Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair of the Committee for the period until the next Annual Council Meeting.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Kate Butler be elected Chair of the Committee for the period until the next Annual Council Meeting

Councillor Kate Butler in the Chair

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the period until the next Annual Council Meeting.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Oliver Johnstone be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee for the period until the next Annual Council Meeting.

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2014

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 10 July 2013 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

To consider call-in items (if any).

There were no call-in items to consider.

To consider a joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Corporate Director, Corporate and Support Services

The report invites the Scrutiny Coordination Committee, in view of a number of relevant changes, to discuss the approach to the scrutiny of the performance and use of resources.

The Scrutiny Coordination Committee is invited to:

·         Discuss the issues raised in this report

·         Comment on the process or the information that is received by Scrutiny Committees.

·         Request any further work as necessary

Officer contact: Steve Skelton, Head of Policy, Performance and Reform (CSS), steve.skelton@stockport.gov.uk (474 3174).

A joint report (copies of which had been circulated) of the Deputy Chief Executive and Corporate Director, Corporate and Support Services was submitted inviting the Scrutiny Coordination Committee, in view of a number of relevant changes, to discuss the approach to the scrutiny of the performance and use of resources.

The following comments were made:

·         Consideration of the Portfolio performance reports by Scrutiny Committees prior to being submitted to the Executive will assist in ensuring the information is current and allow the Scrutiny Committees to comment on the information prior to decisions being taken by the Executive.

·         Members be reminded/ encouraged to submit detailed questions in advance of Scrutiny Committees to ensure a full answer can be provided at the meeting.

·         Consideration should be given to the request for attendance by the Council’s Partners at Scrutiny Committees to enable Councillors to influence decisions taken by them which impact on the shared outcomes.

·         Scrutiny Committee should continue to receive information relating to ‘trends’ and performance indicators

·         Where possible, narrative information from previous reports should not be repeated in subsequent reports.

·         Scrutiny Committees should assist in the in identification of Performance Indicators measured and included in the reports.

·         There should be a clear rationale as to which targets have been identified and which were significantly impacted by external factors outside the control of the Council.

·         There needed to be a mechanism for Scrutiny Committees to influence decisions taken at a GM wide level especially in relation to increased devolution.

·         Scrutiny Reviews should be aligned with the Investing in Stockport Programme.

RESOLVED – That the Deputy Chief Executive and Corporate Director, Corporate and Support Services be requested to review the current format and content of the performance reports in the light of the above comments.

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

New Executive portfolio responsibilities for 2015/16 have been assigned, based on the Investing in Stockport outcomes framework approved by Annual Council on 26 May 2015.  The report sets out the proposed allocation of these responsibilities to, and hence which issues will be considered by, each of the five Scrutiny Committees.

The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is asked to consider and comment on the proposals in the report.

Officer contacts: Peter Owston, Policy, Performance and Reform (CSS), peter.owston@stockport.gov.uk (474 3274)  and Andy Moran, Strategic Accountant – Technical, andrew.moran@stockport.gov.uk  (474 4086)

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out the proposed allocation of responsibilities and which issues would be considered by, each of the five Scrutiny Committees following the assignment of new Executive portfolio responsibilities based on the Investing in Stockport outcomes framework approved by Annual Council on 26 May 2015.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider the Scrutiny Annual Report 2014/15.

The Democratic Services Manager submitted the draft Annual Scrutiny Report for 2014/15 (copies of which had been circulated).

RESOLVED – That the Annual Report for 2014/15 be submitted to the Council Meeting on 17 September 2014 subject to the report being updated to reflect the responses of the Executive to the recommendations and a brief summary of the key outcomes/ recommendations following discussion with the appropriate Lead Member for the Review.