A SHAKE up of Blaenau Gwent council scrutiny meetings and cabinet responsibilities could be agreed by councillors in a bid to further integrate with a neighbouring Gwent authority.
At Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday, May 22, councillors will receive a report on the “democratic committee arrangements” for the forthcoming year.
The major change proposed in the report would see Social Services split between two committees.
The report explains that Adult Social Services will come under the remit of the newly formed Adult, Communities and Wellbeing scrutiny committee which also includes housing, adult and community learning, customers and leisure which includes the Aneurin Leisure Trust.
Children’s Social Services will be part of a scrutiny committee which includes education in the new “Children, Young People and Families” scrutiny committee.
Both aspects of Social Services had been part of the “People” scrutiny committee up until now.
The report said: “Following the agreement for Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen council’s to federate, work has been undertaken to align both the cabinet portfolios and the scrutiny committees to the directorate structures that were introduced from May 1.
The report shows that the Corporate and Performance scrutiny committee which probes the council’s budget proposals each year will be renamed the Corporate Governance and Resources scrutiny committee.
The Place scrutiny committee which looked at the council’s environment and economic work will also change to become the “Economic Development and Environmental Management” scrutiny committee.
The changes are part of deepening the relationship across both county borough’s.
Last year Torfaen agreed to share their chief executive Stephen Vickers with Blaeanau Gwent who became joint chief of both authorities on a trial basis.
In January it was agreed by councillors that the shared chief executive experiment was going well – and they decided to go ahead with proposals for closer working or “federation” take place between the workforces.
Mr Vickers was expected to review and produce a new senior management structure across both authorities.
When the experiment was first mooted it had been expected that one of the senior staff members in Blaenau Gwent would be named as deputy chief executive.
Councillors had expected to have a say in who would fill this essential role- but no announcement on any appointment to this position has been made public yet by the authority.
The political side of both council’s remain independent sovereign bodies.
