Yahoo News Only one 'call in' ever made at TVCA as new scrutiny protocol is put in place
Only one ‘call in’ of a major decision made under the auspices of the Tees Valley Combined Authority has been made since it has been in existence, councillors have been told.
Provision to call in a ‘key’ decision and revisit it is one element of a new scrutiny protocol being implemented at the mayoral authority and its related components, which came into being in April 2016 and has an annual budget of £350m with powers over the likes of economic development, regeneration and transport.
An independent review commissioned by the last Government following allegations of corruption at the Teesworks industrial site called for TVCA cabinet’s to review its current delegations and directions to the South Tees Development Corporation - which is tasked with regenerating the site and is overseen by TVCA - to ensure it meets its statutory obligations. This included appropriate oversight by relevant overview and scrutiny committees, to “enable value for money to be delivered and evidenced through effective scrutiny of significant decisions”.
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The protocol has been drawn up with input from the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny, a national charity which is an expert in all aspects of governance and scrutiny and aims to help create more accountable and transparent decision making.
At a meeting members of TVCA’s overview and scrutiny committee, who were provided with an update on the work and largely agreed recommendations, quizzed officials over the criteria for a call in.
They were told that only it related to key decisions with a request having to be made within five working days of a decision being published or communicated. There was also the requirement for five elected members from three of the constituent authorities - Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton - to agree a call in.
Emma Simpson, the acting chief legal officer and monitoring officer at TVCA, explained: “The purpose of a call in in terms of a decision is to examine whether that decision was properly made in line with legislation or the constitution.
“It does not undo a decision, but it sends it back to the decision maker for it to be re-made. That might be the cabinet or any other decision maker.”
Councillor Glyn Nightingale said: “What you are basically saying is you cannot call it in because you don’t like the decision?”
Ms Simpson added: “That is correct, yes.”
Councillor David Branson said: “Do we know how many call ins we have had?” Ms Simpson replied: “I think there has only ever been one since TVCA existed.”
Cllr Branson questioned how difficult it would be to meet the criteria for a successful call in. He added: “If people are happy, then you don’t change it, but if it is not doing what it is supposed to do then maybe we need to look at it again.”
Officers suggested information could be provided comparing local council call in procedures for further context.
A report for committee members had conceded the current procedure was more restrictive than that at other combined authorities. The report said: “Rules for call in are set in the constitution. The current procedure is within the law, but is more restrictive than that which applies in some other combined authorities.”
Committee chairman, Councillor Steve Nelson said: “The fact there has been only the one [call in], you can read it in different ways. It doesn’t necessarily mean the system isn’t working, it may be that decisions have been made in a way that call in simply isn’t necessary.”
The independent review, set up by former Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, made a total of 28 recommendations after stating that standards were not being met when it came to managing public funds and also concluding that systems of governance and finance did not provide sufficient transparency and oversight to evidence value for money to taxpayers.
However it found no evidence to support allegations of corruption or illegality which had been levelled at private sector partners in the Teesworks site by some critics and strongly refuted by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen.
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