A minutes silence was held as a mark of respect for former Borough Councillor John Smith who had recently died.

To notify the Mayor of any items that appear later in the agenda in which you may have an interest.

The following Councillors indicated that they would be declaring an interest :-

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 29^th February 2008

The Minutes of the meeting held on 29^th February, 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

The Mayor reported that since the last meeting she had attended 26 functions and events including a Sports Relief event at Shildon Leisure Centre and the funeral of former Sedgefield Borough Councillor John Smith.

In addition she had attended a number of Golden, Diamond and also a 70^th Wedding Anniversary celebrations as well as charity evenings and civic dinners.

Stephen Eames, Chief Executive, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust will attend the meeting to give a presentation on the above review outlining the Trust’s vision for the future.

A briefing note giving a background to the ‘Seizing the Future’ initiative is attached for information.    

N.B. In Accordance with Section 81 of the Local Government Act 2000 and the Members Code of Conduct Councillor J. Robinson JP declared a Personal interest in this item and remained in the meeting but took no part in the discussion and voting thereon.

It was explained that Mr. E. Lovell from County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust was at the meeting to give a presentation on Seizing the Future Review outlining the Trust’s vision for the future.  (For copy of presentation see file of Minutes).  

The presentation covered the background to the Trust, how the Trust had developed, the ethos behind the Trust and local hospitals which were included. 

Various aspects of “Seizing the Future”, which was a programme of change aimed at developing the Trusts strategic direction for the next five years, were outlined.

Mr. Lovell identified why the review was being undertaking, how the review was being undertaken, what the review hoped to achieve, the development of future service options, consultation which was taking place with stakeholders and the emerging drivers for change.

The timescale for the review was identified which included an initial scoping study phase to be completed by January, 2008.  The Trust was commencing work on the scoping study and was engaging with internal and external stakeholders.  As part of the process a stakeholder mapping exercise would be undertaken and a stakeholder engagement website was to be established. 

Given the importance of the subject it was suggested that questions be deferred to a future meeting of Healthy Borough Overview and Scrutiny Committee to allow the relevant issues to be fully debated prior to formal response to the Consultation Exercise.  Questions were to be submitted in writing prior to the meeting in order for the Trust to fully respond to questions.  Members would, however, be able to ask supplementary questions at the meeting, without written notification.

RESOLVED :         That the presentation be received and questions be deferred for consideration by a future meeting of Healthy Borough with Strong Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Report of Chief Executive.

N.B. In Accordance with Section 81 of the Local Government Act 2000 and the Members Code of Conduct Councillor Mrs  L. Hovvels declared a Personal and Prejudicial interest in this item and left the meeting for the duration of the discussion and voting thereon.

Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Executive (for copy see file of Minutes) relating to membership of Be Enterprising Franchising Company.

It was explained that Cabinet at its meeting on 13^th March, 2008 had considered a report on the Be Enterprising Franchising Company which was to be established to promote self-employment within disadvantaged communities.  At that meeting it was recommended that Council appoint Councillor Mrs. Lucy Hovvels to serve as a member of the franchise company.

RESOLVED :            That Councillor Mrs. L. Hovvels serves as a member of the Be Enterprising Franchising Company.

Report of Director of Resources.

Consideration was give to a report of the Director of Resources (for copy see file of Minutes)relating to the Review of the Council’s Corporate Governance Arrangements.

Members were reminded that Council at its meeting in December 2002 had approved the Local Code of Corporate Governance which detailed measures the Council would have to demonstrate how it would meet the requirements and five dimensions of corporate governance.  Following this an Action Plan had been produced to ensure that any tasks that needed to be undertaken fully complied with the Code, were identified and regular monitoring of progress against these actions were carried out.

It was noted that CIPFA and SOLACE had recently reviewed their guidance and had issued, “Delivering Good Governance in Local Government : A Guidance Note for English Authorities”.

An updated version of the Local Code of Corporate Governance had been developed taking the revised guidance into account.

RESOLVED :         That the revised Local Code of Corporate Governance be approved..