Agenda and minutes

There were no items of correspondence or communications.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

There were no questions from the public or the press.

Consideration was given to a report, presented by the Head of Scrutiny Services, relating to the opportunity to co-opt individuals onto the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel for two municipal years beginning May 2008.

Details of four nominations were set out in the report.

An explanation was given of the process for nominating co-optees to Scrutiny Panels.  It was pointed out that Scrutiny Reviews could request attendance of other representation e.g. Fire Authority, as appropriate, for specific issues.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the following individuals be co-opted to the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel for two municipal years beginning May 2008:-

(2)         That the Co-optees be welcomed to this Scrutiny Panel.

(3)    That the Scrutiny Panel’s thanks be sent to out-going Co-optees -  

Mr. David Morton, and Mr. Ray Noble - for the work they had done for this Scrutiny Panel.

Consideration was given to a report, presented by John Walker, Chief Elections & Electoral Registration Officer, in respect of key aspects of the Borough Council elections process, and in respect of particular issues arising from the elections held on 1^st May, 2008.

A PowerPoint presentation was delivered which included photographs of parts of the process generally not seen by Elected Members or the public, e.g. the printing factory and printing process; handling by the Royal Mail; ballot box and polling station preparation, opening of postal votes and computerised verification.

The submitted report also referred to:-

-                      postal ballot verification software and on-going enhancements, together with security of the system

-                      nomination period

-                      candidates briefing

-                      Police involvement

-                      registration deadline – noting that the Electoral Commission had now issued a brief DVD with sub-titles and 14 languages

-                      home visits

-                      key staff training and briefing of Presiding Officers and Polling Clerks

-                      quality and type of accommodation available for polling stations and working conditions for staff

-                      Polling Day:-  equipment and staffing; provision of polling instructions in pictorial format

-                      counting of votes and afterwards

-                      publicity for the elections, especially the TV campaign

-                      finance

-                      space for preparation and storage pre and post-election, together with measures to prevent fraud

-                      accommodation and facilities at polling stations for staff

-                      health and safety aspects

-                      number of observers at the count

-                      working hours of key elections staff and the increasing complexity, intense and technical nature of the work;  possible staff fatigue (noting the recommendations from the Gould report)

Members present raised and discussed the following issues:-

-                      staff fatigue

-                      assurances regarding security, on and off site

-                      issues at the Count with reference to accommodating observers and counting agents

-                      access issues and facilities at some polling stations

-                      checks on suitability of staff recruited

-                      the prescribed process regarding the timing of the advertisement of a casual vacancy

Resolved:-  (1)  That additional recommendations be made to the report as follows prior to its submission to the Cabinet:-

(i)                 that the accommodation strategy for the Council’s new office building takes account of the problems encountered by the Electoral Service in terms of storage of election equipment and working space at the Civic Building and making sure that rooms needed for the election process are adequate for purpose;

(ii)               that this Scrutiny Panel supports actions to address issues regarding the health and safety of staff.

(iii)             that this Scrutiny Panel supports actions to address the issues described relating to the count.

(2)  That John Walker be thanked for his informative presentation and report.

(3) That arrangements be made for the Scrutiny Panel to view the DVD referred to, and for it to be shown at Rotherham Show and Area Assemblies to help promote democracy.

Consideration was given to a report, presented by Janet Spurling, Equalities and Diversity Officer, which outlined the progress made in implementing the first year actions within the Rotherham Women’s Strategy.

Charts appended to the report detailed the progress, (assessed as green amber or red), against the 48 objectives across all themes.

It was reported that there were no particular concerns about the progress of the objectives shown as amber, and they will continue to be monitored.

However, the Panel’s attention was drawn to the two objectives shown as red:-

-                      increase the number of employers in Rotherham who support flexible working

-                      promote and sustain Rotherham Women’s Network

A section within the report set out how it was proposed to continue the progress throughout 2008-2009; together with reporting and monitoring arrangements.

Members of the Panel raised the following issues and the Equalities and Diversity Officer answered accordingly:-

-                      Alignment of the objectives to each of the Local Strategic Partnership’s “Theme Boards”, and whether the Theme Boards had taken on board the various elements of the Strategy.

It was reported that to date the support had been positive.

-                      Had the Council’s cross-cutting themes of fairness and sustainability been reflected in the structures and the drive to take this strategy forward?

It explained that the ‘Fairness’ objectives were primarily process based and underpinned much of the delivery of other work.  However, monitoring did not start until year 2 for a number of actions.  Most of the issues raised in consultation regarding sustainable development were covered in other strategies, so there were only two actions in this strategy, one of which linked closely with actions under ‘Achieving’.

