Agenda item

YOUR CHOICE BARNET TASK AND FINISH GROUP

The Committee received public comments from: Mrs Janet Leifer; Mrs Barbara Jacobson; Mr Phillip Rackham; Ms Tirza Waisal; and Mr John Sullivan, whose comments were read out by Mrs Barbara Jacobson. 

Representatives from Unison sought permission from the Chairman to address the Committee in relation to the item.  The Committee noted that a request to speak at the meeting had not been received in advance of the meeting.  Councillor Kath McGuirk MOVED a motion that the Unison representatives be allowed to address the Committee.  The motion was duly SECONDED.  Upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried. Unison representatives were provided with three minutes to address the Committee to make their representations.   

Following consideration of the public comments and Unison representation, the Chairman invited Councillor Arjun Mittra to address the Committee.  Councillor Mittra declared a non-pecuniary interest as a Member of the Unison union.  Councillor Mittra, who had been a Member of the Your Choice Barnet Task and Finish Group, suggested that the Task and Finish Group be re-opened to enable the Group to receive submissions from staff, service users and carers. 

A Member of the Committee asked Councillor Mittra if he expressed any reservations regarding the consultation approach and conclusions made by the Group on which he sat as a Member.  In response, Councillor Mittra advised the Committee that he considered that the Task and Finish Group had a narrow set of parameters.  The Committee noted that the findings and conclusions of the Task and Finish Group had been unanimously agreed and questioned why Councillor Mittra had not expressed his reservations at an earlier stage.  Councillor Mittra advised that he had stated his reservations at the time, and that he considered that the recommendations were a compromise between Members.  The Committee commented that any such reservations could have been incorporated into the report.

The Chairman asked Councillor Brian Salinger to present the report of the Task and Finish Group in the absence of the Councillor Maureen Braun, the Chairman of the Task and Finish Group.  Councillor Salinger thanked the Members of the Task and Finish Group, officers from Your Choice Barnet / The Barnet Group Ltd and the Lead Officer from the Overview and Scrutiny Office for their work during the review. 

In introducing the report, Councillor Salinger advised the Committee that the report was the result of a short, focused piece of work which had been seeking to review an issue of public concern.  Councillor Salinger advised the Committee that Members had been given opportunities to comment throughout the review and informed the Committee that the report had been unanimously agreed.  

Referring to Recommendation Four of the Task and Finish Group’s Final Report which was made a recommendation about the composition of the Your Choice Barnet Board, Councillor Salinger advised that the Group had considered that there should be councillor representation on the Board.  He added that Members were elected to represent all residents of the Borough, and that having a councillor on the Board would provide for better representation.

Councillor Salinger stated that through the work of the Task and Finish Group, he had been able to see that Your Choice Barnet had engaged with carers and service users regarding service changes and it was on that basis that the Group had not undertaken a separate consultation as part of the review.

Councillor Salinger commented on how Members of the Task and Finish Group had been impressed with the commitment of staff to their clients.  Referring to staff morale, Councillor Salinger noted that the staff that the Task and Finish Group met on site visits seemed to have no specific issues of morale. He added that whilst all of the site visits had taken place in one day, some Members were already familiar with the facilities.  Referring to the evidence gathering visits undertaken by the TFG, Councillor Salinger advised that if the Group had had any concerns about service quality, then it would have been investigated.

Councillor Salinger advised the Committee that he would not support asking the Task and Finish Group to re-open the review due to the limited resources available. 

Councillor Salinger MOVED that the Committee endorse the report for onward referral to the next Cabinet meeting.  This was SECONDED by Councillor Gordon.

The Chairman requested a vote for the onward referral of this item to Cabinet.  The vote was carried.

RESOLVED that:-

1)        The Committee note the findings and recommendations of the Your Choice Barnet Task and Finish Group as set out in the report;

2)        The Committee endorse the report for onward referral to the next Cabinet meeting.