Agenda item

REPORT OF THE DEMOCRATIC SERVICES MANAGER

 

To receive the report of the findings of the Review Panel following the Review of Hitchin Town Hall and District Wide Museum Project.

RESOLVED:  That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

 

1.         Express appreciation to the Independent Chairman of the Hitchin Town Hall Review Panel and Members of the Panel for their hard work in producing the Report.

 

2.         Notes the report of Hitchin Town Hall and District Wide Museum Review Panel (Appendix A) and accepts the recommendations in Part D of the report.

 

3.         Express its profound disappointment that Appendix B of the Report, (Comments of The Leadership Team) was included in the report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

 

1.         That the Report of the Hitchin Town Hall Review Panel, (Appendix A) be reviewed and the recommendations, as contained in part D of the report, be accepted.

 

2.         That the following recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be considered:

 

(i)            When reviewing the recommendations of the Hitchin Town Hall Review Panel the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be taken into account, particularly the way in which the Council works with Community Groups/Partners;

(ii)           Ensure that a robust system of mediation is established;

(iii)          That an effective intervention process is put into place that results in suitable progressive remedial action following any mediation;

(iv)         That dedicated Project Management is put in place that is adequately resourced as recommended by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

(v)          That a summarised version of the recommendations, (Part D of the Report) is incorporated into all large briefing documents to enable the production of a Code of Conduct which could inform any future projects;

(vi)         That a clear Intervention Protocol is written and adopted within a reasonable timescale, and included within the Terms of Reference of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (a separate stand alone paragraph that the Committee will understand to be the process followed when it is deemed necessary for a decision regarding a project is “called in”); and

(vii)        That the Council’s Procurement Procedures are reviewed as part of the review of the Constitution and continue to be followed and updated regularly to ensure it is adequately robust.

 

REASON FOR DECISION:  To enable The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to comment on the review into Hitchin Town Hall and District Wide Museum Project.

Audio Recording – Start of Item - 28 minutes 10 seconds

 

The Democratic Services Manager thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and introduced the report entitled Review of The Hitchin Town Hall and District Wide Museum Project, together with the following appendices:

 

·                Appendix A – Introductory note by the Independent Chairman;

·                Appendix B – Comments from the Leadership Team.

 

At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr John Richardson, Independent Chairman of the Hitchin Town Hall Review Panel presented the report and findings of the Panel following the Review, (as attached as Appendix A of the submitted report) and in summary:

 

·                Thanked the Democratic Services Manager and her Team for the support given during the review process;

·                Also thanked all those who took part in the review process and the Museum staff, who kept going when times were challenging;

·                Highlighted that the report was aimed at learning and moving forward and had been specifically addressed to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

·                Although the report and recommendations were presented to the meeting, the value of the process should not be undervalued;

·                He had been surprised at the comments of the Leadership Team and noted that the Authority had acted correctly throughout, however, although correctness was vital, it had to be tempered with co-operation and sometimes compromise; and

·                More than one witness had commented that there was now a new approach to partnerships and he hoped that the recommendations were pushing at an open door.

 

The Independent Chairman presented each of the recommendations made by the Panel individually and a lengthy detailed debate ensued, summarised as follows:

 

Recommendations 1 & 2

 

The following Members asked questions and took part in the debate:

 

·                 Councillor Claire Strong; and

·                 Councillor David Levett;

 

The following observations were made:

 

·                There was a lot of experienced members of the community who had given their time, experience and talent to the project; and

·                This project had incorporated the Letchworth and Hitchin Museums

 

Recommendation 3

 

The following Members asked questions and took part in the debate:

 

·                Councillor Claire Strong; and

·                Councillor David Levett.

 

The following observations were made:

·                That HTH Ltd was a properly constituted charity; and

·                That understanding how a particular group came to represent the community was a good learning point.

 

In response to questions Panel Members advised that:

 

·                There were still some questions about exactly how HTH Ltd represented the community;

·                How HTH Ltd came into existence became evident through the hearings, but it was likely that residents were unclear as to how that had happened; and

·                Discernment was very important in understanding, amongst other things, how bodies were formed, what their credentials were and who they represented before entering into a business agreement together.

 

Recommendation 8

 

The following Members asked questions and took part in the debate:

 

·                 Councillor Claire Strong; and

·                 Councillor David Levett.

 

Recommendation 10

 

The following Members asked questions and took part in the debate:

 

·                Councillor David Levett; and

·                Councillor Jim McNally.

 

In response to questions the Independent Chairman advised:

 

·                That mediation should have started earlier than it did; and

·                That all parties needed to sign up to any mediation process.