-                      what was the bottom line age within the statistics?

The strategy included women aged from 14 to 19 years.

-           Who was the Women’s Planning Champion? and what was her role?

The Women’s Planning Champion was Helen Sleigh, Senior Planner, in Environment and Development Services.  Her role was to assist with involving women in consultation and build up the data base of contacts.

-                      How did the objective of improving local transport options fit with the reference to traffic signals at St. Ann’s roundabout?

It was explained that there was an omission of a reference to safety and women not being happy about using subways.

Also information had been received recently from Travel South Yorkshire about men/women’s perspective of safety which needed further analysis.

-                      Why was it considered necessary that women should feel involved in town centre activities?

-                      Why should buildings be made more women friendly?

It was explained that these two issues had been in response to consultation.

Taiba Yasseen, REMA, added that much of the information had come from speaking to women, best practice in the voluntary/community sectors and from the range of stakeholders that were involved.

-                      Was a Male Strategy also planned?

It was explained that the Council had to comply with the Gender Equality Duty and that the work of the Equalities and Diversity Team covered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

Consideration was given to a report, presented by Tanya Stanley, Area Partnership Manager, which set out the final update for the 4^th quarter 2007/2008 in respect of the progress of each of the seven Area Assembly Area Plans.

The Appendix to the report set out in detail key community priorities for each Area Assembly together with identified actions, milestones etc and a commentary on progress to date.

Members of the Panel raised the following issues:-

-                      lack of faith by residents – how was this being address?

It was explained that the Area Assemblies were trying to work smarter and they were trying to develop charters.

-                      omission of a completion date from the report.

This comment was noted.

-                      What was the added value of the work that Area Assemblies were doing?

It was explained that this would be explained in the next Area Plans.

-                      Report style and the need for a more helpful way to present this information to Elected Members, perhaps also identifying priorities for each of the Area Assemblies and also comparisons and noting what actions could be shared.

These comments were noted.

-                      How were the plans put together?

It was explained that they were put together as a result of consultation events through the summer and presentations at meetings.

Resolved:-  That the report be received and the progress noted.

Consideration was given to a report, presented by Cath Saltis, Head of Scrutiny Services, relating to the possible revisiting of the Scrutiny Review of Parish Councils to see if the Parish Charter is making any tangible differences for the Parish Councils.  It was proposed that this be a mini-review reporting back to this Panel in October 2008.

The report highlighted some areas that might be looked at by the Review group.

Resolved:  That Councillor Austen chairs the mini-review, and Councillors J. Cutts, Hamilton, and Foden, together with Parish Councillor Alan Buckley, be nominated to sit of the Parish Charter Review Group.

Councillor Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities and Involvement, gave a PowerPoint presentation of his Annual Report, which focussed on performance on key issues over the last municipal year, and identified on-going and future activity.

Key issues covered included:-

-                      Local Democracy Week – 15^th to 21^st October, 2007

-                      Progress in “narrowing the gap”

-                      LINk – Local Involvement network for Rotherham

-                      EU migration

-                      Community Cohesion

-                      Diversity

-                      Gypsy and Traveller Site Allocation

-                      Parish Network

-                      Asylum Seekers and Refugees

-                      Equality

-                      Voluntary and Community Sector

Members of the Panel raised the following issues:-

-                      Protocol of the Yorkshire Local Councils Association re: answering telephone enquiries

It was explained that this was a matter for that Association

-                      How would all the strands come together?

-                      How would the emerging new policies affect the portfolio and work of the Cabinet Member?

-                      The cohesion element/Violence and extremism

-                      Where was the Council going on the development of new neighbourhood Councils?

It was explained that these issues were encompasses in the empowerment white paper.  It was proposed to work closely with Neighbourhoods.  However the guidance from Government was not clear.  There would be a need to work more closely with Parish Councils and the Community and Voluntary Sectors as they may be able to commission and deliver services.  There would also be emphasis on education regarding cohesion.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Hussain for his information presentation.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting of the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel held on 12^th June, 2008 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Consideration was given to the minutes of a meeting of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Involvement held on 12^th June, 2008.

Resolved:-  That the contents of the minutes be noted.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee held on 13^th June, 2008.

Resolved:-  That the contents of the minutes be noted.

Consideration was given to the minutes of a meeting of the New Arrivals Working Party held on 13^th June, 2008.

Consideration was given to the minutes of a meeting of the Members’ Training and Development Panel held on 26^th June, 2008.