Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 May 2022 were approved as a true record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

Report of the Service Manager – Corporate Services

The Service Manager Corporate Services delivered a presentation concerning the Terms of Reference for the Corporate Overview Group and Scrutiny Committees. It was explained that the Terms of Reference (ToR) for scrutiny had been brought to the Group for consideration at the start of the municipal year due to the recent changes in the Grroup’s membership. The Service Manager Corporate Services added that the ToR were included in the Constitution. 

The Group was informed that, following a review of the scrutiny process in 2019, Corporate Overview Group was formed as part of the transitional arrangements and the TOR developed.  The new arrangements were reviewed in September 2020, and it was agreed that, as the new arrangements for scrutiny had worked well, they should be continued. The ToR needed to be amended to reflect that decision and the Service Manager Corporate Services proposed that the first point within the ToR “Implementing identified improvements to scrutiny throughout the transitional period including training of scrutiny members, construction of new work programmes and reporting methods” should be removed as it referred to the ‘transitional arrangements’.  

The Group was informed that the Service Manager Corporate Services would discuss the proposed changes from this meeting with the Monitoring Officer who was currently reviewing the Constitution for consideration by Governance Scrutiny at the end of this month and presentation to Full Council at its meeting in July. 

Councillor Clarke said that the ToR for the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group should be amended to reflect the constructive contribution the Group could make to the development of Council policy.  The Service Manager Corporate Services agreed to devise additional wording to address this.

Councillor Virdi asked whether the ‘Annual Governance Statement’ referred to in the ToR for Governance Scrutiny included the ‘Going Concern Statement’ or whether this should be included as a separate item.  The Service Manager Corporate Services explained that it was possibly not included in the ToR as it had been introduced since they had been devised. She agreed to confirm the arrangements with the Director Finance and Corporate Services and amend the ToR for Governance Scrutiny if required.

It was RESOLVED that the Terms of Reference be agreed subject to the following:

a)    That the first point within the Terms of Reference for Corporate Overview Group “Implementing identified improvements to scrutiny throughout the transitional period including training of scrutiny members, construction of new work programmes and reporting methods” be removed.

b)    The Service Manager Corporate Services to devise additional wording for the Terms of Reference for the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group to reflect the constructive contribution the Group could make to the development of Council policy.

c)    The Service Manager Corporate Services to confirm whether the ‘Going Concern Statement’ should be included as a separate item in the Terms of Reference for Governance Scrutiny and to amend the ToR if required.

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

The Group considered the requests for scrutiny items submitted by either Councillors or officers using the scrutiny matrix. The Service Manager Corporate Services explained how the scrutiny matrices were formed and that Directors considered issues for scrutiny at the start of each year.

In respect of the scrutiny matrix submitted by Councillor J Walker concerning the inclusion of Active Travel in future Local Plans, it was agreed that this would not be submitted to scrutiny as it was already being addressed by officers following submission to scrutiny earlier in the year. In response to questions, the Service Manager Corporate Services explained that the issue could be submitted for consideration again later in the year but that the scrutiny matrix would need to clarify how the issue had changed from the current position.

Regarding the scrutiny matrix concerning the Customer Access Strategy, the Group agreed that this should be submitted to the Communities Scrutiny Group rather than the Corporate Overview Group as suggested in the scrutiny matrix due to the link to customers and the wider community. The Group asked that the issue be discussed at the meeting in October when the External Communications Strategy would be discussed due to the linkages between the two items. The Group was, however, concerned about the length of the agenda for this meeting and that sufficient time be allowed for full scrutiny of both items. Councillors proposed that the item ‘Establishment of a Youth Council’ which was also planned for the October meeting be delayed to allow more time at that meeting for full scrutiny of the items.  The Service Manager Corporate Services agreed to discuss the Group’s comments and the work programme with the Service Manager Neighbourhoods and to report back to the next meeting of the Corporate Overview Group.

The Group discussed the item ‘Policies relating to Alternative Energy Sources’ provisionally scheduled for the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group in July and agreed that this item fell outside the scrutiny process as the discussion was to inform policy development rather than to scrutinise policies. The Service Manager Corporate Services agreed to arrange a separate workshop for Councillors to discuss the item and to feed into the policy development process.

It was RESOLVED that the work programmes outlined below be agreed.

Work Programme 2022-23 – Corporate Overview Group