The Head of Legal and Democratic Services explained that a formal Scrutiny training session had taken place on 1 June 2011 and had been very well received by Members. Members then watched a DVD which outlined the general process and key aims of Scrutiny.

The Head of Housing and Communications informed Members that in 2008 the Services Select Committee had undertaken an in-depth scrutiny exercise which had focused on Empty Homes. Democratic Services had created a Guide to In-depth Scrutiny which was distributed to Members. It was explained that a sub-group had been formed to consider the issues. Housing Officers had provided the sub-group with case studies to consider and relevant information which included funding and information about landlords. The sub-group had decided to set up a Panel of experts, which had included the Manager of the Kent County Council’s “No Use Empty Scheme”, the Director of West Kent Housing Association and the Chair of the Landlords’ Association as well as other relevant Officers and interested parties. The sub-group had devised questions to ask the Panel and had carried out a question

and answer session at a meeting of the Committee.

The Head of Housing and Communications informed Members that, at the time, there had been 600 empty properties in the District with ten properties per year being brought back into use. She noted that the question and answer session had generated a good discussion of the issues and led to an Action Plan being produced at the meeting. An Empty Homes Officer had been created within the Housing team and an amount of funding had been secured. A new target had been set to bring 20 properties per year back into use and the Head of Housing and Communications felt that Members had successfully supported Officers in achieving this target.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services drew Members’ attention to Part 5 of the Council’s Constitution which outlined the Overview and Scrutiny Function of the Council and included the Committee’s Terms of Reference. She noted paragraph 5.10, the Councillor Call for Action, which explained how Councillors could add items to committee agendas. She also noted that the new Localism Bill would allow the Council’s to decide whether to return to the old Committee System which gave decision making powers to each Committee rather than the Cabinet. However, this could not take place until 2015. Through the Localism Bill Members might also be asked by the County Council to sit on Police and Health Boards.

When considering items for scrutiny, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services noted that it was important that the Committee kept strictly within its terms of reference and that Members were realistic and only take forward a few in-depth scrutiny exercises per year where there was a high chance of achieving a successful outcome.

Members were then split into three groups to complete a scrutiny exercise. They were given a case study relating to Redditch Borough Council and the promotion of the town and Council and were asked to consider how they would scrutinise this issue. Following the exercise they reported their ideas back to the Committee. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services commended Members for their full and detailed answers and advised that, should they wish to view further case studies, they were available on the Centre for Public Scrutiny website.

The Chairman noted the Councillor Call for Action and felt it was important for Members to keep this in mind.