Members are requested to consider whether they have a personal or prejudicial interest in connection with any of the items on this agenda and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of such interest.

No declarations of interest were received.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 26 October 2011.

It was noted that the draft Minutes did not differentiate between those Members who had voting rights and those who had been invited by the Leader and the Cabinet, to attend the Committee’s meetings to speak, contribute to the debate and help shape its decisions but who had no voting rights.

Councillor S Foulkes told the Committee that he hoped the invitation he had extended to those Members without voting rights, had been received in the spirit it had been given and that it would be nice to get the full agreement of all the Members present at the meeting, when decisions were taken.

It was reported that since the last meeting Officers had revisited the meetings schedule, in the light of the input required from the Executive Team, and were now attempting to reschedule briefing meetings by trying to identify appropriate dates and times, prior to the statutory publication dates for the Committee’s agendas and reports (five clear working days before meetings), in accordance with Access to Information regulations.  This work was still ongoing.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  subject to Councillors JE Green and T Harney being recorded as in attendance as Invited Members (Non Voting), the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 October 2011 be confirmed as a correct record; and

(2)  agreement be given for Officers to continue to consult with Political Group Offices in order to identify a series of suitable dates and times for the Committee’s briefing meetings.

At the inaugural meeting of the Committee held on 26 October 2011 Members had requested further development of the Comprehensive Work Programme.  Consequently, a report by the Chief Executive presented the Committee with Project Initiation Documents (PIDs) for prioritised areas from the programme previously considered; discussed issues around how external support was to be acquired; and contained an initial summary timeline for the programme.

The report also included a number of other issues considered by the Committee at its last meeting, including:

• a review of Legal and Committee Services;
• the formation of a Policy Unit; and
• the need for specific budgetary provision.

Some Members considered that a definition of the Lead Member’s role should be drawn up to provide clarity whilst others were of the view that it was wrong to be too prescriptive and that a single definition might not suit all ten of the Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs).  Ultimately, it was acknowledged that the Committee’s role was to test, debate and reach final decisions.

It was proposed that an information gathering exercise be undertaken, best practice models identified and options, based on experience, be reported to the Committee at a future meeting for its consideration.  Once the Committee was able to discuss this report, it was hoped that a consensus could be reached. on how to take the KLOEs forward.  The Chief Executive agreed that an email to this effect would be drafted and the three Group Leaders be consulted on it, before it was sent to all Members of the Committee for information and clarity.

The Committee considered the ten KLOEs in detail and noted their content.  The Chief Executive circulated a revisedlist of suggested Lead Members, Lead Officers and Managers for the ten KLOEs.  Councillor J Green offered support to Councillor S Foulkes the proposed Lead Member for KLOE 1 - Alignment of Corporate Planning & Budget Making Process and his offer was accepted.

Councillor S Foulkes referred to AKA’s Supplemental Report entitled ‘Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council’s Corporate Governance Arrangements: Refresh and Renew’ (The Corporate Governance Report) which had summarised organisational weaknesses which the Council had failed to address.  He informed that one of its criticisms was that Members’ involvement had not been sufficient.  This had now been addressed and improved as Members would act as a conduit and lead on each of the KLOEs.  It was noted that Lead Officers would be responsible for keeping Lead Members up to date and briefed on the KLOEs.

The Chief Executive also circulated a revised Appendix 2 to the Committee’s report which set out a revised procedure for recruiting external assistance to support the Corporate Governance Improvement Programme.  The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management reported that the revisions made closer reference to the recently revised Council’s Procurement Rules.  External assistance would now be procured in accordance with these rules.  Councillor Foulkes informed that there had been some concerns expressed about giving priority to AKA’s opinion and the Committee was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Chief Executive provided the Committee with a copy of a letter dated 11 November 2011 addressed to the Leader of the Council and himself from Dr Gill Taylor, Principal Advisor to the LGA.  The letter set out an initial proposal, following their conversation on 20 October 2011 and subsequent discussions about how the Council could improve its Corporate Governance and how the LGA could support it.

The letter referred to the Corporate Governance Report that had raised a series of wider organisational and governance failures in the authority.  These included a real need to turn round the culture and some systems and practices.  It noted that the Cabinet had accepted the Report’s findings and had implemented an action plan, titled ‘Taking the Lead in Transforming Corporate Governance’.  The LGA was aware that despite negative reports the Leader and the Chief Executive were united in their positive response.  They were receptive to support and saw these challenges as presenting a ‘catalyst for change’.

