To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors W.U. Attfield, A.E. Gray, and K.S. Guthrie.

To receive details of any Member nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

Councillor P.J. Edwards substituted for Councillor A.E. Gray and Councillor K.G. Grumbley for Councillor K.S. Guthrie.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on this agenda.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 28th June, 2007.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting held on 28th June, 2007 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

There were no suggestions from members of the public.

To consider a response to the public consultation on the development of enhanced partnership working between Herefordshire Council and the Herefordshire Primary Care Trust leading to the formation of a Public Service Trust for Herefordshire.

(Councillors WLS Bowen, PJ Edwards and SPA Daniels declared personal interests in this item)

The Committee considered the proposal to develop enhanced partnership working between Herefordshire Council and Herefordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) leading to the formation of a Public Service Trust (PST) for Herefordshire for the benefit of people in the County.

The Chairman praised the way in which the public consultation had been conducted.  It was through no lack of effort that public engagement had been limited.  A positive outcome from the process nonetheless was that those who had participated had recognised that the aim of the PST project was to deliver improved services.

The Government’s clear expectation was that, whatever form it took, there would be closer working between councils and primary care trusts and that further integration of service delivery was expected.   She explained that the Committee intended to scrutinise the proposal as a whole, within this context, by focusing on the following aspects: leadership, governance, finance, communication and ICT, administration, the timetable for the project and the consultation exercise.

Mr Hamilton, Project Director for the Herefordshire Public Service Trust, presented the report.  He traced moves towards closer integration between the Council and the PCT noting that these preceded the national consultation on the reconfiguration of Primary Care Trusts.  However, it was in their formal response to that consultation in March 2006 that the Council and the PCT had argued that a PCT for Herefordshire should be retained on the clear understanding that this would involve greater collaborative working between the two organisations.  He added that the actual idea of a Public Service Trust for Herefordshire had originated from the then West Midlands Strategic Health Authority (South).

The aims of the PST project as described in the report included the generation of efficiencies and savings.  Mr Hamilton stressed that the intention was that any such savings would be reinvested in improving and developing services.  Work was continuing on the detail of the proposal.  It was planned to report to the Council’s Cabinet and the PCT Board in September.

He updated the Committee on the response to the public consultation and commented on the process.  Responses now totalled 221.  Based on this 57% of respondents supported the proposal with 41% opposed.  He considered the process had been rigorous although the level of response was disappointing.  The report to the Committee set out the findings in an open and transparent way.

He emphasised that the proposal was not a result of central direction but reflected national guidance.  In support of this point he quoted statements on the need for closer integration from a national inter-agency working group, the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government, the former Secretaries of State for Health and Communities and Local Government and the former Prime Minister.

He noted that it was expected that aspects of the closer working envisaged, for example aligning performance assessment and governance arrangements would develop over different timescales.

Referring to the appointment of a single Chief Executive for the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.