Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Board gave further consideration to a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) on proposals to establish a Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) with Warwickshire County Council in line with the provisions set out in legislation and guidance. The recommendations in the report had already been approved by Council at their meeting on 11^th July, 2017. Consideration of the report provided the opportunity for the Board to consider in more detail the development of the JHOSC including the relationship between the JHOSC and the Board. 

The Board were reminded that legislation provided for local authorities to appoint a discretionary Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to carry out all or specified health scrutiny functions, for example health scrutiny in relation to health issues that cross local authority boundaries. Establishing a joint committee of this kind would not prevent the appointing local authorities from separately scrutinising health issues. However, there were likely to be occasions on which a discretionary joint committee would be the best way of considering how the needs of a local population, which happened to cross council boundaries, were being met.

Legislation also required that local authorities to appoint joint committees where a relevant NHS body or health service provider consulted more than one local authority’s health scrutiny function about proposals for substantial development or variation of services. In such circumstances:

·  only the joint committee may respond to the consultation (i.e. rather than each individual local authority responding separately).

·  only the joint committee may exercise the power to require the provision of information by the relevant NHS body or health service provider about the proposal.

·  only the joint committee may exercise the power to require members or employees of the relevant NHS body or health service provider to attend before it to answer questions in connection with the consultation.

Increasingly, proposals from the National Health Services (NHS) were affecting larger geographical areas, particularly for local residents in Coventry and Warwickshire.

An appendix to the report detailed the terms of reference for the agreed JHOSC which had also been approved by Warwickshire County Council at their meeting the previous evening. Key points from the terms of reference were:

·  Each authority will appoint five members from their own Health and Overview Scrutiny Committees reflecting the political balance of each authority – The Council’s representatives were Councillors Clifford, Gannon, Kershaw, Mayer and Miks

·  The host authority will alternate with each meeting. The Chair of the JHOSC from the host authority will chair that meeting and the support for the meeting will also come from the host authority

·  Responses to consultations from the JHOSC must be signed by the Chairs of both authorities.

Mr Spurgeon, Co-opted Member informed of the concerns of Healthwatch that they did not have a co-opted representative on the JHOSC.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The update on the new Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted.

(2) The Chair, Councillor Gannon to discuss with Councillor Wallace Redford, the Chair of Warwickshire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the appointment of representatives from Healthwatch to the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.