Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies of absence.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 02 May 2023.

RESOLVED that the minutes of Policy and Resources Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 02 May 2023 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

There were no Chairman’s announcements made at this meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest from members in accordance with Standing Orders and the Council’s Code of Conduct and disclosures of advice or directions received from Group Leaders or Political Groups, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged.

There were no deputations made at this meeting.

To receive a presentation providing an overview of the Council’s Opportunities Plan and how the Year 1 project proposals relate to the Policy and Resources Portfolio.

The Panel received a presentation by the Head of Finance and Audit on the Opportunities Plan 2023-2027. (The presentation is appended to these minutes).

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Mrs K K Trott, addressed the Panel on this item.

Members noted the information in the presentation and the projects that are being considered in year one of the plan, and asked questions on the proposals that have been put forward.

Members had the following suggestions to be put forward for consideration in the Opportunities Plan:

(i)              Explore the opportunity of cost savings on electricity and heating from Hybrid Working, whilst condensing the staff within the building onto less floors.

(ii)             Teams Meetings, members felt that more meetings could be held over teams which would require less staff required in the building later in the evening, it could also save on heating and electricity.

(iii)           Introducing a scheme to encourage residents to rent spare rooms, which would not only benefit the resident with more income, but could help single occupancy properties which receive a Council Tax discount to pay full Council Tax.

(iv)           Large Projects, members felt that it was important for the Council to regularly review the timelines for delivering large projects to ensure that it is still worthwhile the Council undertaking them.

RESOLVED that having asked questions, made comments, and put forward further proposals for consideration, as outlined above, the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Panel notes the content of the presentation.

To consider any items of business dealt with by the Executive since the last meeting of the Panel, that falls under the remit of the Policy and Resources Portfolio. This will include any decisions taken by individual members during the same time period.

The Panel considered the Executive items of business which falls under the remit of the Policy and Resources Portfolio, including Executive Member decisions and Officer delegated decisions, that have taken place since the last meeting of the Panel 2 May 2023.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

To provide an opportunity for Members to consider the scrutiny priorities for the Policy and Resources Panel.

The Head of Finance and Audit addressed the Panel on this item and gave the Panel an overview of the items already scheduled for the coming year.

Members were given the opportunity to put forward any suggestions of items that they would like to scrutinise. Councillor Dugan requested that an item on the Council’s Procurement process be included, to enable members to better understand how the Council achieves best value when procuring services and products.