The Letter also set out the LGA’s response which included two broad phases (immediate issues and longer term outcomes), outputs and outcomes, support for the administration and other political groups, cross party and joint activities, officer support and continuing support during 2012/13.  Also, included were details of the LGA team who would support the Council, its proposition and its expectations on how the Council to work with it.  The total cost of the support on offer was £33,660.  This consisted of the following:

It was noted that evaluating the effectiveness and impact of LGA projects was central to its work and its client approach.  The LGA wanted to discuss with the Leader and Chief Executive how:

• they could jointly evaluate the effectiveness of the project during its life and at its completion;
• the Council may wish to sustain the benefits of the project
• they could disseminate generic messages on practice more widely.

The Chief Executive reported that he had been in discussion with the Chief Executive of the North West Employers’ Organisation (NWEO) over access to possible funding to assist the improvement work required.  NWEO’s total budget was somewhere between £50 and £75 K.  It was not expected that the Council would be able to attract all of this funding but it was noted that it was the first Council to approach the NWEO with a view to submitting a bid for funding.  It was worth making an application for this funding but it was also worth noting that if successful the funding may not all be in monetary form, it may be in terms of Member/Officer time.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Committee was informed that the Corporate Governance Improvement Plan listed two broad areas of activity:

(a)   informal discussions with Members to capture areas of development and concern; and

(b)   development activities which enable Members to more robustly undertake their roles and responsibilities.

Councillor T Harney, in his capacity as Chair of the Member Training Steering Group (MTSG), reported that the Group’s remit was to drive and lead activity around the development of all Councillors.  Activity over the previous twelve months had focussed on delivering a training programme designed to meet the learning and development needs of Elected Members as identified through the completion of Personal Development Plans.

The Group had considered the draft Programme to achieve improvements in Corporate Governance and a proposed action plan at its meeting on 11 November 2011 and a copy of its proposals, including its role in supporting the delivery of the Corporate Governance Improvement Plan and subsequent actions it was willing to take was circulated at the meeting for the Committee’s information.

It was proposed that the role of MTSG in supporting the delivery of the Corporate Governance Improvement Plan would be to:

·  assess what  is required to support the improvement programme from a Member development perspective;

·  make recommendations to the Council’s Corporate Governance Committee on Member Development needs/activities;

·  feedback wider aspects of the Group’s work to the Council’s Corporate Governance Committee;

·  act as a conduit for ideas and suggestions made by other Councillors in relation to Member development; and

·  develop a new Corporate Governance Development Programme for all Members.

Councillor Harney told the Committee that in order to perform its role, the Group wished to increase the frequency of its meetings so as to reflect the meeting cycle of the Corporate Governance Committee.  The Committee was also informed that the proposed actions for MTSG were as follows:

Step 1 -  informal telephone conversations with all Members to establish individual learning and development needs in the context of Corporate Governance potentially supplemented by two Focus Groups by 9 December 2011.

Step 2 -  collate and evaluate responses from informal telephone conversations & Focus Groups by 16 December 2011;

Step 3 -  design a Corporate Governance Development Programme for all Members which shall be commenced in January 2012;

Step 4 -  evaluate the Corporate Governance Development Programme to determine its effectiveness (and identify any emerging development needs) by June 2012; and

Step 5 -  revise (if appropriate) and incorporate the Corporate Governance Development Programme into the Council’s mainstream Member development agenda in June 2012.

The Committee was also provided with copies of the proposed script/questions for the Corporate Governance Development Needs Analysis for consideration.  The aim was to involve all Members and receive a response from all Members.  This was also considered a good way to identify Members, with relevant expertise, who may wish to make a contribution.  After some debate iIt was agreed that the questionnaire would be subject to some minor revisions to remove jargon etc.

The Committee turned its attention to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

    APPENDIX A

Agreed Lead Members, Lead Officers, and Managers for the ten Key Lines of Enquiry (‘KLOEs’)

11      APPENDIX B

Procedure for recruiting external assistance to support the Corporate Governance Improvement Programme

Outlined below are a number of steps which must be complied with in the recruitment of external assistance. The financial limits to which this process applies will be agreed by Cabinet.

1.  A Project Initiation Document (PID) comprising the:

(a)scope of the document

(b)the objectives to be achieve

(c) the external benchmarks and information to be sought

(d)the methodology for the review including proposed member involvement

(e)the project timelines

(f)  resource requirements including skills, abilities and experiences of those employees or external support required

2.  The Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive will be asked to approve the requirement for external support. If approved, the Programme Lead Officer will move to the next stage.

3.  In accordance with Contract Procedure Rule (CPR) 19.1.1 (i), where the estimated contract value is less than £10,000 (based on an estimate of the type or types of work required and the number of hours work of that type or those types), three written quotations (supported by CVs, or statements of skill, ability and experience) from different organisations, must be sought,.  These quotations must be in writing and, normally, one of these organisations will be the Local Government Association.

4.  In accordance with CPR 19.1.1 (ii), where the estimated value  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.