Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

OSC.260

Declarations of Interest

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any of the matters on the Agenda and, if so, to formally declare that interest.

Minutes:

Councillor Connolly declared a personal interest as his partner is employed in Adult Care Services

 

OSC.261

Public Question Time

A period of 30 minutes has been set aside for members of the public to ask questions on matters on the agenda for tonight’s meeting

Minutes:

There were no questions asked from the public present at the meeting under this item.

 

OSC.262

Call-In of Decision of Cabinet - Plan for Change Review of Libraries Proposals Following Consultation pdf icon PDF 418 KB

Following the receipt of a Notice of Call-in within the required deadline, from Councillor Hankey (Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee) calling in the decision of the Cabinet set out in Minute CA.04 of the meeting held on 10 July 2013, a meeting of the Committee has been convened in order to consider the matter in accordance with the reasons set out on the Notice of Call-In.


In considering the matter, the options available to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are as follows:


1. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee decides not to offer any comments on the Notice. In this situation the decision of the Cabinet will stand.
2. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee decides to offer comments or objections, which will be referred back to the Cabinet at the  meeting arranged for 28 August 2013.
3. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee may refer the Notice, without comment, to the Council. The matter will then be considered by the Council on 11 September 2013 (a standard item appears on all Council summons to consider referrals from Scrutiny Committees). Any comments or objections from Council will be referred back to the Cabinet at the earliest opportunity, in accordance with the Council Constitution.

The Cabinet will be required to consider any objections and comments but will not be bound by them unless..."it is contrary to the Policy Framework or contrary to or not wholly consistent with the Budget" (Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules - Paragraph 16(g) of the Council Constitution).”

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair, Councillor Hankey, reported that the main item of business before the Committee was as a result of a Call-in Notice. The Notice related to the Cabinet decision taken on 10 July 2013 to approve proposals in respect of Libraries across the Borough

 

The report for decision of the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Tourism and Culture had been submitted which outlined the next steps of the Library Review process and set out revised proposals following on from a report considered by Cabinet in April 2013.  The April report, the Phase 2 Consultation report and the Equality Analysis Form were appended to the decision report.

 

The reasons for the Call-In of the decision were set out within the Notice as follows:

 

1.   The results of the consultation were ignored.

 

2.   There were insufficient financial figures provided in respect of alternative proposals.

                                     

The Chair, Councillor Hankey, and Members of the Committee questioned the Cabinet Member for Leisure Tourism and Culture and the following issues were raised:

 

·         The Chair, Councillor Hankey, and Members of the Committee acknowledged and welcomed the fact that all Libraries in the Borough would remain open as a result of the proposals in the report. In response to a question relating to potential further changes, the Cabinet Member stated that no further changes were planned at the present time.

 

·         With regard to the initial Plan for Change programme and the time taken to realise savings from the Library Service, the Executive Director of Communities and Neighbourhoods highlighted that as a statutory service, a process had been followed which had involved detailed consultations and the exploration of different procurement options. The Executive Director also referred to the changing budget position of the Council as a result of further cuts in grant funding and the impact this had on bringing the proposal forward.

 

·         In response to a questions relating to the decision not to proceed with the development of Community Hubs, the Executive Director of Resources explained that, following detailed structural and technical surveys, the substantially higher than expected level of capital investment required had changed the risk profile and viability of the business case. This was further compounded by notification of a further 10% cut to the Council’s budget as a result of the latest Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) in June.

 

·         Councillor Daly expressed concerns that the report to Cabinet in April had asserted that the Community Hub Model could be supported without detailed structural surveys having been undertaken. The Executive Director of Resources explained the importance of not pre-empting the consultation process but highlighted that the report submitted in April did clearly set out that any final proposals would be subject to a viable business case being developed following technical and structural survey work.

 

·         In response to points made by Councillors Carter and Cummings, the Cabinet Member agreed that the probability that there would be further substantial cuts to the Council’s overall funding as result of the CSR, and changes to the business rates system, had contributed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC.262