Agenda item

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

Councillor Thomas joined the meeting to present her matrix for Councillor diversity, recruitment and allowances. She explained that there are many barriers to becoming a Councillor including low incomes, childcare provision, students or the self-employed and part time workers, and how the Council may consider incentives or additional allowances such as childcare or loss of earnings allowances to help Councillors while attending Council meetings and business.

Councillor Thomas explained that there does not appear to be any mechanism for allowances and other support which needs to be publicised when recruiting Councillors. She added, the Council could look at alternative opportunities for virtual attendance at some of its meetings and training to help recruit a more diverse Council membership.

Councillor Thomas asked if there was anything further the Council could be doing to encourage diversity for Town and Parish Council’s also and asked how Rushcliffe compares with similar boroughs or districts and supported this be scrutinised during the next election cycle.

The Chairman suggested that recruitment was the responsibility of each political party to attract Councillors to stand for election. In respect of allowances the Chair suggested this could filter through the recruitment process and by setting allowances at Council and providing clearer more accessible information on the Council’s website for potential candidates.

Councillor Edyvean stated he did not disagree with the background of the proposal for more diversity in respect of recruitment and would indeed like to see more diverse candidates coming forward but failed to see how scrutiny would benefit or improve the current process.

Councillor Walker explained that an independent Councillor does not receive the resources or support as those aligned to a political party and asked if the Council should perhaps consider providing a forum for independent candidates.

Members of the Group also suggested Rushcliffe Reports for promoting the role of a Councillor and social media platforms.

The Service Manager advised that officers do a lot of work in advance of an election and that there is a limit to what the Council can do. She proposed upstanding the Independent Remuneration Panel, a statutory requirement for the review of Councillor allowances, earlier in the next cycle to allow more Councillors to engage with the process. She also proposed to focus on the work of Councillors with short video clips on social media during democracy week in October and added that recruitment would be the driving force of the Member Development Group, who’s next meeting is 25 September 2023.

The Group declined the scrutiny matrix as they felt diversity, recruitment and allowances was already covered by other Council Groups.

The Group considered four other new scrutiny Matrices submitted by officers.

The Scrutiny Matrix submitted by the Service Manager – Public Protection in respect of Smoke Control Areas in the Borough, currently limited to West Bridgford and Edwalton. The Environment Act 202 came into force on 1 May 2022 and amends the Clean Air Acts by introducing civil penalties for smoke emissions in a smoke control area and strengthens offences in relation to the sale of certain solid fuels. Scrutiny will provide Councillors with the information and understanding to shape the Council’s emerging policies on how the new provisions will be implemented across the Borough. It was agreed by the Group that this topic would be submitted to the Communities Scrutiny Group at its meeting on 5 October 2023.

The Scrutiny Matrix submitted by the Service Manager – Economic Growth and Property in respect of a Review of the Growth Boards with the current Growth Boards having been established in 2015 and the most recent review being 2019.Cabinet has recommended that a review be conducted around the current Boards Terms of Reference, a survey of Growth Board members to reflect on the work done and to consider priorities for future Boards, engagement with local businesses and other key stakeholders, review the retail findings which have been currently commissioned and then report to scrutiny to review options. It was agreed by the Group that this topic be submitted to the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group at its meeting on 4 October 2023.

The Scrutiny Matrix submitted by the Service Manager – Neighbourhoods in respect of the Use of Community Facilities and the income generated from community buildings, parks, pitches and open spaces raised concerns at the last meeting of the Corporate Overview Group and the Group proposed to schedule scrutiny to find out if the financial and performance targets were realistic, expectations of users, benchmarking against other authorities, marketing, other ideas for usage, what is being done to improve income and what a difference the new booking system has made. It was agreed by the Group that this topic be submitted to the Communities Scrutiny Group work programme for July 2024 and a briefing note be circulated providing context in the meantime.

The Scrutiny Matrix submitted by the Service Manager – Neighbourhoods in respect of a Review of Canal and River Trust Partnership Funding including the access agreement between Rushcliffe Borough council and the Canal and River Trust for the Grantham Canal which is due to expire in 2024. It was agreed that this topic be submitted to the Communities Scrutiny Group at its meeting on 5 October 2023.

The Chairman suggested an item on mobile and broadband connectivity would be an opportunity for the Borough to improve connectivity for residents in more rural areas. It was noted this was not a Borough issue and is a matter for Nottinghamshire County Council.

It was RESOLVED that the Corporate Overview Group:

a)     considered additional items for scrutiny from the current Cabinet Forward Plan, Corporate Strategy, Medium Term Financial Strategy, Capital ands Investment Strategy and Transformation Plan

b)     determined any additional topics to be included in a scrutiny group work programme for 2023/24 for each of the scrutiny groups as presented on newly submitted scrutiny matrices

c)     reviewed the current work programme for each of the scrutiny groups.

Work Programme 2023-24 – Corporate Overview Group

Work Programme 2023-24 – Governance Scrutiny Group

Work Programme 2023-24 – Growth and Development Scrutiny Group

Work Programme 2023-24 – Communities Scrutiny Group