Issue - meetings

Evaluating Overview and Scrutiny Panel report

Meeting: 10/09/2020 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 28)

28 Evaluating Overview and Scrutiny Panel recommendations

To consider and discuss the recommendations from the Evaluating Overview and Scrutiny Panel and note the Minutes from the Panel meetings.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Members considered and discussed the findings and recommendations from the Evaluating Overview and Scrutiny Panel and the Minutes from the Panel meetings that took place on 14 July and 20 August 2020.

Panel Chairman, Cllr S. Walsh, thanked Members of the Panel for their input and discussions to review the principle and purposes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Cllr S. Walsh set out eight recommendations that the Panel had put forward which included the use of time-limited scrutiny panels, scheduling additional meetings and actively reviewing the current work programme at Committee meetings.

The Panel had debated the role of overview and scrutiny and its role as a critical friend to the Council. It was highlighted that establishing smaller time-limited panels, when needed, to debate and report back to the Committee, would enable a more flexible and agile response. Current Panels included the Recovery Scrutiny Panel to focus on the Council’s recovery work from the emergency response as well as the Budget Scrutiny Panel.

Panel Members had felt it was important to have focused and shorter meetings with clear recommendations, where necessary, to the Executive. It was also important to facilitate and encourage Members to evaluate and review information provided to the Committee such as performance data in advance of Committee meetings. Use of the Advance Questions procedure should be encouraged so that officers and Executive Members were given the opportunity to respond to Committee questions in a structured way.

In the discussion that followed, Members agreed that shorter and more focused Committee meetings would benefit debate but with a full agenda at each meeting this was not always possible. Members noted the recommendation to actively review the current work programme at each meeting. Communication on the role of overview and scrutiny was important as a reminder of its vital function in scrutinising Council activities. Members agreed that use of Advance Questions was an efficient way of giving officers and Executive Members a steer on areas of interest so they could prepare a fuller response.

Cllr N. Harrison, Committee Chair, thanked the Panel Members for their work and recommendations for improving the work of the Committee.

RESOLVED that the Minutes from the Evaluating Overview and Scrutiny Panel be noted and the recommendations from the Panel be approved.