The Scrutiny Management Board made two decisions, agreeing to refer the draft Scrutiny Work Programme 2023/24 - 2024/25 to the relevant committees, and to hold a workshop to review the Council's scrutiny arrangements.

Scrutiny Work Programme 2023/24 - 2024/25

The Board reviewed the draft Scrutiny Work Programme 2023/24 - 2024/25 for the 2024/25 municipal year. This was a two year programme which had been introduced the previous year to allow for more in depth scrutiny of the Council's activities. It included a number of items required by the Council's constitution, such as the budget, and items that had been carried over from the previous year or suggested by Councillors and officers.

Councillor Thomas asked if it would be possible to add items to the work programme throughout the year. Richard Phillips, the Service Delivery Manager for Registrars, Public Protection, Legal & Democracy, said that committees would be able to add items to their work programmes and reprioritise them as needed.

The Board resolved to refer the suggestions in the work programme to the relevant committees so they could prioritise them.

Review of Scrutiny Arrangements

Mr Phillips told the meeting that the Scrutiny Management Board was required to consider undertaking an independent review of the Council's scrutiny arrangements. This followed a motion that was tabled at the meeting of the Full Council on 29 February 2024.

He explained that the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CFGS) had produced a number of online tools that would allow local authorities to review their own scrutiny and governance arrangements. He suggested that, if the Board agreed, officers could arrange a workshop to allow the Board to undertake a review using the CFGS tools.

The members of the Board agreed that it would be beneficial to review the Council's scrutiny arrangements, noting that there had been a number of changes in the last twelve months, including an increase in pre-decision scrutiny.

The Board resolved to hold a workshop that would enable it to review the Council's scrutiny arrangements.

Biennial Scrutiny Report 2022 - 2024

Paige Starkey, the Senior Democracy Officer (Scrutiny) presented the draft Biennial Scrutiny Report for 2022/23 – 2023/24 to the Board. She explained that the report had been introduced to coincide with the two yearly scrutiny work programme.

The report highlighted the work undertaken by the Council's scrutiny committees, including workshops and site visits.

The Board noted the report and were asked to send any comments on it to the Scrutiny Team before it was presented to the Scrutiny Assembly and Full Council. Ms Starkey confirmed that the report would be presented to the Scrutiny Assembly before being agreed by the Full Council.