Agenda item

·  Councillor Karen Walker made a statement to the Panel regarding the budget and Peasedown St John. A copy of the statement is appended to these minutes.

The Panel and Cabinet member for Efficiency and Finance noted the statement.

·  Nicolette Boater made a statement to the Panel regarding ‘The adequacy of Overview and Scrutiny with respect to current and future challenges’. The Panel also noted Nicolette Boater’s question and the answer provided. A copy of the statement and of the question and answer is attached to these minutes.

The Panel and Cabinet Member for Efficiency and Finance noted the statement.

·  Christine Boyd made a statement to the Panel regarding the East of Bath Park and Ride. She stated that nobody had made a formal decision to approve a Park and Ride or identified a need for it yet a large amount of money has been spent. She urged the Cabinet members to produce a fully costed report. A copy of the statement is appended to these minutes.

The Chair stated that the Panel will take her comments into account in consideration of this item on the agenda.

·  Annie Kilvington made a statement to the Panel regarding the East of Bath Park and Ride. She stated that large sums of money had been spent delivering a commercial agenda and asked for transparency on this spend. A copy of the statement is appended to these minutes.

The Chair stated that the Panel will take her comments into account in consideration of this item on the agenda. Ms Kilvington questioned why any Panel concerns are sent to the Cabinet Member for Transport, she stated that this is not appropriate. The Monitoring Officer, Maria Lucas explained that this is how Scrutiny works and set out in legislation.

·  Sian James made a statement to the Panel regarding the East of Bath Park and Ride. She spoke about the risk on this project and asked what would be cut to pay for the work done on it so far. She asked if the Panel had seen the Risk Register and stated that the risk of reversion is real. The Strategic Director for Resources explained that the Panel does not routinely see the Risk Register and that Corporate Audit Committee would have sight of it.

The Chair stated that the Panel will take her comments into account in consideration of this item on the agenda.

·  Councillor Rayment made a statement to the Panel. He questioned why the recent call-in was judged invalid by unelected officers. He thanked the Chair for taking this item but stated that the call-in should not have been judged invalid and that this represented an attack on democracy. He stated that the Labour and Liberal Democrat Groups will not stand for this and urged other groups to join them in order that the call-in system be effective.

The Monitoring Officer explained that Group Leaders will be asked to clarify the Constitution in relation to future call-in requests. She further explained that the call-in would not have necessarily stopped implementation of the decision, if a call-in is upheld by a Scrutiny Panel, the issues goes back to the Cabinet Member for consideration.

Councillor Furse stated that there is no history of frivolous call-ins in this Council and those that have happened have extracted further information on the issue and sometimes the Cabinet Member has amended their view.

Councillor Rayment stated that the Panel have Legal and Democratic Services in their remit. The Strategic Director for Resources explained that two matters from the invalid call-in are on the agenda today, the Councils constitution is not.

·  Councillor Millar made a statement to the Panel. She endorsed the comments made by Councillor Rayment and added that Scrutiny is an important role. She stated that the decision in question should not have been taken under the Single Member Decision (SMD) process and should have been a key decision. She asked that the money spent on consultants on the Park and Ride be made available. She further asked why officers cannot defend the money spent in public. The Monitoring Officer explained that the decision in question was in fact a key decision and it was taken in public by a single member.

·  Councillor Romero made a statement to the Panel. She stated that call-ins should not be feared and the total spend on the Park and Ride is large and not all has been done publically. She asked the Panel to launch an investigation on how much has been spent.

·  Councillor Moss made a statement to the Panel. He questioned the decision that the call-in was not allowed and stated that it is about the rights of backbench Councillors to ask legitimate questions. The Monitoring Officer explained that a briefing note will be sent to all Councillors settling out how the Constitution works which will reference Article 13 in the Council constitution as well as the rules of public law. The Strategic Director of Resources stated that it is not for this Panel to rule on the Constitution. Councillor Furse asked that the Panel be sent a copy of the legal advice on this call-in. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that written legal advice would be obtained from the QC. Following a query from Councillor Millar, the Monitoring Officer confirmed that a public law QC had been consulted.

Councillor Barrett expressed concerns about the criticism made about officers in this meeting, as officers are professionals and cannot fully reply in public.

(Please note that the issue on the Park and Ride in some of the above statements and debate is minuted under item 5 on this agenda, minute number 40)