prayers and mayor's announcement

The Mayor welcomed his Chaplain, Canon Gilbert Spencer, to the meeting. The Mayor's Chaplain opened the meeting with Prayers.

The Mayor thanked Members for electing him as Mayor of Swale for 2009-2010 and looked forward to representing Swale Borough Council at future civic engagements.

Members sent their best wishes to the Mayoress, Mrs Pamela Berry.

minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26th March 2009 (Minute Nos. 787 - 795) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

appointment of the leader and deputy leader of the council

The Leader moved Minute No. 894 of the Executive Meeting held on 13th May 2009.

A Member commented on the importance of all Members receiving the same information and suggested the appointment of an Executive Member for Member Information.

membership of the executive

The Leader moved Minute No. 894 of the Executive Meeting held on 13th May 2009.

appointment of scrutiny panels, committees, working groups and forums

The Leader moved Minute No. 895 of the Executive Meeting held on 13th May 2009 and advised that the membership of the Local Engagement Forums would be confirmed following the Kent County Council elections on 4th June 2009.

Members agreed that the existing Scrutiny Panel Chairman and Vice-Chairman would remain in post until the new scrutiny arrangements took effect.

adoption of timetable of meetings for 2009/2010

borough council representation on trusts, outside bodies and school governing bodies

The Leader moved Minute No. 896 of the Executive Meeting held on 13th May 2009.

A Member referred to Minute No. 15/05/08 regarding the requirement for all Members appointed to outside bodies to submit an annual report. He considered that any Member who did not submit a report should not be considered for future appointments.

More nominations than seats were put forward for Queenborough Fishery Trust, Age Concern (Sheppey), AmicusHorizon Area Panel: Kent Gateway, AmicusHorizon Area Panel: East Kent, Council for Voluntary Service and Faversham Swimming Pool Management Committee. Votes were taken in accordance with Standing Orders.

A Member questioned whether all Councillors could receive a copy of the Queenborough Fishery Trust and Swale Recreation Trust Minutes. The Corporate Services Director confirmed that he would seek legal advice and report back to Members.

Members agreed that the Social Housing Joint Commissioning Group and the Town Centre Development Forum, Sittingbourne would both be removed from the list of outside bodies.

Councillor Williams proposed Councillor Sargent to replace him as the representative on the Swalerail Project Sittingbourne Sheerness Branch, which was agreed.

In relation to School Governing Bodies, Members supported the applications from Councillor Derek Conway for Oaks County Primary School and Councillor Paul Sturdgess for Halfway Houses, Isle of Sheppey; these nominations would then be submitted to the schools for their consideration.

review of scrutiny arrangements at swale borough council

The Policy and Performance Officer introduced the report and outlined the key points, including a summary of the proposals and decisions required.

The Leader supported model C in the report and thanked the Scrutiny Chairman for their input into the report.

Discussion ensued during which the following points were raised: Members spoke in support of model C; resources were spread too thinly under the current arrangements; consideration should be given to including another Scrutiny Panel to look at finance and performance; more detailed information was needed on how the proposals would work in practice; Councillors undertaking scrutiny would welcome greater officer support, particularly help with research; it would be interesting to see a comparison of Swale's scrutiny arrangements against other high performing Local Authorities; more emphasis was required on the importance of scrutiny being inward and outward facing; and commitment was required from Executive Members and all Councillors to ensure the proposals were effective.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the Council agrees in principle to adopting a two committee model - one focussed on scrutiny of corporate issues and the other focussed on policy overview and development as shown in Model C in Annex A of the report.

(2) That a more detailed report be submitted to a future Council meeting following discussion with each of the political Groups. Democratic and Electoral Services Manager