To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors PA Andrews and ME Cooper.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

There were none.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2010.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2010 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 none.

To consider the impact of the winter weather in 2009/10, the response by the Council, Partners and others to the problems it posed and identify matters that should form the basis of a report to Cabinet in sufficient time to build any recommendations into future winter planning.

The Committee met to gather evidence as part of its review of the impact of the winter weather in 2009/10 and the response by the Council, Partners and others to the problems it posed.

The Committee had sought and received written evidence from a range of sources.  The meeting focused on how the winter weather had affected a number of selected service areas, to help identify further matters that should form the basis of a report to Cabinet to help inform future winter planning.

The following officers attended the meeting to assist the Committee:

Children and Young People’s Directorate (CYPD)

C Baird – Assistant Director, Planning, Performance and Development (ADPPD)

Adult Social Care

S Keetley – Head of Service – Adult Social Care

G Taylor – Assistant Director – Provider Services

Highways

C Hall – Highway Network Manager (HNM)

R Ball - Assistant Director

S Burgess – Transportation Manager

Representatives from Amey: J Maddy,  C Howell, R Kinsella, M Thomas.

Information, Communication and Technology Services (ICT)

Z Pandor – Joint Director of ICT,

E Pawley, Knowledge and Web Services Manager.

Communications

R Blower - Head of Communications

Emergency Planning

Dr A Ali – Director of Public Health

P Nicholas– Assistant Director

E Hermon – Emergency Planning Manager

Resources

D Powell – Director of Resources

The Chairman remarked on the substantial impact the weather had had on the community, with both rural and urban areas experiencing considerable disruption, making this a county-wide issue worthy of the Committee’s consideration.

He explained how he proposed to conduct the meeting and thanked both those who had already made written submissions and those who had made themselves available at the meeting to assist the Committee with its enquiries.

He complimented officers on the considerable efforts that had been made in response to the winter problems, observing that the Committee was seeking to identify the scope for improvement where that was possible.

It had been decided to try to make efficient use of officer time by, as far as was practicable, focusing on services provided by the Children and Young People’s Directorate and Adult Social Care as discrete issues, with some specific separate consideration also of highway issues.   However, it was considered that a number of other issues including ICT, communication and emergency planning together with highways services overlapped to such an extent that they could not be segregated.

Considerations Relating Primarily to the Children and Young People’s Directorate

The following principal points were made:

Communicating school closures

Members suggested that it was vital to simplify communication to parents and staff.

The Assistant Director, Planning, Performance and Development (ADPPD) acknowledged that there were improvements that could be made to ensure that information was communicated via a variety of means to inform the public and staff of weather conditions and school closures.

The ICT service agreed that there were clearly improvements that could be made to communication and timeliness of that communication. 

The proposed development of an automated web based system to provide information on school  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.