Task and finish groups aim to create better outcomes for public
NEW groups of councillors are to be created at West Lancashire Borough Council, to get more of them involved outside the formal committee system and to create better outcomes, it is hoped.
To be called Task & Finish Groups, the new groups are being recommended to lighten the workloads of two formal scrutiny committees, which aim to hold the council’s departments, officers and cabinet leadership to account.
It is also hoped the new groups will create more opportunities for backbench councillors to get involved in projects, lead to better council policies, boost public engagement and encourage more cross-party political work, where desired.
In recent months, West Lancashire Borough Council has been looking at ways to boost individual councillors’ skills and contributions to activities through a Member Development Commission. The council is also reviewing its formal structure of committee meetings and, separately, the cabinet system.
The reviews have included contacting 28 other local councils with a questionnaire about their structures and ways of working, and 16 replies have been received.
While traditional council committees such as the Planning Committee may be better-known to the public because of their role, the borough also has two import scrutiny committees, designed to hold council departments and political leaders to account. These are called the Corporate and Environmental Overview & Scrutiny Committee and the Executive Overview & Scrutiny Committee.
But new task-and-finish groups are being recommended to takeon some of the scrutiny work and use a wider range of councillors, when needed.
At the recent full council meeting, held at Edge Hill University, councillors supported a set of Member Development Commission recommendations in a motion from Labour Coun Cynthia Dereli.
She said: “Councillors should be able to use all their skills and knowledge from life, inside and outside the council. This does not always happen with cabinet and committee system. Task & Finish Groups may seem a small step but it will hopefully be very useful for the council, to get policies right and to engage with the public.”
The recommendations were that two scrutiny committees be kept; that, subject to financial approval, the Corporate and Environmental Overview & Scrutiny Committee establish new Task & Finish Groups to undertake in-depth scrutiny work, rather than the work being done by the main committee.
Regarding political party membership of the new groups, three Labour, two Conservatives and one Our West Lancashire councillor were recommended. But this would be subject to change each year to reflect the political make-up of the borough and inclusion of independent councillors, if appropriate.
Additional members would be appointed by the Task & Finish Group or committee. Councillors would volunteer to join.
All councillors were eligible except leading councillors in the Cabinet, who could only attend by invitation.
Meetings will be held when needed and on-line. Final reports will to be sent to the Corporate and Environmental Overview & Scrutiny Committee for approval before the cabinet or the full council. Subject to budgets, 10 hours per week would be allocated for paid council staff support.
Labour Coun Gareth Dowling said; “When we took control in 2015, the council structure was not good for political and backbench engagement. This is about future-proofing, so councillors can have more roles in our work. It will be flexible to the council’s future political balance. I think there is interest in cross-party working and knowledge would be shared.”
Conservative group leader Coun David Westley said: “I support these recommendations. At Lancashire County Council, we created task-and-finish groups for railway projects, such as the Burscough Curves and the new Skelmersdale rail development.
“There is a huge amount of talent in this council chamber. Ignore political affiliations.”
A ‘Members Update’ information system for councillors will remain and the borough’s legaland-democratic officers will make any changes needed to the council’s constitution to include the new groups.
Regarding the party political landscape, West Lancashire is officially classed as being under no overall control. This means no single party has enough councillors to out-vote all the other groups together.
However, Labour is the biggest group. The leader of the council and cabinet members are all Labour councillors.
Our West Lancashire group leader Coun Adrian Owens recently won a motion, calling for a review of the cabinet system. He suggested it did not suit the modern multi-party political landscape. A report is due later this year.