Agenda item

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) presented an Annual Report highlighting the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 2019/20.

The Chair of (OSC) advised that the year had begun by meeting with Cabinet Members, directors and officers to find out more about their thoughts around key issues, which also helped to guide the Committee in developing a meaningful work programme.  The Chair of OSC took the opportunity to personally thank Cabinet Members for allowing OSC to work so closely with them.

OSC covered a wide range of items during 2019/20 ranging from the Council’s 2019 Air Quality Action Plan through to how the Council was developing its Local Offer for care leavers.  The Committee undertook two in-depth Scrutiny reviews, ‘Improving Household Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing’ and ‘Ambition 2020 and its Early Impact’.  During the year, the Committee also undertook pre-decision scrutiny on issues such as the Voids Improvement Plan and the draft Housing Allocations Policy, as well as worked to provide extra value, such as through providing a forum for Borough representatives to talk to the Police on crime and disorder.

The programme for 2020/21 included updates into the recommendations arising from the ‘Improving Household Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing’, and ‘Ambition 2020 and its Early Impact’ scrutiny reviews, reviewing the Barking and Dagenham response to Covid-19 alongside a full and engaging work programme.

The Chair of OSC thanked Leanna McPherson, Masuma Ahmed and Claudia Wakefield, Mark Tyson and Fiona Taylor for their ongoing support.

The Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee (HSC) in 2019/20 then presented an annual report highlighting the work of the Committee in 2019/20.

The Member took the opportunity to remind all Members of the importance of health scrutiny, recognising and acknowledging the enormous strain that the NHS, local authorities and local residents were under at this unprecedented time.

The Member highlighted Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust’s (BHRUT) deficit in 2019-2020, £65 million, and the forecasted deficit for 2020/2021, £100 million, which was of grave concern to the Committee.  The forecasted deficit was before Covid-19.

HSC looked at the Trust’s response to research by Health Education England and the General Medical Council that found widespread discontent among junior doctors within the Trust. Of the nine recommendations they made, four had been implemented. The Trust assured HSC that the remaining five would be progressed to ensure the concerns of junior doctors would be addressed.

It was also reported to the Assembly that the health commissioning model would move to a single North East London Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which will come into force on 5 April 2021 – the Committee sought assurance from BHR CCGs, that the governance of this model would ensure that local needs would be addressed via locally focused boards and that the Committee’s representations would be fed into their design.

The Assembly were also updated on the recommendations following the reviewing into Childhood Obesity, which was undertaken in 2018/19.

Moving forward, the Health Scrutiny Committee faced many challenges including Covid-19 and the move to a single CCG for North East London.

The Member thanked Masuma Ahmed, Matthew Cole and the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration for their support.

The Leader thanked Councillor Keller and the other members of the HSC for the work of HSC during the current difficult times caused by the pandemic.