Agenda item

The Committee considered the report of the Interim Corporate Director of Resources that provided Members with an opportunity to review and refresh ITS work programme for 2021/22 (for copy of report, see file of minutes).

The Principal Overview and Scrutiny Officer was in attendance to present the report and indicated that the it was a two stage process where they report on the work of the committee during the year in advance of bringing a final work programme to the committee’s first meeting in the new municipal year.

The report highlighted the refresh of the work programme in the context of the County Durham Vision and the Council Plan that was recently adopted. The work programme reflected the objectives, aims and actions contained within these documents that had superseded the previously altogether healthier context. They had also taken cognizance of priorities identified within the service grouping and also the NHS and healthcare partners and included their priorities as well for consideration in the work programme.

As a result of the pandemic the work programme this year was delivered virtually with a reduced number of meetings that required a greater prioritisation of those items coming to committee. This was supported with briefing papers circulated to members of the committee outside of formal committee meetings.

Paragraphs 12 and 13 of the report set out the major areas of work undertaken by the committee during the year together with a number of cross cutting areas of work with other overview and scrutiny committees that were identified at paragraph 14 of the report.

In terms of the work undertaken during the current year a number of these had been identified as needing to be rolled forward into 2021/22 and a number of these reports were considered at the meeting today.

Paragraph 15 of the report identified a number of areas for further progress updates and needed to be included in the work programme. The areas identified were the continued oversight of the Local Outbreak Management Plan and all things COVID related, Shotley Bridge Community Hospital project and the emerging changes around commissioning arrangements and the legislation that was currently going through government and the formalisation of the Integrated Care Systems arrangements and what that would mean for both the work of the committee and the wider scrutiny of NHS activity. They aimed to bring to committee in the new work programme details of the legislation and associated guidance published. Moving forward the number of meetings would be determined if meetings were to continue to be held virtually.

Councillor R Bell referred to the recent reorganisation of the NHS and the CCGs that was carried out over Christmas without coming to the committee. He then referred to the monitoring of NHS services particularly North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and asked when the committee were going to have NEAS at a meeting and if the monitoring work could be planned into the work programme.

The Principal Overview and Scrutiny Officer responded that the unfortunate timing of the COVID outbreak meant that the initial plans for monitoring of NEAS activity had to be put on hold due to lockdown and the ongoing demands placed on NHS partners arising from the pandemic. He had not been unable to get this back to committee but he provided assurances that this would be included in the work programme report and he would be liaising with key contacts in all the NHS foundation trusts to have those conversations around what areas of activity they have within their individual priorities moving forward and what they could expect to bring to committee for consideration.

The Chair fully supported Councillor Bell’s comments and indicated that this next year was going to be the most important for the committee and they needed to be on the ball and the work programme for this committee needed to be flexible and quickly responsive.

Resolved: (i) That the proposed AWHOSC work programme in relation to the current Council Plan 2020-2023 be noted.

(ii) That a further report to agree the AWHOSC Work Programme would be submitted to the first meeting of the Committee in the 2021/22 municipal year.