Agenda item

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 2024/25.

The Leader informed Council that he had great pleasure in presenting the Annual Scrutiny Reports for approval and referred to the important of scrutiny in helping to develop policy and provide the appropriate checks and balances. After Councillor Brennan had been given the opportunity to second the report, he asked that each of the scrutiny Chairs be invited to deliver a brief summary of the year.

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

Councillor Combellack, Chair of the Corporate Overview Group for 2024/25, reported that the Group had allocated many scrutiny requests, helping to guide and formulate them, even redirecting them where appropriate, which had led to both interesting and productive debate. Scrutiny of performance figures confirmed that Rushcliffe continued to deliver high level services, with good customer feedback.  As the new Chair of Growth and Development Scrutiny Group, Councillor Combellack stated that she was looking forward to scrutinising work at the “coalface”. She thanked officers and members for their time and dedication, in particular the Head of Corporate Services and the Director – Finance and Corporate Services and concluded by looking forward to being involved in further successful scrutiny work.  

Councillor Edyvean, Chair of the Governance Scrutiny Group, thanked members of the Group for their involvement in sometimes lively debate on a range of topics. He stated that the Group had considered the Redmond Review, which had resulted in the appointment of an Independent Person, which had proved a very positive step and thanked officers and external presenters for their involvement and support.

Councillor Williams, Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Group, referred to the wide range and interesting subjects the Group had considered, which were detailed in the report and thanked officers, in particular the Head of Environment and Communities, the Democratic Services Team and members of the Group, especially the Vice-chair, Councillor Plant.

Councillors Matthews, Chair of the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group, referred to the varied and interesting topics that the Group had reviewed, which were detailed in the report, including the joint meeting with Communities Scrutiny Group, to consider accessible housing. He thanked all members of the Group, in particular the Vice-chair, Councillor Way and officers.

Councillor Plant, Vice-chair of Communities Scrutiny Group, thanked Councillor Williams and reflected on the interesting subjects covered during the year. She felt it was important that Councillors were appropriately informed about scrutiny topics and that recommendations agreed by scrutiny groups were actioned. Councillor Plant stated that the joint scrutiny group had been extremely informative, raising concerns, with many excellent recommendations, which, if implemented could make a real difference.  She also felt that it would be good practice for Vice-chairs to see the draft Annual Scrutiny Report before it was published and she hoped that further scrutiny training would be provided, as agreed last year.

Councillor Polenta, the Vice-chair of Governance Scrutiny Group, thanked the Chair, members of the Group and officers for their contributions and support. She referred to the importance of scrutiny in the democratic process, ensuring rigour and accountability, by challenging assumptions, regardless of political affiliations. It was important that the Council ensured that all information was accessible, with an accessible scrutiny process to residents. Councillor Polenta reiterated her concerns regarding the Constitutional changes agreed earlier this year, which she felt constricted debate.

In noting the comprehensive report, Councillor Way, the Vice-chair of Growth and Development Scrutiny Group thanked all those involved and felt that a great deal had been achieved. Councillor Way went onto agree with comments made by Councillor Plant and requested that going forward, any document that included a Councillor’s name should be sent to that Councillor before being published. Councillor Way was pleased to note that the scrutiny process was to be reviewed, as suggested in the Peer Review, and hoped that this would address ongoing concerns.    

Councillor R Mallender referred to the importance of having a robust scrutiny function, looked forward to seeing the outcome of the review, and was pleased that the Communities Scrutiny Group had undertaken important work in relation to Climate Change.

Councillor Birch thanked all Councillors and officers for their hard work in the scrutiny process.

The Leader confirmed that the request from Councillor Plant and Way would be actioned going forward.

It was RESOLVED that the work undertaken by the four Scrutiny Groups during 2024/25 be endorsed.