Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair for the duration of the meeting.

RESOLVED 

THAT Councillor Awale Olad be appointed as Chair for this meeting only.

To agree the procedures for the operation of hybrid meetings.

RESOLVED

THAT the guidance on hybrid meetings be noted.    

None, all Members of the committee were present.

No declarations were made.

There were no deputations.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

The Chair announced,

 ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

The Chair also announced that item 11 would be considered before item 10.      

There was no urgent business.

To note the terms of reference as set out below;

1.         To consider the Leader’s Annual Statement and any other relevant cross-cutting business of the Cabinet, or business deemed relevant by the advice of the Chief Executive;

2.         To consider, in particular, areas and a programme of joint working by the scrutiny committees (see Part 3 of the Constitution) with the power, for the purposes of individual projects, of agreeing to vary terms of reference between the committees (subject always to statutory provisions) to facilitate joint and cross-cutting scrutiny working; and

3.         To agree the allocation of scrutiny panels between scrutiny committees for the forthcoming year based on the Council’s agreed priorities within existing resources.

RESOLVED

THAT the terms of reference for this meeting be noted.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd March 2022.

RESOLVED

THAT the minutes of the meeting on the 3^rd March 2022 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Strategy and Design

The State of the Borough report is a commitment made in the December 2021 Cabinet report on the findings of the Renewal Commission and in the March 2022 Cabinet report that adopted We Make Camden, the borough strategy. The report will be published annually and is intended to present a shared evidence base reflecting how people in Camden are doing and their experience of life.

It will help develop a shared ownership in Camden as it will be jointly owned by the council and partners. The report is planned to be published in March and presented to Full Council in April.

The Joint Chairs discussed the proposal for a State of the Borough report with the Leader of the Council, when she presented her Annual Statement in March 2022, and expressed an interest in further information about the proposal at future meetings. 

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Strategy and Design.

The proposal for the State of the Borough report had been discussed with the Council when the Leader had presented her Annual Statement in March of this year. This report to the scrutiny committee Chairs provided an update on what the State of the Borough Report would look at. The first Camden State of the Borough report would be published in March 2023 and presented to Full Council in April. 

The Joint Chairs of Scrutiny welcomed the report and agreed that all the scrutiny committees would consider the State of the Borough report before it was published. The Chairs particularly welcomed the opportunity to hear from residents about what it was like to live in the borough and their experiences of Camden’s services. 

The following points were made in response to questions from the scrutiny committee Chairs during their consideration of the report:

·       That there would be a soft launch of the ‘Good Life Camden’ project  (paragraph 1.9 of the report) in March, alongside the State of the Borough report.

·       There would be a multidimensional approach to gathering information from residents about their experiences of living in the borough.

·       That because this committee met twice a year, the Scrutiny Committee Chairs would need to consider how best to progress the work on hearing from residents.        

RESOLVED –

i)               THAT the further development of the State of the Borough report and process be noted,

ii)              THAT the State of the Borough report would be considered at each of the individual scrutiny committee meetings in February 2023,

iii)            THAT the scrutiny committee Chairs would explore how the State of the Borough report could inform the development of scrutiny committee work programming.   

Report of the Director of Strategy and Design.

Scrutiny plays an important role in improving outcomes for residents – making sure services meet resident needs, exploring issues which impact the wellbeing of the borough and providing improvement recommendations to the Council.

The scrutiny function has a democratic mandate to monitor decisions affecting local residents, contribute to the formation of policy and hold the executive to account.

The Joint Chairs of Scrutiny Committee was established to enable closer working relationships across the scrutiny function. Its terms of reference state that the Committee will discuss the Leader's Annual Statement and other relevant cross cutting matters arising from the business of the Cabinet or as advised by the Chief Executive.

This report sets out the work programmes of the individual committees during the municipal year so far, upcoming issues planned for scrutiny by each committee, and current plans for scrutiny panels. It also provides a brief overview of the emerging programme of work in response to cost of living crisis for joint chairs to consider how this can best be supported and scrutinised across their committees. 

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Strategy and Design that set out the work programmes of the individual committees during this municipal year so far. The report included the upcoming issues planned for each of the scrutiny committees and the current plans for their scrutiny panels. A brief overview of the emerging programme of work in response to the cost of living crisis was also provided for the joint chairs to consider how this could best be supported and scrutinised across their committees. 

During consideration of the report the Scrutiny Committee Chairs discussed the following points:

·       That the Health and Adult Social Scrutiny Committee would welcome opportunities to hear from residents at their meetings. It was important to capture their experiences, the reality of their lives and their views about the services offered in the borough. Themed meetings with a specific focus was an option that could be explored. 

·       Analysing data that measured resident engagement levels and who used services would be a useful source of information. 

·       That the Housing Scrutiny Committee would welcome the opportunity to hear from residents and have more engagement from them at meetings.   

·       There were some concerns from the scrutiny committee chairs about the training for new Councillors and questions about what measures were in place to support and assist members in their scrutiny roles.   

·       That the scrutiny committee chairs valued the attendance and contributions of the Executive Directors and directors at their meetings  

·       What was Camden doing as a Council on a list of issues - the Cost of Living Crisis; rising energy prices/providing warm spaces; retro fitting homes; food security for residents struggling to feed themselves and their families. Could we be working more closely with local businesses on these issues?  What work was taking place with Transport for London for people struggling with the cost of fares? That all of the scrutiny committees should be considering how the Cost of Living Crisis was impacting the areas within the remit of their committees. 

The following information was provided in response to the points raised by the  Scrutiny Committee Chairs:  

The Peer review of Camden had identified that, there was more that could be done corporately to hear from residents and about their experience of life in the borough. A wide range of work was taking place to address this and bring the voice of residents into decision making. This included work on the Citizen Assembly, Data Charter and a programme of engagement was planned to hear from residents about their experiences of Cost of Living issues. Scrutiny Committee Chairs would need to look at their works plans and how the voice of residents could be incorporated into the work of their committees. There would need to be further consideration of how the committee chairs had oversight of this work.  

Work as committee members was a continuing learning experience through case work and there was much to learn about the complexities of the borough and the Council as a large  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

There was no urgent business.