Agenda and minutes

An apology of absence was received from Councillor M R Daniells.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 20 January 2022.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 20 January 2022 be confrimed 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 consider a report by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer on the Daedalus Finance Strategy.

The Panel considered a report by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer on the Daedalus Finance Strategy.

Members confirmed that they agreed with the strategy and thought it was well balanced.

RESOLVED that the Panel: -

(i)            Notes the content of the report; and

(ii)          Recommends that the Executive endorses the strategy, when it is considered at its meeting on 7 March 2022.

To receive a presentation and a discussion lead by the Head of Democratic Services on the motion regarding the live streaming of committee meetings.

The Panel considered a presentation and took part in a debate lead by the Head of Democratic Services on the motion made to Council by Councillor J Forrest which related to live streaming of meetings.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor J Forrest addressed the Panel on this item and presented his motion and reasoning behind it.

The Head of Democratic Services gave a brief presentation to the Panel outlining the background of how and when live streaming started and the reasons why it has now ceased. She also outlined the various options that could be available to the Council, as well as highlighting the key considerations.

All members recognised the benefit of live streaming meetings is as way of maximising the transparency of the Council’s democratic decision-making process, and they acknowledged that there will be some people who would prefer to watch meetings from the comfort of their own home rather than having to travel into the Civic Offices.

However, members also acknowledged that there is a significant cost involved in being able to provide this service, along with additional staffing resources, and many argued that in the current financial climate this money could be better used for other services.

There was also an acknowledgement that the demand for this from the customer is very low and even during lockdown when the Council meetings could only be viewed via live streamed channels, the viewing figures were not substantial, leading some members to question the value for money for on-going live streaming.

Councillor Forrest reiterated that his opinion was that by re-introducing live streaming it could help to alleviate the mis-information that is often reported, especially on social media platforms. Some members did not feel that this would happen and believed that it could lead to more mis-information being reported.

 RESOLVED that the Panel: -

(i)            Thank the Head of Democratic Services for her presentation and informative debate on live streaming of meetings; and

(ii)          Acknowledge that a report will come back to the Panel later in the year detailing the options available for the live streaming of meetings taking account of the Panel comments above.

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 on 20 January 2022.

The Panel considered the decisions at items 8(1) to 8(6) of the agenda.

No comments were received.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

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 Deputy Chief Executive Officer addressed the Panel on this item and offered members the opportunity to put forward any items that they may wish to consider a future meeting.

There were no items put forward on this occasion.