 

Members comments included:

 

·                That it should be made clear, at the beginning of an agreement, at which point mediation should start and the procedure; and

·                That mediation should take place before any party took an entrenched position.

 

Recommendations 12, 13 and 14

 

The following Members asked questions and took part in the debate:

 

·                Councillor Gerald Morris;

·                Councillor David Levett; and

·                Councillor Val Shanley.

 

In response to questions the Independent Chairman advised that:

 

·                From evidence heard, Prince II seemed to be a perfectly satisfactory project management tool, however it should not have been quoted as the solution to problems.

 

Members comments included that:

 

·                Dedicated managers should be appointed to projects and that once appointed, they be able to take complete responsibility; and

·                Managers of projects should not be placed under pressure and be able to advise senior managers if they needed support.

 

Recommendation 15

 

The following Member asked questions and took part in the debate:

 

·                Councillor Claire Strong.

 

In response to questions the Independent Chairman advised:

 

·                That evidence given at the hearings led them to believe that the Project Board Meetings did not meet the needs of all partners.

 

Members comments included:

 

·                That many elements were required for a successful project including an effective project management tool, regular meetings and good communication.

 

Recommendation 16

 

The Independent Chairman advised that the final recommendation was a positive note in which to conclude.

 

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee expressed thanks to the Independent Chairman and Members of the Panel for their work.

 

Having discussed each recommendation, the Committee had a general debate on the presentations, the report and the Leadership Team Comments regarding the report.

 

The following Members asked questions and took part in the debate:

 

·                Councillor Kate Aspinwall;

·                Councillor Sam Collins;

·                Councillor Gerald Morris;

·                Councillor George Davies;

·                Councillor Val Bryant;

·                Councillor Tom Tyson; and

·                Councillor Carol Stanier;

 

In response to questions the Independent Chairman advised:

 

·                That many of the recommendations stated the obvious; and

·                Some of the recommendations should be built into the life of the Council;

 

The following comments were made by Members:

 

·                That the recommendations needed to be at the forefront of future projects; and

·                That the recommendation about tone of comments was very important.

 

In  response to a query, the Chairman stated that he had sought advise and it had been confirmed that Councillors who were both Members of the Panel and Members of the Committee could take part in any vote regarding the report.

 

At 8.50pm the meeting was adjourned for a short comfort break.

 

The meeting resumed at 9.00pm.

 

The Chairman summarised the comments that had been made throughout the meeting.

 

The following Councillors took part in the debate:

 

·           Councillor Claire Strong;

·           Councillor Lisa Nash;

·           Councillor Sam Collins;

·           Councillor Kate Aspinwall;

·           Councillor Gerald Morris;

·           Councillor David Levett; and

·           Councillor Carol Stanier.

 

There was a detailed discussion regarding Appendix B.  The consensus amongst the Committee was that the comments from the Leadership Team should be presented to Cabinet and not the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

The Committee agreed that the report and recommendations of the Panel should be presented to Cabinet without amendment, however, the Committee would present several additional recommendations to Cabinet by way of a referral.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

 

1.         Express appreciation to the Independent Chairman of the Hitchin Town Hall Review Panel and Members of the Panel for their hard work in producing the Report.

 

2.         Notes the Report of Hitchin Town Hall and District Wide Museum Review Panel (Appendix A) and accepts the recommendations in Part D of the Report.

 

3.         Express its profound disappointment that Appendix B of the Report, (Comments of The Leadership Team) was included in the report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

 

1.         That the Report of the Hitchin Town Hall Review Panel, (Appendix A) be reviewed and the recommendations, as contained in part D of the report, be accepted.

 

(i)            That the following recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be considered:

(ii)           When reviewing the recommendations of the Hitchin Town Hall Review Panel the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be taken into account, particularly the way in which the Council works with Community Groups/Partners;

(iii)          Ensure that a robust system of mediation is established;

(iv)         That an effective intervention process is put into place that results in suitable progressive remedial action following any mediation;

(v)          That dedicated Project Management is put in place that is adequately resourced as recommended by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

(vi)         That a summarised version of the recommendations, (Part D of the Report) is incorporated into all large briefing documents to enable the production of a Code of Conduct which could inform any future projects;

(vii)        That a clear Intervention Protocol is written and adopted within a reasonable timescale, and included within the Terms of Reference of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (a separate stand alone paragraph that the Committee will understand to be the process followed when it is deemed necessary for a decision regarding a project is “called in”); and

(viii)       That the Council’s Procurement Procedures are reviewed as part of the review of the Constitution and continue to be followed and updated regularly to ensure it is adequately robust.

 

REASON FOR DECISION:  To enable The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to comment on the review into Hitchin Town Hall and District Wide Museum Project.