Agenda and minutes
PDF 258 KBVenue: Council Chamber, Trinity Road, Cirencester
Contact: Democratic Services,
Media
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Apologies Additional documents: Minutes: There were no apologies |
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Substitute Members To note details of any substitution arrangements in place for the Meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no substitute members |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members and Officers, relating to items to be considered at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of interest from Members
There were no declarations of interest from Officers |
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To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Committee on 1st March and the 26th April 2022. Additional documents: Minutes: Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting 1st March 2022
The Committee thanked officers for completing amendments to the minutes that had been previously submitted and welcomed the inclusion of the Housing Delivery at Down Ampney and Kemble briefing.
Minute OS 133 – The question put by the Chair under this item referred to Police presence and the ability of the Police to respond in rural areas of the Cotswolds.
The Committee asked that minutes are issued in a timely manner (even as a draft)
RESOLVED: The Committee resolved that subject to the inclusion of the amendments and consideration of the request for the timeliness of publication of Minutes and Matters Arising to be reviewed, the minutes were an accurate record of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 1st March 2011
Voting Record – For 7, Against 0, Abstentions 3, Absent 0
Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting 26th April 2022
Minute OS 150 – Paragraph 1 replaced by “The Chair addressed the meeting and recommended the Committee waive the call in arrangements”
Minute OS 151 – Paragraph 4 to be amended to “…the stretch of disused line from Tetbury to Kemble had not been mentioned in the work looking at former railways…” and “…the playing pitch review included the new pitch being built at the Tetbury rugby club…”. Paragraph 7 “…Cotswold Water Park…”, and “…more widespread across the whole of the Cotswold Water Park including the eastern half”
RESOLVED: The Committee resolved that subject to the inclusion of the amendments the minutes were an accurate record of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 26th April 2011
Voting Record – For 10, Against 0, Abstentions 0, Absent 0
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Chair's Announcements Additional documents: Minutes: There were no Chair’s Announcements |
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Public Questions To deal with questions from the public within the open forum question and answer session of fifteen minutes in total. Questions from each member of the public should be no longer than two minutes each and relate issues under the Committee’s remit. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no questions from the Public. |
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Member Questions To deal with written questions by Members, relating to issues under the Committee’s remit, with the maximum length of oral supplementary questions at Committee being no longer than one minute. Responses to any supplementary questions will be dealt with in writing if they cannot be dealt with at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no questions from Members |
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Called-in Decisions Additional documents: Minutes: There were no Called-In Decisions |
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Draft Cabinet Scrutiny Protocol Purpose Modernising the Constitution
Recommendation(s) • To provide comments on the Cabinet/Scrutiny Protocol attached at Annex A for future consideration by the Cabinet.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee commented that the statement “Members commented that policy development and decision making need to be clearly defined…” was a very vague statement and did not indicate how this would be carried out and who would be doing it. The Director of Governance agreed that Policy Development was very broad term and recommended it should be limited down to the Policy Framework within the Constitution as this included the major policies of the council.
The Committee commented that the (para 3.2) term “Informal Setting” implied discussions could take place in a corridor, car park other location outside of a proper council meetings and this was not compatible with the Council’s open decision making culture. It was explained that “informal setting” meant any setting that was ‘not formal’ including seminars and early exploratory discussions, and it was useful to have a setting where several options may being considered before being taken forward on a more formal basis. An example was given of the Committee’s forward work plan where a ‘draft’ list had been discussed and created informally, but this would only be formally agreed once it had been discussed in Committee, in public.
The Committee commented that as the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was not a decision making body and terms like ‘approved’ should be replaced be ‘agreed’ and the output from the Committee should only every be recommendations and not decisions.
The Committee noted that the term ‘executive’ included both Cabinet and officers from the Senior Management Team.
The Director Of Governance suggested that the document is returned to the Constitutional Working Group for further consideration and amendments to the wording. The Chair recommended that following Annual Council, the Chair and Vice Chair of Overview and Scrutiny for the new year, and the Director of Governance should review the policy and make the necessary amendments before implementation
RESOLVED: The Committee noted the policy document and provided comments for consideration by Cabinet.
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Executive Forward Plan Purpose To receive Executive Forward Plan and identify any areas for inclusion in future Overview and Scrutiny meetings. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee welcomed the Executive Forward Plan as a useful regular update of the work of the Council and particularly noted the work of the Capital Programme Investment Board and when it makes its decisions.
The Committee noted the Capital Program Investment Board appeared several times across the year indicating when different work streams would be delivered.
The Committee commented that Tetfest and the Olimpick Games in Chipping Camden had been left out of the lists of community events being supported within Councillor Jenny Forde’s area of responsibility, and that all events including these would be referred to the Council’s Safety Advisory Group.
The Committee noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee can both react to the existing programme of work within the Executive Forward Plan and call on the Executive to provide reports on areas that are of particular interest to the Committee e.g. Affordable Housing.
The Committee requested that Overview and Scrutiny Committee is updated when changes are made to the Executive Forward Plan to ensure the Committee is kept informed and able to react to urgent events and decisions.
RESOLVED: The Committee noted the Executive Forward Plan and identified a number of areas for consideration by Overview and Scrutiny Committees. |
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Draft Work Plan 2022/23 Purpose Following the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Plan meeting on 23rd March 2022, the Committee are asked to consider the draft work plan timeline for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2022/23 for approval.
Recommendation(s) To approve the Work Plan running order and provide any comments for officers on the proposed plan.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair introduced the Draft Work Plan and confirmed it was designed around the publication of a series of fixed items e.g. quarterly performance reports with other areas of work added with a suggested priority that was open to discussion.
The Director of Governance commented that with 6-7 items to consider on each meeting’s agenda, the Work Plan was ambitious and if the Committee was minded to add additional items e.g. a Capital Programme Investment Board update, then the Committee should consider removing another item.
The Committee commented that Planning and Development was scheduled for 21st March 2023 which was too far off for such an important and current issue. It was recommended to move this item forward to 20th September 2022 and move Neighbourhood Planning back to 21st March 2023.
The Committee commented that recruitment and retention of Planning Officers had been an issue for nearly 3 years and requested a 1 page report is provided at each Overview and Scrutiny Committee showing progress with staff recruitment, current shortfall and the size of any backlog in processing applications.
The Committee commented that consideration of Housing was a key priority of the Committee (particularly affordable housing) and, although this was scheduled for consideration at the 20th September 2022 committee meeting, an earlier meeting with Bromford, Stonewater and the Council’s other housing association partners should be scheduled.
The Committee recommended removing the South West Ambulance Service item from 21st June 2022 and replacing it with a question and answer session with Bromford, Stonewater and the Council’s other housing association partners.
The Committee commented that the issue of sewage discharge into rivers has arisen in various Council committees and requested that the dates and times of Flood Partnership Meetings are identified so that the council can send a representative to raise this issue with water companies serving the area. Officers were asked to identify meetings.
The Committee recommended an additional item is added to each agenda to cover matters brought forward from previous meetings.
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Quarterly Digest (including County Matters) Purpose To consider any items arising out of the Quarterly Digest for future debate and/or action by the Committee Additional documents: Minutes: There were no Quarterly Digest papers to consider.
Councillor Blomefield presented the Count Report update. This included an update from the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Joint Committee and a presentation on the Economic Effects of Climate Change. |