8. When holding general meetings, the joint committee will comprise 3 councillors from each of the Tees Valley local authorities (supported by appropriate officers as necessary) on the basis of political proportionality, unless it is determined by all constituent local authorities to waive the political balance.
9. The term of office for representatives will be one year from the date of the annual council meeting. If a representative ceases to be a Councillor, or wishes to resign from the joint committee, the relevant council shall inform the joint committee secretariat and the replacement representative shall serve for the remainder of the original representative’s term of office.
10. To ensure that the operation of the joint committee is consistent with the Constitutions of all Tees Valley authorities, those authorities operating a substitution system shall be entitled to nominate substitutes. Named substitutes shall be entitled to attend general or review meetings of the joint committee as non-voting observers in order to familiarise themselves with the issues being considered.
11. When holding review meetings and, as a result of the clearing house process, one or more councils decide not to take part in an individual review, the joint committee shall comprise, for the duration of that review, those representatives of the remaining councils. Councils will not take part in reviews of services or issues that do not affect their resident populations.
12. The joint committee may ask individuals to assist it on a review by review basis (in a non-voting capacity) and may ask independent professionals to advise it during a review.
13. The quorum for general meetings of the joint committee shall be 6, provided that all authorities are represented at general meetings. The quorum for review meetings, in cases where some authorities are not involved as a result of the clearing house process, shall be one third of those entitled to be present, provided that each participating authority is represented.
Chair and Vice-Chair
14. The Chair of the joint committee will be rotated annually between the Tees Valley authorities from 2004 as follows:
Stockton
Redcar & Cleveland
Hartlepool
Darlington
Middlesbrough
Officer support is currently provided by Middlesbrough Council.
15. The joint committee shall have a Vice-Chair from the authority next in rotation for the Chair. At the first meeting of each municipal year, the joint committee shall appoint as Chair and Vice-Chair the councillors nominated by the relevant councils. If the Chair and Vice-Chair are absent from a meeting, the joint committee shall appoint a member to act as Chair for that meeting.
16. Where, as a result of the clearing house process, the authority holding the Chair or Vice-Chair is not involved in a review, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the joint committee for the duration of that review will be appointed at a general meeting of the joint committee.
Co-option of other local authorities
17. Where the Joint Committee is to conduct a scrutiny review into services which directly impact on the residents of another local authority, that authority will be invited to participate in the Review as full and equal voting Members.
Terms of Reference
18. The joint committee shall have general meetings involving all the Tees Valley authorities:
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To facilitate the exchange of information about planned health scrutiny work and to share information and outcomes from local health scrutiny reviews;
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To consider proposals for scrutiny of regional or specialist health services in order to ensure that the value of proposed health scrutiny exercises is not compromised by lack of input from appropriate sources and that the NHS is not over-burdened by similar reviews taking place in a short space of time;
19. The joint committee will have review meetings involving only those authorities whose resident populations are affected by the NHS body, service or health issue under review:
20. The joint committee will consider any proposals to review regional or specialist services that impact on the residents of the whole Tees Valley area. The aim will be for the joint committee to reach a consensus on the issues to be subject to joint scrutiny, but this may not always be possible. In these circumstances it is recognised that each Council can conduct its own health scrutiny reviews when they consider this to be in the best interests of their residents. Proposals for individual scrutiny reviews shall be submitted to the “clearing house” process with relevant background information by the relevant authority.
21. In respect of reviews, the terms of reference, timescale, outline of how the review will progress and reporting arrangements will be agreed at a general meeting of the joint committee at which all Tees Valley authorities are represented.
22. The joint committee may wish to scrutinise services provided for Tees Valley residents outside the Tees Valley. The joint committee will liase with relevant providers to determine the best way of achieving this.
The basis of joint health scrutiny will be co-operation and partnership within mutual understanding of the following aims:
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to improve the health of local people and to tackle health inequalities.
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ensuring that people’s views and wishes about health and health services are identified and integrated in to plans and services that achieve local health improvements;
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scrutinising whether all parts of the community are able to access health services and whether the outcomes of health services are equally good for all sections of the community.
24. Each local authority will plan its own programme of health scrutiny reviews to be carried out locally or in conjunction with neighbouring authorities when issues under consideration are relevant only to their residents. This programme will be submitted to the joint committee for information.
25. Health scrutiny will focus on improving health services and the health of Tees Valley residents. Individual complaints about health services will not be considered. However, the joint committee may scrutinise trends in complaints where these are felt to be a cause for concern.
