk

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Scrutiny Committee to comment upon the proposal to appoint a framework of suppliers to deliver Mechanical and Electrical projects, which would be considered by the Executive on 25 April 2017.

The Executive Councillor for Reform & Governance (Councillor David Sedgwick) attended the meeting to answer members’ questions.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:

·         A member enquired in what circumstances the tendering criteria would not be followed. It was stated that this may apply for example where a specialist contractor was required.

·         An member queried the 'Team' element of the scoring system

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That the Borough Treasurer be requested to clarify what the 'Team' element of the scoring system and circulate this information to all members of the Scrutiny Committee.

To consider a report of Deputy Chief Executive.

Members will recall that this Scrutiny Committee undertook a scrutiny review in relation to the Council’s statutory consultation duties, the current approach to corporate consultations and the level of response, and made a number of recommendations to the Executive.

This report sets out the Executive’s response to those recommendations which were approved by the Executive on 14 March 2017.

Recommendation

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to consider the Executive Response to the recommendations made by the Scrutiny Review Panel.

Officer contact: Daniel Sharples, 0161 474 3209, daniel.sharples@stockport.gov.uk

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out the Executive’s response to the recommendations included in the final report of the scrutiny review undertaken by this Scrutiny Committee in relation to the Council’s statutory consultation duties, the current approach to corporate consultations and the level of response

The Executive Councillor for Reform & Governance (Councillor David Sedgwick) attended the meeting to answer members’ questions.

RESOLVED – That the Executive Response to the recommendations made by the Scrutiny Review Panel be noted.

To consider a report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Governance.

The Council’s Code of Practice for carrying out surveillance under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) specifies that quarterly reports will be taken to this Scrutiny Committee to demonstrate to elected members that the Council is complying with its own Code of Practice when using RIPA. This report provides an update in relation to the third and fourth quarters of the 2016-2017 financial year.

Recommendation

The Scrutiny Committee is requested to note the report.

Officer contact, Joy Morton, joy.morton@stockport.gov.uk or 0161 474 3219.

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing an in relation to the third and fourth quarters of the 2016-2017 financial year to demonstrate that the Council’s use of directed surveillance and covert human intelligence sources complied with its own Code of Practice when using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

The Democratic Services Manager reported that there had been no authorisations during the third quarter to use directed surveillance and covert human intelligence sources.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration.

(NOTE The Chair was of the opinion that this tem should be taken as a matter of urgency in accordance with Section 100B (4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 to enable the views of this Scrutiny Committee to be taken into consideration by the Executive at its meeting on 25 April 2017.)

The Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Scrutiny Committee to note that leisure facilities referred to in the report would be included in the Asset Management Plan and that the Environment & Economy Scrutiny Committee on 6 April would be considering the detailed proposals prior to consideration by the Executive.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Democratic Services Manager.               

The report sets out planned agenda items for future meetings of the Committee and Forward Plan items that fall within its remit.

Recommendation

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to consider the information in the report and put forward any agenda items for future meetings.

Officer contact: Craig Ainsworth, Democratic Services Manager, telephone number 474 3204, email: craig.ainsworth@stockport.gov.uk

The Democratic Services Manager submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out the planned items for the Scrutiny Committee’s next meeting and Forward Plan items which fell within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.