109 MC/19/46 OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 PDF 218 KB
Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Additional documents:
Minutes:
109.1 The Chair of the Council invited the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee to present the Annual Report.
109.2 Councillor Welham said he was pleased to present the Annual Report, as Chair of the Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which was located on pages 43 to 71 of the agenda papers.
The 2020/21 Work Plan was made up of a varied range of topics to scrutinise, but the work was disrupted, first by the General Election and by the viral pandemic. From mid-March all meetings were cancelled until suitable arrangements for virtual meetings could be made.
Most of the meetings held during the year have been joint meetings with Babergh Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Alastair McCraw, Chair of Babergh Overview and Scrutiny Committee and he had alternated chairing the meetings.
The agendas had included pre-scrutiny of items prior to Cabinet or Council decisions, scrutiny of topics selected by the Committee or requested by Council, presentations of important matters by senior officers and witnesses from outside the two authorities, and Information Bulletins requested by the Committee. The Joint Committee set up a Task and Finish Group to work with Members and Officers from other Suffolk authorities to scrutinise the work of Citizens Advice and provide recommendations to the Scrutiny Committees of the authorities taking part. This work was particularly helpful in providing a better understanding of the breadth of work covered by Citizens Advice as well as the pressures they are under and how they are funded.
Throughout the year the Committee had acted as a critical friend to officers by working with them to investigate improvements to service delivery. It had also continued to add value to the Council’s decision-making process.
He thanked Henriette Holloway, Senior Governance Support Officer – Committee Services, and Jan Robinson, Corporate Manager – Governance and Civic Office, for their input and support throughout the year, also Keith Scarff, who had been Committee Vice-Chair throughout the year. He was grateful to Members of the Committee for their commitment, and to officers for providing clear and concise responses to requests for information. He also thanked Alastair McCraw, Chair of Babergh Overview and Scrutiny, his Vice-Chair Adrian Osborne and Members of that Committee for working collaboratively with the Mid Suffolk Committee.
The Committee had produced a draft work plan for 2020/21 and he was confident that monthly meetings from now through to April 2021 would enable scrutiny of topics delayed from Spring 2020 to be completed; other issues would be incorporated into the Work Plan and would be presented to Council in September.
109.3 Councillor Welham MOVED recommendation 3.1 but amend the date to 2019/2020, which Councillor Scarff SECONDED.
109.4 Councillor Otton referred to issues for Universal Credit, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and asked if the Committee would be undertaking further scrutiny of Universal Credit. To which Councillor Welham responded that he would commit to undertake further scrutiny of Universal Credit in the future.
109.5 Councillor Eburne referred to the funding for Citizens ... view the full minutes text for item 109
223 BC/19/41 OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 PDF 217 KB
Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Additional documents:
Minutes:
223.1 The Chair invited the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to present his report.
223.2 Councillor McCraw referred to agenda Item 8 on page 33 to 64 and said he was pleased to present the Annual Report, as Chair of the Babergh Overview and Scrutiny Committee, he continued:
That the 2020/21 Work Plan was made up of a varied range of topics to scrutinise but that the work was disrupted, first by the General Election and, then by the Covid - 19 pandemic. From mid- March all meetings were cancelled until suitable arrangements for virtual meetings could be made.
Most of the meetings held during the year had been joint meetings with Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Keith Welham, Chair of Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Councillor McCraw had alternated chairing these meetings.
The agendas had included pre-scrutiny of items prior to Cabinet or Council decisions, scrutiny of topics selected by the Committee or requested by Council, presentations of important matters by senior officers and witnesses from outside the two authorities, and Information Bulletins requested by the Committee.
The Joint Committee set up a Task and Finish Group to work with Members and Officers from other Suffolk authorities to scrutinise the work of Citizens Advice and provide recommendations to the Scrutiny Committees of the authorities taking part. This work was particularly helpful in providing a better understanding of the breadth of work covered by Citizens Advice, as well as the pressures they are under and how they are funded.
Due to its direct relevance to business on the agenda today, he drew attention to the June 2020 meeting, which examined the performance of CIFCO in 2019/20 and the business plan for 2020/21. This received heavy interest and a very large number of questions for witnesses from non-committee members. Questions and concerns were answered, and members would find many of them further addressed within the reports from CIFCO, they are considering today. In the final analysis, the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee endorsed these reports, as they had done in the previous two years, the entire lifetime of CIFCO.
Throughout the year the Committee had acted as a critical friend to officers and Cabinet by working with them to investigate improvements to service delivery. The Committee had also continued to add value to the Council’s decision-making process.
He thanked Henriette Holloway, Senior Governance Support Officer – Committee Services, and Jan Robinson, Corporate Manager – Governance and Civic Office, for their input and support throughout the year, also Councillor Adrian Osborne & his predecessor Sue Ayers, who have been the Committee Vice-Chairs during the year. He was grateful to members of the Committee for their commitment, and to officers for providing clear and concise responses to requests for information. He thanked Keith Welham, Chair of Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny, his Vice-Chair Keith Scarff and members of that Committee for working collaboratively with the Babergh Committee.
Councillor McCraw was proud to have produced a draft work plan for ... view the full minutes text for item 223