The Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board of Worcestershire Council was scheduled to meet on Monday, 26 January 2026, to discuss the draft budget for the upcoming financial year and to review the council's work programme and forward plan. The meeting was also set to include updates from scrutiny chairmen and lead members.

Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

The board was scheduled to consider feedback from various Overview and Scrutiny Panels regarding the draft budget for 2026-27. These panels had been reviewing the draft budget and the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) throughout January, following initial presentations and discussions in December and early January. The purpose of this discussion was to agree on comments to be presented to the Cabinet. The report pack indicated that the Scrutiny Panels had been provided with detailed presentations on the corporate financial position and their specific panel areas, covering both the current financial year's performance and the draft budget for 2026-27. The board was asked to determine any comments to highlight to the Leader of the Council, Chief Executive, and Chief Financial Officer for consideration by Cabinet and Council, and to identify if any further information or scrutiny was required on particular topics.

Scrutiny Chairmen and Lead Member Update, Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Plan

This agenda item was designed to ensure members of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board (OSPB) were kept informed about scrutiny activities across Worcestershire. Members were invited to provide feedback on recent Scrutiny meetings, task groups, and emerging issues within their remits, with the aim of identifying potential future agenda items. The board was also scheduled to review its own rolling annual Work Programme for 2025/26, which had been agreed by the Council on 6 November 2025. The report pack outlined the main responsibilities of the OSPB, including commissioning work for Scrutiny Panels, establishing Scrutiny Task Groups, advising on the Council's Policy Framework, and handling 'call-ins'. A set of criteria was provided to assist in prioritising scrutiny topics, such as whether an issue was a priority for the Council, of key interest to local people, or likely to lead to improvements. Finally, the board was to consider the latest version of the Council's Cabinet Forward Plan, identifying any issues that should be added to the Scrutiny Work Programmes. The Cabinet Forward Plan included upcoming decisions on a range of matters, such as the future use of Vale Lodge, the draft budget and MTFP for 2026/27, and the Worcestershire Local Nature Recovery Strategy.