6.01 Policy Development and Performance Monitoring Panels
The Council will appoint two Panels to discharge the functions conferred by Section 21 of the Local Government Act 2000 and Regulations under Section 32 of the Act:
- The Policy Development Panel
- The Performance Monitoring Panel
6.02 Composition
- The Policy Development Panel shall comprise 16 members
- The Performance Monitoring Panel shall comprise 15 members
- Appointments to the Panels shall be made in accordance with the Local Government (Committees & Political Groups) Regulations 1990 (except, so far as the Performance Monitoring Panel is concerned, if a political group fails within a period of 3 weeks to express its wishes for the appointments of its members to seats allocated to it or indicates that it does not wish to nominate members to fill all of the seats allocated to it, then the Council shall make appointments as it sees fit)
- No member of the Cabinet shall be a member of the Panels
- Non-councillors may be co-opted as members of the Panels.
6.03 Appointment of Task-Groups
The Policy Development Panel and the Performance Monitoring Panel may appoint smaller task-groups to examine issues on an ad-hoc basis. Task-group members shall be members of the appointing Panel. Non-Councillors appointed to a task-group need not be a member of the appointing Panel.
6.04 Roles and functions
(a) Common Functions
The Policy Development Panel and the Performance Monitoring Panel shall collectively have power:
(i) to review or scrutinise decisions made, or other action taken, in connection with the discharge of any functions which are the responsibility of the Cabinet.
(ii) to make reports or recommendations to the Full Council or the Cabinet in connection with the discharge of any functions which are the responsibility of the Cabinet.
(iii) to review or scrutinise decisions made, or other action taken, in connection with the discharge of any functions which are not the responsibility of the Cabinet.
(iv) to make reports or recommendations to the Council or the Cabinet with respect to the discharge of any functions which are not the responsibility of the Cabinet.
(v) to make reports or recommendations to the Council or the Cabinet on any matters which affect South Holland or the inhabitants of South Holland.
It should be noted that the work of the Panels may well cross over. This means that the Performance Monitoring Panel may undertake work which leads to policy development, and the Policy Development Panel may need to examine performance when reviewing policy.
(b) Policy Development Panel
The Policy Development Panel will have the power to:
(i) assist the Council and the Cabinet in the development of its budget and policy framework by in-depth analysis of policy issues;
(ii) conduct research, community and other consultation in the analysis of policy issues and possible options;
(iii) consider and implement mechanisms to encourage and enhance community participation in the development of policy options;
(iv) question members of the Cabinet and/or committees, chief officers and Heads of Service about their views on issues and proposals affecting the area;
(v) liaise with other external organisations operating in the area, whether national, regional or local, to ensure that the interests of local people are enhanced by collaborative working; and
(vi) make recommendations to the Cabinet, a committee of the Cabinet and/or Council arising out of the outcome of the analysis of policy issues.
(c) Performance Monitoring Panel
The Performance Monitoring Panel will have power to:
(i) review and scrutinise the decisions made by and performance of the Cabinet and/or committees of the Cabinet, individual portfolio holders and council officers or a decision made under joint arrangements both in relation to individual decisions and a series of decisions over time.
Where the decision is made by the Cabinet, Committee of the Cabinet, portfolio holder, an officer making a key decision, or a decision made under joint arrangements then the power of the Panel under this section to review and scrutinise a decision made but not implemented includes power to:
- recommend that the decision be reconsidered by the person who made it, or
- arrange for the Council to review or scrutinise decisions made, or other action taken, in connection with the discharge of any functions which are the responsibility of the Cabinet.
(ii) review and scrutinise the performance of the Council in relation to its policy objectives, performance targets and/or particular service areas;
(iii) question members of the Cabinet and/or committees, chief officers and Heads of Service about:
- their decisions and performance generally in comparison with service plans and targets over a period of time;
- their decisions and performance in relation to particular decisions, initiatives and projects; and
- their decisions and performance in respect of items which have been called-in
(iv) conduct research, community and other consultation in the analysis of performance monitoring;
(v) liaise with other organisations operating in the area, whether national, regional or local to ensure that the interests of local people are enhanced by collaberative working;
(vi) make recommendations to the Cabinet and/or Council arising from the outcome of the scrutiny process;
(vii) review and scrutinise the performance of other public bodies in the area and invite reports from them by requesting them to address the Panel about their activities and performance;
(viii) question and gather evidence from any person (with their consent);
(ix) consider progress reports and the outcome of Best Value Reviews and submit reports to the Cabinet in accordance with the Panel's responsibilities set out in Article 6.06 below and Part 3 of the Constitution; and
(x) revisit a sample of implemented planning applications on an annual basis (in accordance with paragraph 11.1 of the Protocol on Good Practice in Planning at Part 5, Section 5).
6.05 Approach to Work
- The Panels will adopt a constructive approach to their work with meetings being conducted in a non-confrontational atmosphere.
- With the exception of key decisions which are subject to call-in, scrutiny of officer decisions will normally only occur as part of a review of service plans or during the Best Value process.
- The Panels or task-groups of the Panels:
- may require members of the Cabinet and officers of the Authority, to attend before them to answer questions (see Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13 at part 4, section 5) although officers below Head of Service level will not be required to appear before the Panel, and
- may invite other persons to attend meetings of the Panel or Task Group (see Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 14 at part 4, section 5).
6.06 Work Programme and Reporting
- The Panels shall determine their own work programme although the Cabinet or the Full Council may commission the Panels to investigate and consider specific issues prior to consideration by the Cabinet or Full Council (see Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules 7 and 8 at part 4, section 5).
- The Panels will report directly to the appropriate policy making body (i.e. the Council or the Cabinet) but where a report has been commissioned by either the Council or the Cabinet it will report directly to the commissioning body (see Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10 at part 4, section 5).
- The outcome of Best Value Reviews, particularly progress on implementation plans, will be reported to the Performance Monitoring Panel at six monthly intervals.
- Best Value reports from the Performance Monitoring Panel shall be submitted to the Cabinet.
6.07 Frequency of Meetings
- The Panels shall each meet a minimum of 5 times a year in accordance with an agreed schedule of meetings.
6.08 Finance
A small contingency budget is available to the Panels which will be controlled by the Monitoring Officer, following consultation with the Chairman of the appropriate Panel, and any concerns of the Monitoring Officer being reported to the full Council.
6.09 Annual report
The Panels must report annually to full Council on their workings, and make recommendations for future work programmes and amended working methods if appropriate.
6.10 Proceedings of Panels
The Panels will conduct their proceedings in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules set out in Part 4 of this Constitution.
