Issue - meetings

To review the use of task groups in decision making and consider an alternative approach.

The Local Committee resolved to:

i.      Agreed that the establishment of task groups should be held in abeyance for the year 2017/18 and should be reconsidered if significant new funding becomes available

ii.    Defer the appointment of two representatives from the Local Committee to join the Early Help advisory board until next meeting

Reasons:

i.      The local committee wished to slim-line the decision making process around Highways budget whilst retaining the valuable local knowledge of divisional members

ii.     The local committee will appoint its representatives when it hears from the Children’s and Family Service at next meeting.

Mr Harmer left the meeting as this item was introduced.

The primary objective of this report, which was presented by the Partnership Committee Officer, was to evaluate the use of local task groups to allocate highways funding in the light of the current financial situation and to suggest a simpler, alternative method for the year ahead. The second objective was to note the changes in youth services and ask the committee to appoint two representatives for the Early Help advisory boards that are in the process of being established.

It was recognised that task groups had been very useful in focusing on the local highways issues in the past and that the involvement of parish and town representatives had meant that a wide range of views had been taken into account. One committee member expressed they would be unhappy to see task groups put on hiatus as they had often been used to addressed other local issues such as car parks and utility works and this had been beneficial to their area.

It was however accepted that task group meetings add to a councillor’s busy schedule and that in view of the drastic decrease in available funds, it would be more efficient for the divisional members to act as single points of contact and liaise with the Area Highway Manager directly.

The local committee had received a briefing about the Early Help service at their private meeting on 12^th June. This initiative is a new way of identifying and deploying services to young people and their families. The local committee is invited by the service to appoint two representatives who can be either county or borough members As the service is due to present to them at the next meeting, the committee felt they would be better equipped to appoint representatives then when they could confirm what level of commitment the role is likely to entail.

The Local Committee resolved to:

i.      Agreed that the establishment of task groups should be held in abeyance for the year 2017/18 and should be reconsidered if significant new funding becomes available

ii.     Defer the appointment of two representatives from the Local Committee to join the Early Help advisory board until next meeting

Reasons:

i.      The local committee wished to slim-line the decision making process around Highways budget whilst retaining the valuable local knowledge of divisional members

ii.     The local committee will appoint its representatives when it hears from the Children’s and Family Service at next meeting.