Administration
25. The joint committee will hold regular meetings (at least quarterly). Agendas for meetings shall be determined by the secretariat in consultation with the Chair.
26. Notice of meetings of the joint committee will be sent to each member of the joint committee at least 7 days before the date of the meeting and also to the chair of relevant overview and scrutiny committees (for information). Notices of meetings will include the agenda and papers for meetings. Papers “to follow” will not be permitted except in exceptional circumstances.
27. Minutes of meetings will be supplied to each member of the joint committee and to the relevant chairs of overview and scrutiny committees (for information) and shall be confirmed at the next meeting of the joint committee.
28. Meetings shall be held at the times, dates and places determined by the Chair.
Final Reports and Recommendations
29. The joint committee is independent of its constituent councils and executives and this independence should not be compromised by any member, officer or NHS body. The joint committee will send copies of its final reports to the bodies that are able to implement its recommendations. This will include the NHS and local authority Executives.
30. The primary objective is to reach consensus, but where a minimum of 5 members of the joint committee wish to express an alternative view to the majority of the joint committee, they can produce a minority report.
31. The joint committee will act as a forum for sharing the outcomes and recommendations of reviews with the NHS body being reviewed. NHS bodies will prepare Action Plans that will be used to monitor progress of recommendations.
Section 7 Reviews
32. The Joint Committee will act as a depository when consultation by local NHS bodies has under consideration any proposal for a substantial development of, or variation in, the provision of the health service in the Tees Valley.
33. The Joint Committee will determine the level of substantial change in conjunction with local NHS bodies specifically taking into account:
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Changes in accessibility of services
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Impact of proposal on the wider community
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Patients affected
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Methods of service delivery
34. The Joint Committee will ensure that co-terminosity with the NHS proposals is achieved. A Consultation Review Committee (CRC) will be formed with all relevant authorities (including neighbouring authorities not part of the joint committee) to undertake the statutory review as legislated for in Section 7 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001.
35. At the first meeting of the CRC a Chair and Vice-Chair will be appointed for the duration of the consultation period.
36. The CRC will be made up of 3 Councillors from each of the affected authorities each having full and equal voting rights.
37. The quorum for consultation review meetings shall be one third of those entitled to be present, provided that each participating authority is represented.
38. Due regard will be taken of the Health and Social Care Act 2001, sections 7-10 and Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 3048 The Local Authority (Overview and Scrutiny Committees Health Scrutiny Functions) Regulations 2002.
Principles for joint health scrutiny
The health of Tees Valley residents is dependent on a number of factors including the quality of services provided by the NHS, the local authorities and local partnerships. The success of joint health scrutiny is dependent on the members of the joint committee as well as the NHS.
The local authorities and NHS bodies will be willing to share knowledge, respond to requests for information and carry out their duties in an atmosphere of courtesy and respect in accordance with their codes of conduct. Personal and prejudicial interests will be declared in all cases in accordance with the code of conduct.
The scrutiny process will be open and transparent in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and meetings will be held in public. Only information that is expressly defined in regulations to be confidential or exempt from publication will be considered in private. Papers of the joint committee can be posted on the websites of the constituent authorities as determined by that authority.
Different approaches to scrutiny reviews may be taken in each case. The joint committee will seek to act as inclusively as possible and will take evidence from a wide range of opinion including patients, carers, the voluntary sector, NHS regulatory bodies and staff associations. Attempts will be made to ascertain the views of hard to reach groups, young people and the general public.
The joint committee will work to continually strengthen links with the other public and patient involvement bodies such as PCT and Trust Patient Forums.
44. The regulations covering health scrutiny require any officer of an NHS body to attend meetings of health scrutiny committees. However, the joint committee recognises that Chief Executives and Chairs of NHS bodies may wish to attend with other appropriate officers, depending on the matter under review. Reasonable time will be given for the provision of information by those asked to provide evidence.
45. Evidence and final reports will be written in plain English ensuring that acronyms and technical terms are explained.
46. The joint committee will work towards developing an annual work programme in consultation with the NHS and will endeavour to develop an indicative programme for a further 2 years. The NHS will inform the secretariat at an early stage on any likely proposals for substantial variations and developments in services that will impact on the joint committees work programme. Each of the Tees Valley authorities will have regular dialogue with their local NHS bodies. NHS bodies that cover a wide geographic area (e.g. mental health and ambulance services) will be invited to attend meetings of the joint committee on a regular basis.
47. Communication with the media in connection with reviews will be handled in conjunction with the constituent local authorities press officers.