Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2018.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 19 June 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

The following interests were declared:-

There were no call-ins to consider.

To consider a referral from the Corporate, Resource Management and Governance Scrutiny Committee resulting from the scrutiny review held in 2017/2018:-

·         The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is recommended to consider whether the Minutes of GMCA Scrutiny Committees should be submitted for information to the corresponding Council scrutiny committee as a matter of course.

·         The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is recommended to consider the feasibility and desirability of having GMCA Scrutiny link-councillors who were also members of the corresponding Stockport scrutiny committee who could answer questions at those committees.

·         The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is recommended to give further consideration to the approach to pre-decision scrutiny in Stockport and explore how scrutiny committees could be supported in diversifying their agendas and undertaking ‘deep dive investigations’ of pertinent issues.

The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is invited to consider and comment on the issues raised.

Officer Contact: Stephen Fox on Tel: 0161 474 3206 or email: stephen.fox@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager reported that the Corporate, Resource Management & Governance Scrutiny Committee had, as part of its review into the relationship between Stockport and Greater Manchester Scrutiny Committee, made the following referrals to this Committee:

·      The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is recommended to consider whether the Minutes of GMCA Scrutiny Committees should be submitted for information to the corresponding Council scrutiny committee as a matter of course.

·      The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is recommended to consider the feasibility and desirability of having GMCA Scrutiny link-councillors who were also members of the corresponding Stockport scrutiny committee who could answer questions at those committees.

·      The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is recommended to give further consideration to the approach to pre-decision scrutiny in Stockport and explore how scrutiny committees could be supported in diversifying their agendas and undertaking ‘deep dive investigations’ of pertinent issues.

Members discussed the background to the review and the recommendations/ referrals.

It was suggested that while councillors in Stockport had a clear idea of how it wished to undertake scrutiny and overview functions this may preclude other approaches that might add additional value.

In relation to the first recommendation members accepted that this should be accepted although made clear to scrutiny committees that there was no expectation that any councillor or officer would be available to answer questions at the meeting.

In relation to second recommendation members suggested that while the desirability of having a correlation in membership was accepted this was a matter for each political group to consider prior to make nominations.

In relation to the final recommendation members suggested undertaking further detailed work in relation to best practice and other possible models of scrutiny, seeking input from external partners such as the Centre for Public Scrutiny and the Local Government Association.

The Committee also considered concerns about there not being political balance on the Committee and agreed to invite representation from the Labour and Independent Ratepayers groups when undertaking this work.

RESOLVED – (1) That the proposed Scrutiny Work Programme for 2018/19 include a recommendation for the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, with participation from Labour and Independent Ratepayers groups.

(2) That the Democratic Services Manager be requested to submit the Minutes from GM Scrutiny Committees to the relevant Stockport Scrutiny Committee.

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

The report sets out the scrutiny review topics which have been proposed by Scrutiny Committees for 2018/2019.

The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is invited to comment on the proposed topic selection and make recommendations to the Council Meeting in relation to the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2017/2018.

Officer Contact: Stephen Fox on Tel: 0161 474 3206 or email: stephen.fox@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Committee to consider the proposed Scrutiny Work for the Municipal Year 2018/2019 prior to it being submitted to the Council Meeting for approval. The programme had been produced following consultation with scrutiny committees.

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager reported that the Environment & Economy Scrutiny Committee had agreed to the inclusion of a review on District Centres as a joint undertaking with the Communities & Housing Scrutiny Committee.

The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee considered the potential overlap between the role of the Corporate, Resource Management & Governance Scrutiny Committee and the Adult Social Care & Health Scrutiny Committee in relation to the proposed review of the governance of Stockport Together.

The Scrutiny Coordination Committee also considered the suggestion that it undertake a piece of work on the role of scrutiny in Stockport to determine whether this was in accord with best practice and whether it was adding sufficient value to decision-making.

RESOLVED – That the Council Meeting be recommended to approve the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2018/19 subject to the inclusion of a review of scrutiny at Stockport to be undertaken by the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee.