Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30 March 2022, be received and approved as a correct record.

The Scrutiny Research Officer welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave Members an overview of the current Scrutiny Work Programme position including three specific reviews carried over from the previous municipal year.

Gambling Related Harm Review

The Gambling Harm review had commenced at the Scrutiny Panel A meeting in March 2022 and had considered how the review might empower the Council to work proactively in partnership with other key organisations to assist, support and mitigate against families struggling with gambling issues.

The Council’s Licensing Manager, Julian Alison, also gave an outline of how the Council currently facilitates licensing applications and regulates gambling on premises within the District.  The next meeting of the Panel was due to take place in July 2022.

Social Housing White Paper Review

This review was added to the Work Programme in December 2021 and following publication of the White Paper, the Council had been working to identify the key implications of the paper with an action plan being developed through the Housing and Assets’ Departmental Management Team.  The review was still awaiting commencement.

Waste and Recycling

Following a report to Committee on the Council’s Corporate Risk, the review had been agreed as a result of the Government’s emerging Waste Strategy becoming an identified risk for the Council.  The review was still awaiting commencement.

In relation to the standing items on the Work Programme and in particular the annual budget review process (taking place prior to the Council’s Tax Setting meeting in March each year), it was suggested to Members that the Committee could review the Council’s budgets more frequently throughout the financial year, spotlighting certain service areas/spending programmes as desired.

Scrutiny of the Council’s Corporate Performance still took place on a quarterly basis, and it was anticipated that the dedicated Crime and Disorder Scrutiny meeting would take place this year following difficulties facilitating the event over the last couple of years due to the pandemic.  Members could start to consider a preferred key theme for this year’s debate.

The Service Manager, Scrutiny and Democratic Services opened up the discussion and made some suggestions for review topics for the forthcoming year: 

Budget Scrutiny

As mentioned previously, Members were asked to consider whether it would be beneficial to start the annual budget process earlier and take the opportunity to engage with residents as part of the process.  It was also noted that the funding gap was widening to 2.4 million for the 2022/23 financial year.

Crime and Disorder Meeting

Committee were asked to consider what format they might like the meeting to take and submit any suggestions to the Scrutiny Team.

Mental Health in the Workplace

Following the pandemic amongst other things, many employees were now struggling with stress and anxiety issues and sickness absence levels were rising. Members could examine what services the Council’s HR Team currently provide to assist staff within the workplace and their home environments.

Recruitment and Retention

It had been acknowledged by the Corporate Leadership Team recently that recruitment and retention was now  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS.3