Agenda item

To consider a proposal to revise the meeting schedule for the Health and Wellbeing Board, increasing the number of meetings held in public.

Gordon Oliver introduced a proposal to revise the meeting schedule for Health and Wellbeing Board, which would increase the annual number of public meetings from three to five, with no regular meetings to be held in private.

It was proposed that Board meetings would still be preceded by Steering Group meetings, to be held in private as they are now. The Steering Group meetings would be used to agree the agendas for Board meetings and to discuss operational issues.

It was also proposed to have two or three themed workshops each year and an annual conference, which would be opened up to members of the public.

He suggested that the proposed changes would make the board more effective and efficient, while making agendas more manageable and increasing opportunities for public engagement.

It was suggested that the changes come into force from 1 April 2021 so they could be integrated with other council meetings when meeting dates are agreed for the coming municipal year.

Councillor Doherty stated that private board meetings allowed for open and frank conversations with one another and it was perhaps wise to bring the LGA peer review back to review this. She suggested that there needed to be time between meetings for work to happen.

Dr Bahia stated that when the Board was formed, the private meetings were vital in order to facilitate frank and honest conversations. However, the Board had reached a stage of maturity and development that permitted meetings to be held in public. He noted that there was a greater emphasis on public involvement and co-production and applauded the Council for its ways of working. He acknowledged that he had the benefit of attending Steering Group meetings, so was more aware of work being delivered between meetings. He concluded by noting that the LGA Review had steered the Board towards more transparency in due course.

Nick Carter agreed with Dr Bahia. He suggested that if there was a need to have a conversation not in the public domain, this could be done via the Steering Group, but that he thought the board had reached a point where it could be confident about holding all of its meetings in public. He suggested that development work could be taken off-line if necessary.

Councillor Doherty stated that it may be wise to have a review in 6 to 9 months.

Nick Carter agreed with Councillor Doherty, but suggested that structural changes in the NHS needed to take place first.

Action: West Berkshire Council to arrange another Peer Review once structural change in the NHS are complete.

Councillor Vickers welcomed the proposal and suggested that meetings should be public unless there was a specific reason to have them in public. She noted that Part II items would allow for matters to be discussed in private. She also suggested that the Board could be scrutinised by the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission.

Councillor Masters stated that he believed more regular and public meetings would be good for public accountability and transparency.

Andrew Sharp expressed his support for the proposed changes and suggested that it was good for public engagement. He noted the Homelessness Strategy Group was also moving to more public meetings.

Matt Pearce stated that a rapid review had been done previously against the Peer Review recommendations.

Councillor Woollaston noted that items taken to private meetings were being brought back to public meetings, which was inefficient.

RESOLVED that:

·         The number of public meetings be increased from three to five per year with no regular meetings to be held in private;

·         The revised meeting schedule be referred to the Council meeting on 3 December so the meetings can be integrated into West Berkshire Council’s municipal calendar for 2021/22.