Agenda item

REPORT OF THE SCRUTINY OFFICER

To consider the proposed review approach into the Hitchin Town Hall and District Wide Museum Project.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the Committee receive and comment on the approach into the review of the Hitchin Town Hall / District Wide Museum Project

(2) That the Committee agree the proposed approach and associated timeline for the conducting of the review.

(3) That the Committee delegates the finalising of any outstanding actions to the Lead Support Officer (the Democratic Services Manager), in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Group Leaders.

REASON FOR DECISION:

The recommendations are the best course of action for the review into the project.

Audio recording - Session 1 - 21.58 (31 minutes)

The Chairman put it to Members whether to defer the item to the next meeting of the Committee or to hear the item. It was moved by Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb and seconded by Councillor Ian Moody that the item go ahead and be heard.

The report of the Scrutiny Officer set out the proposed approach for the review into the Hitchin Town Hall/ District Wide Museum Project (HTH/DWM Project).

Members noted that review into the project by a task and finish group was important to:

· To evaluate the issues that arose with partners during the project.

· To investigate issues around effectiveness of the contractual arrangements between partners and the Council.

· To understand the risk management and risk sharing between the Council and partners.

· To understand the performance issues that arose between the Council and its partners.

· To make recommendation to improve future partner working relationships.

Members approval on the proposed approach was sought on the following areas:

· Review Terms of Reference

· Review Panel Formation

· Appointment of Independent Chair

· Review Timeline.

There was a discussion and the following Members took part:

Councillor Sam Collins

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg

Councillor Steve Jarvis

Councillor Simon Harwood

Councillor Gerald Morris

Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb

Councillor Ian Moody.

The following points were raised:

· The Scrutiny of the project was essential to ensure that lessons were learnt and that a similar situation was prevented in the future. It would also mitigate any reputational risk by conducting it in the public domain.

· Those on the review group would need to be impartial and Members would need to check that no adverse comments had previously been put into the public domain, such as via FaceBook or Twitter. (Councillor Simon Harwood declared an interest by virtue of being ward Councillor at the time and would likely be called to give evidence and therefore would be unable to be part of the project review.

· That Peter Chapman, as the Independent Chairman, may be too closely linked to NHDC for the required review impartiality and that Donna Modest would therefore be a better choice of independent chair. Councillors Stears-Hanscomb advised that he knew of a suitable candidate to Chair the Panel and the Scrutiny Officer was requested to make contact.

· Terms of reference should further include the evaluation of the effectiveness of the contractual and financial arrangements as well as the cost of the project.

· There was a duty of care to ensure that Officers felt comfortable during the review process and the Scrutiny Officer noted that such details might need to be kept out of the public domain. It was also considered that an HR specialist might be required to represent Officer’s views.

· That the Scrutiny Officer should take forward any communication with the Independent Chairman to support the transparency of the review.