Issue - meetings

The report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services is attached.

The Leader and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Strategic and Borough-wide Leadership, Councillor Clarke MBE presented the report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services providing a review of the work undertaken by the Council’s four Scrutiny Groups during 2025/26.

The Leader welcomed Mr Ali and wished him well. The Leader stated that scrutiny was an incredibly important operation of this Council and welcomed the report. Once Councillor Brennan had been given the opportunity to second the report, he asked the Mayor to invite the respective Scrutiny Chairs to summarise any highlights of the year.

Councillor Brennan seconded the motion and reserved the right to speak.

Councillor Williams, Chair of the Corporate Overview Group (COG) for 2025/26, agreed that scrutiny was a key function of the Council, and as the overarching group, COG looked both retrospectively and forwards to identify ways to improve services for residents. COG considered a range of reports and looked at all requests made by officers and Councillors, and he thanked everyone for those, and hoped that requests would continue to come forward. He thanked officers, in particular the Assistant Director – Corporate Services, the Democratic Services Team, officers who attended meetings to present reports and members of the Group, and he looked forward to the year ahead. 

Councillor Simms, Chair of the Governance Scrutiny Group, stated that this was his first year as Chair of the Group. He thanked the Director – Finance and Corporate Services, the Assistant Director – Finance and the Democratic Services Team for their support, officers and outside representatives who attended meetings to present reports, his Vice-chair Councillor Gaunt for his support and members of the Group. Councillor Simms stated that he saw good governance as the bedrock of the Council, Rushcliffe was an outstanding, well run Council, and as a governance professional, he was honoured to Chair this Group. The Group had been well attended, undertaking effective scrutiny, which he encouraged, to ensure that the Council continued to have effective governance, especially with Local Government Reorganisation on the horizon. Councillor Simms looked forward to 2026/27 and continuing to work together and improve.  

Councillor Parekh, Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Group, referred to the wide range of issues considered by the Group, as detailed in the report, which had directly impacted on residents’ lives, by providing constructive challenge, holding decision makers to account and supporting continuous service improvement. Councillor Parekh thanked all members of the Group for their thoughtful and constructive discussions, Cabinet members, officers and partner organisations who attended meetings, and her Vice-chair, Councillor Plant. She went onto thank the Director – Neighbourhoods, the Assistant Director – Corporate Services, the Assistant Director – Environment and Communities, and the Assistant Director – Public Protection for their guidance and professionalism throughout the year, and the Democratic Services Team for their excellent support.

Councillors Combellack, Chair of the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group, stated that it had been an interesting year for the Group, scrutinising various topics, as detailed in the report, despite  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21