Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

The following declarations of Personal Interests were reported to the meeting:

Councillor Bowker in relation to his involvement at Broomswood Children’s Centre.

Councillor Ross in relation to his involvement at Stretford, Gorse Hill and Lostock Children’s Centre (as he had been invited to speak at the meeting)

RESOLVED: That the Declarations of Interest made to the meeting be noted.

The Committee are requested to consider the call in of the above Executive decision in relation to Children’s Centres. 

The Committee had been called to consider a call in of Executive decision number E/4.03.13-5 in respect of Children’s Centres which had been considered at a meeting on 4th March 2013. 

The call-in had been submitted by Councillors Adshead, Cordingley, Duffield, Lloyd and D. Western and was based around inaccurate information, inadequate consultation, alternative options not being given sufficient consideration and insufficient information being given. The Chairman had permitted consideration of the request to explore the issues raised about inaccurate information and insufficient information.

The Chairman set out the scope of the proceedings and the options available to the Committee. The Committee could request that the Executive give further consideration to its decision, but could not overturn the decision.

The Committee had received the initial report and supporting documentation to the Executive, the decision notice, call-in proforma and a supplementary report from the Executive Member for Supporting Children and Families.  The report set out a detailed response to the points set out in the call-in request. The Executive Member for Supporting Children and Families, Corporate Director, Children and Young People’s Service and Officers from the Directorate were in attendance to respond to the Committee’s enquiries.

Councillor Ross, as Shadow Executive Member for Children and Families was invited to expand on the reasons for call-in and explain why he considered that the Executive should be requested to reconsider its decision.

The Committee asked a number of questions about the proposed changes to the services including the use of volunteers, the range of services to be provided and the location of services.  The Executive Member and Officers responded to the questions. They stated that volunteers would be given a high level of support and indicted that whilst the current range of services could no longer be provided, they would be focused on the needs of those most in need of services.  Services would be developed in light of user needs and it was difficult to be specific about the range and location of services at the current time.

The Scrutiny Committee were also concerned about ensuring that the reconfigured services met their objectives. They were reminded that the Executive had committed to making regular reports on progress to Scrutiny Committee as part of their response to the budget scrutiny report.

Members of the Scrutiny Committee were requested to decide on whether, in the light of the information set out in the report and the discussion at the meeting, the decision should be referred back to the Executive for further consideration.

RESOLVED: That the Committee feel that the concerns raised in the call-in request have been adequately dealt with and that no further action be taken.