Agenda item

To approve the annual report, as required by the Council’s Constitution, to ensure that the activities of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are promoted, both internally and publicly, to reinforce transparency and accountability in the democratic process. 

16.1          The Chair referred to the report, circulated at Pages No. 58-60, which had attached to it the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Annual Report, at Pages No.61-90, and prior to its presentation he thanked his Vice-Chair and all Committee Members for their support, hard work and diligent scrutiny of all matters that came before them.

16.2          In presenting the Annual Report, the Head of Corporate Services stated that it detailed the activity of the Committee over the course of 2019/20 and demonstrated the breadth of the Committee’s work which included progress reports from Officers on key strategies and policies, quarterly performance management reporting, Working Group reviews, presentations from internal and external sources and special meetings to deal with matters such as the climate change motion referred from Council. In the Chair’s introduction to the report there was reference to the Local Government Association Peer Challenge which concluded that the Council had a good governance framework and commented positively on the impact and value of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee which was particularly pleasing as it was a fairly new Committee in terms of membership. Also, in the Chair’s introduction there was reference to the pandemic and how this had changed the way the Council operated, particularly in relation to remote working and virtual meetings, which Members and Officers had adapted to very well. The Head of Corporate Services drew particular attention to Page No.75 of the report under the heading “Looking Forward”, which referenced the Committee’s role in monitoring the Council’s COVID-19 Corporate Recovery Plan, the new Council Plan and also the up and coming Peer Challenge Action Plan. In concluding his presentation, the Head of Corporate Services advised the Committee that the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report would be presented by the Chair to the Council at its meeting on 29 September 2020.

16.3          During the discussion which ensued, the Chair indicated that he would like to propose an amendment on Page No.70 of the report in relation to the final paragraph on the section “Notice of Motion Declaring a Climate Change Emergency”. He indicated that it was important to show that the Council was already aware of the importance of Climate Change before the Motion had been submitted and was not simply reacting to the Motion but had been actively addressing this matter beforehand, with initiatives such as the car fleet and the solar panels on the roof of the Council Offices, and would continue to do so going forward.

16.4          Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Annual report be   APPROVED, subject to the amendment of the last paragraph under the section entitled “Notice of Motion Declaring a Climate Change Emergency” on Page No. 70 to read as follows:

“The new Council Plan 2020-24 identifies “sustainable environment” as one of its six key priorities within the Council Plan. The Council commits to carefully manage its carbon footprint and support the climate change declaration, which will be carefully monitored by this Committee through the performance tracker.”; and

Page No.64 under “Formal Work Programme” third bullet point, the word “Scrutiny” to be inserted after the words “Gloucestershire Economic Growth” and before the word “Committee”.