Agenda item

The Council will consider the proposed work programmes for the two overview and scrutiny committees (i.e. the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee) for the 2024/2025 Municipal Year and will note the work carried out by those committees during 2023/2024.

Council considered the respective proposed work programmes for the Community Leadership and the Resources & Services Overview and Scrutiny Committees for the remainder of the 2024/25 Municipal Year.  Council also received the proposed ‘Annual Report 2023/24’ for overview and scrutiny work undertaken through those Committees.

 

Members were aware that, under the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules (O&SPR), the Constitution stated, in relation to the Work Programme (O&SPR 7), that:

 

“Each Overview and Scrutiny Committee will submit a work programme for the year ahead and a review of the previous year’s activities to the Council for approval.  In addition, it will be responsible for coordinating and prioritising its work programme on an ongoing basis.”

 

In submitting their proposed work programmes for 2024/25, the Overview and Scrutiny Committees had taken into account:-

 

·     the General Role and Principles of undertaking its functions, as set out in Part 2, Article 6;

·     the planned work on the preparation of elements of the Budget and Policy Framework;

·     provision for budget scrutiny and scrutiny of the Treasury Management Strategy, as appropriate;

·     the need for statutory timetables to be met;

·     the expressed wishes of members of the committee;

·     requests from the Cabinet to carry out reviews and/or suggestions from the liaison meetings held under the Cabinet & Overview and Scrutiny Protocol; and

·     requests from Members and/or Group Leaders in accordance with O&SPR 8.

 

In addition, under Article 6.02 of the Constitution the separate Overview & Scrutiny Committees (OSCs) performed the role of overview and scrutiny in relation to:-

 

Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

“To perform the role of Overview and Scrutiny and its functions in relation to:-

 

·     Community Leadership developing the external focus of overview and scrutiny on “district-wide” issues’ (and where appropriate sub regional, regional and national issues), in particular through collaborative work with local partner authorities, providers, stakeholders and members of the public.

·     Approval of discrete researched and evidenced reviews on the effectiveness of partnership operating in the area with particular focus on:

 

o  Community Safety

o  Health and Well-being

o  Economy, Skills and Educational Attainment

 

·     Community engagement, development and empowerment

·     Economic Development, Regeneration and Freeport East

·     Leisure and Tourism (except matters relating to budgets)

·     Planning & Building Control and Strategic Planning (including the Local Plan)

·     Emergency Planning

·     To scrutinise/review the outcomes and implications for the Council of its financial support to community organisations and also from its receipt and use of funds received from local partner organisations

 

The Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee will also act as the Council’s designated “crime and disorder committee” for the purposes of Section 19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 and will have the power –

 

(a)   to review or scrutinise decisions made, or other action taken, in connection with the discharge by the responsible authorities[*] of their crime and disorder function;

(b)   to make reports or recommendations to the local authority with respect to the discharge of those functions.

 

*   “The responsible authorities” means the bodies and persons who are responsible authorities within the meaning given by section 5 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c.37) (authorities responsible for crime and disorder strategies) in relation to the local authority’s area.

 

In fulfilling that function the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee will have the power (whether by virtue of section 9F(2) or 21(2) of the Local Government Act 2000 or regulations made under section 9JA(2) or 32(3) of that Act or otherwise) to make a report or recommendation to the local authority with respect to any matter which is a local crime and disorder matter in relation to a member of the authority.

 

The crime and disorder committee shall meet to review or scrutinise decisions made, or other action taken, in connection with the discharge by the responsible authorities of their crime and disorder function as the committee considers appropriate but no less than once in every twelve month period.”

 

Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

“To perform the role of Overview and Scrutiny and its functions in relation to the effective use of the Council’s resources including approval of discrete researched and evidenced reviews on the effectiveness of:

 

Financial Forecast Budget setting and monitoring (including General Fund & Housing Revenue Account but excluding those budgetary matters delegated to the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

 

Colchester/Tendring Borders Garden Community

Housing strategy and Homeless service

Service Delivery and Performance (where not delegated to the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

Procurement and Contract Management

Transformation and Digital Strategies

Customer Service and Standards”

 

In considering the Work Programme of enquiries to submit for approval to Council, the separate Overview and Scrutiny Committees had had regard to the Corporate Plan 2024-28 and the themes of that Corporate Plan.  Those themes were:

 

·     Pride in our Area and Services to Residents;

·     Raising Aspirations and Creating Opportunities;

·     Championing our Local Environment;

·     Working with Partners to Improve Quality of Life;

·     Promoting our Heritage Offer, Attracting Visitors and Encouraging them to Stay Longer, and;

·     Financial Sustainability and Openness

 

The Overview and Scrutiny Committees had each formally reviewed the work carried out in 2023/24 and had considered items for inclusion in their respective proposed Work Programmes for 2024/25 as follows:

 

Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 4 June 2024 (Informal) and 17 July 2024; and

Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 20 June 2024 (Informal) and 22 July 2024.

 

Those formal approvals had followed informal development of concepts by Members of the two Committees.  All Councillors on Tendring District Council had been provided with the opportunity to contribute proposals for Work Programme items for 2024/25.

 

Both Committees had received the results of a public consultation that had run from 15 April 2024 to 10 May 2024. Details to access the consultation had been sent directly to all Town and Parish Councils in the District with electronic copies of posters that they had been invited to display. It had also published on this Council’s website in conjunction with a social media engagement campaign by the Council’s Communications Team

 

Having considered all of the above, the two Overview and Scrutiny Committees had then determined their proposed Work Programmes for 2024/25 and those were now submitted for approval by Council along with a review of the scrutiny function at the Council in 2023/24 as performed through the two Committees.  This had been developed in dialogue with the Chairmen of the two Committees and a draft had been submitted at the Committee meetings already referenced above. 

 

Appendix Ai to report A.4 set out the proposed work programme for the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Appendix Aii set out the proposed work programme for the Resources and Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Appendix B set out the review of the scrutiny function in 2023/24.  All were submitted for consideration by Council. 

 

It was reported that both of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees had approved arrangements to enable appointments of relevant Task and Finish Groups to take forward enquiries from the approved work programmes. Those arrangements would enable those appointments to be made prior to the next respective Committee meetings.

 

It was moved by Councillor Steady, seconded by Councillor P B Honeywood and:-

 

RESOLVED that Council –

 

(a)    approves the proposed work programmes for the Community Leadership and the Resources & Services Overview and Scrutiny Committees for the 2024/25 Municipal Year, as set out in Appendices Ai and Aii respectively; and

 

(b)    notes the work carried out by those Committees in the year 2023/24, as set out in Appendix B.