Apologies were received from Councillors PL Bettington, TM James and P Rone.  Apologies were also received from Councillor PM Morgan (Cabinet Member – Health and Wellbeing).

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

Councillor JW Hope had been appointed to substitute for Councillor PL Bettington but circumstances prevented him from doing so.

7. THE YOUTH SERVICE REVIEW.

Councillor AM Atkinson, Personal, A trustee of Home Support the Hereford YouthCharity.

7. THE YOUTH SERVICE REVIEW.

Councillor EPJ Harvey, Personal, Chairman of Youth International (Herefordshire).

7. THE YOUTH SERVICE REVIEW.

Councillor MAF Hubbard, Personal, A member of the Friends of Castle Green Community Group.

7. THE YOUTH SERVICE REVIEW.

Councillor NP Nenadich, Personal, A trustee of the Close House youth project..

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 May 2012 (To Follow).

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2012 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 will be no discussion of the issue at the time when the matter is raised.  Consideration will be given to whether it should form part of the Committee’s work programme when compared with other competing priorities.)

The following suggestions were received:

·         That the Committee carry out a full review of the Local Transport Plan (LTP) at its earliest opportunity and sustain its focus on the Plan by including it within the Committee’s work plan.

·         That the Committee should examine how the plans for development of the Enterprise Action Zone at Rotherwas could proceed without links to the LTP and LDF in place.

It was noted that the LTP was already included in the work programme but the timetable for both the LTP and the Local Development Framework was under review and it was not clear at this stage when it would be timely for the Committee to consider the Plans.  The Committee was advised that a report was scheduled to be made to Cabinet on the timetable for both Plans on 12 July and that a report would be made to the Committee before Cabinet.

In view of the weight of Council business to be considered in July it was proposed that the Committee should request that an additional meeting of Council should be scheduled towards the end of September, noting that the possibility of making such an arrangement had been discussed by Group Leaders.

RESOLVED:              That it be requested that an additional meeting of Council be scheduled towards the end of September 2012.

To note questions received from the public and the items to which they relate.

(Questions are welcomed for consideration at a Scrutiny Committee meeting so long as the question is directly related to an item listed on the agenda.  If you have a question you would like to ask then please submit it no later than two working days before the meeting to the Committee Officer.  This will help to ensure that an answer can be provided at the meeting). 

There were none.

To consider whether the Committee wishes to make any comments to Cabinet on the outcome of the public consultation regarding the Youth Review; and the recommendations on a preferred model for the future delivery of youth service functions in Herefordshire.

(Councillor AM Atkinson, EPJ Harvey, MAF Hubbard and NP Nenadich declared personal interests.)

The Committee was invited to consider whether it wished to make any comments to Cabinet on the outcome of the public consultation regarding the Youth Review and the recommendations to Cabinet on a preferred model for the future delivery of youth service functions in Herefordshire.

The Assistant Director – Children and Young People Provider Services (AD) informed the Committee that changes had been made to the draft report included with the agenda papers, prior to the publication of the report for consideration by Cabinet on 14 June.  That Cabinet report had been circulated to Members of the Committee and the Assistant Director drew attention to the changes to the figures on the consultation responses in the published report, noting that some further adjustment was needed to those figures.  

In discussion the following principal points were made:

·           Some Members stressed the principle that youth provision should be youth led rather than an education driven programme.

·         The AD referred to Cabinet’s expectation that services should cover their costs.  The report contained the proposal that should outdoor education services, (the sailing centre at Bodenham Lakes and the Canoe Centre at Castle Green, Hereford)  not prove commercially viable and no suitable provider be found it be recommended that the Council should make arrangements to close the provision by April 2013. The AD outlined the proposal to work with the National Youth Agency (NYA) to plan the next steps for developing a community engagement model for the universal youth services and to consider options for outdoor education.

Some Members expressed support for the benefits the outdoor education services provided and it was suggested that there was scope to generate increased usage from schools and outside the County to improve the viability of the services.

The Cabinet Support Member commented that the Council’s financial situation meant that changes had to be made to service delivery as a whole.  The outdoor education services were complex and quite expensive to provide and had relatively modest use. Other organisations offered these services, with more attractive facilities, and the question had to be asked as to where the limited resources available to the Council could be deployed to best effect.  The geography of the County meant that the resources in Bodenham and Hereford could not readily be used by schools during the school day.

Some Members commented on the need for a full assessment of the value for money of the outdoor education services before any recommendation for closure could be considered.  The AD confirmed that the proposals included market testing of the provision.

It was requested that in undertaking the market testing exercise weight should be given to the need to retain services in the County that were key to its core identity, for example those relating to use of the river and the environment.

·         The report to Cabinet recommended that should no suitable provider be found, the Director for People’s Services be authorised to make  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider the Committee’s work programme.

The Committee considered its work programme.

Members noted the arrangements being made for Members to have the opportunity to contribute to the programme for Root and Branch Reviews, plans to brief Members on the reviews and the intention to report the outcome of the reviews to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee before they were considered by Cabinet.

RESOLVED: That the work programme be noted.