To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader of the Council, Members of the Executive, Chairmen of Scrutiny Committees and the Head of Paid Service.

(a)        Westminster Attacks

Saddened by the terrorist attack which took place in the vicinity of Westminster Palace, London on 22 March 2017, the Council stood in silence in remembrance of those that had lost their lives and were injured.

(b)        Youth Parliament

The Mayor reported that she had acted as the Returning Officer for Trafford in the United Kingdom Youth Parliament elections and was pleased to announce that Alice Sutcliffe had been successfully elected at the count held earlier that evening in the Town Hall.

(c)        Scrutiny Committee Update

Councillor M. Young, Chairman of Scrutiny reported that both the Task and Finish Group Reviews on Amey and Education, Health and Care Plans had been completed and would be presented to the Executive at the first opportunity. Since it was unlikely to be before the end of the Municipal Year, the reports would be sent to the relative Executive Members and Corporate Directors to enable them to provide a timely response.

The Committee had completed its work programme set out at the start of the municipal year and had begun to identify topics for investigation by the Task and Finish Groups in 2017/18 programme.

In addition, Trafford Scrutiny’s response to the Commons Select Committee Review of Overview and Scrutiny had been submitted following sign-off by the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of both Scrutiny and Health Scrutiny Committees.

(d)    Health Scrutiny Committee Update

Councillor Harding, Chairman of Health Scrutiny Committee reported the Committee’s developments since the last update to Council.

Due to the high volume of work within the health sector, it had been proposed to increase the number of meetings from 4 to 6 for the 2017/18 Municipal Year.

Councillor Harding had attended the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) Care Quality Summit held to review the findings of the Care Quality Commission inspection which gave the trust a rating of ‘requires improvement’. Attending as the representative of the Greater Manchester Scrutiny Committees, Councillor Harding would pass details of the NWAS response to Health Scrutiny members and anyone expressing an interest.  

The Health Scrutiny Committee had decided that there was little further for the End of Life Care Task and Finish Group to do, having completed a piece of work on current pathways. On the other hand, there had been a lot of detailed work for the Young People’s Wellbeing Task and Finish Group and it had met that day to consider further information from the Youth Cabinet. With work still to be done it was anticipated that its report would be finalised over the next few weeks.

Councillor Harding also advised the Council that Ann Day was due to stand down as the Chairman of Healthwatch Trafford. Councillor Harding wished to place on record both Health Scrutiny’s and the Council’s appreciation for her dedicated work over the years, as a champion of the health and wellbeing of Trafford residents, firstly as the Chairman of Voluntary and Community Action Trafford (VCAT) and then Healthwatch Trafford. Ann was wished the very best for her future ventures and the Mayor personally added her thanks, having worked closely with her for the last few years.