Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 04 July 2022.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 01 June 2023 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.

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

No declarations were made.

To consider call-in items (if any).

There were no call-in items to consider.

To consider a report of the Assistant Director – Legal & Democratic Governance.

The report sets out Scrutiny Review topics which have been proposed by Scrutiny Committees for 2023/24.

The Committee is invited to consider the proposed topics and make recommendations to the Council Meeting in relation to the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2023/2024.

Officer contact: Charles Yankiah on 0161 474 3206 or email:

Charles.yankiah@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Assistant Director – Legal & Democratic Governance submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Committee to consider the Scrutiny Review topics that had been identified and proposed by Scrutiny Committees for inclusion in the 2023/24 Work

Programmes.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·       The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee in June 2019 agreed to scrutiny review topics being timely and aligned with council priorities and not being too broad, unclear, of low public concern, not addressing the aims and priorities and did not duplicate work already in progress.

·       It was also noted that Scrutiny Committees suggest only one topic for review with the option of other topics being report back to Committee at a later date or a task and finish group be set up for a ‘deep dive’ one off meeting.

·       There were discussions relating to the proposed two scrutiny reviews being suggested for the Adult Social Care & Health and Economy, Regeneration & Climate Change Scrutiny Committees.

·       The Chair of the Adult Social Care & Health Scrutiny Committee explained the that main scrutiny Review would be the ‘Ambulance Wait Times’ as this was continuing from the previous year 2022/23 due to the NW Ambulance strikes and unavailability to attend review meetings and that the second proposal for the ‘Adult Social Care & Health IT Systems and Data’ would be a one-off Task and Finish Group.

·       The Chair of the Economy, Regeneration & Climate Change Scrutiny Committee informed the Committee that there was no consensus from the Committee and due to the increase in portfolio and different proposals with Economy & Regeneration and Climate Change there was a feeling that both proposed topics would need a scrutiny review in the interest of local residents.

·       It was suggested that given there was various methods to conduct a review that the Committees who have proposed two topics choose a main review and then a task and finish group or a report to Committee at a future date.

·       The Chair, commented that this would be the best way forward and proposed that a main review be chosen and if there was a second topic then it be either a task and finish group or a report to Committee.

·       Members were in general agreement of what was being proposed and sought to seek their Committee approval in advance of the Council meeting on 13 July 2023.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That Members seek their Scrutiny Committees’ approval in advance of the Council Summons being published on 05 July 2023 for a main review to be chosen and a second option for report to Committee or a Task and Finish Group as a way forward.

Following the submission of the Council’s draft Portfolio Performance Resource Agreements (PPRAs) to this year’s first round of scrutiny committee meetings, this report provides an opportunity for the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee to understand the process of how the PPRAs are compiled and comment and input on the process.

The Scrutiny Co-Ordination Committee is asked to comment on and make recommendations to improve the process of how the PPRAs are compiled and presented to Scrutiny Committees.

Officer contact: Kathryn Rees, 01614743174 | kathryn.rees@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Director of Strategy submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) regarding the Council’s draft Portfolio Performance Resource Agreements (PPRAs) that were considered by the scrutiny committee meetings and provided an opportunity for the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee to understand the process of how the PPRAs are compiled and comment and input on the process.

The following comments were made/issues raised: -

·       Members welcomed the report and the explanations relating to the reporting mechanisms to the Scrutiny Committees

·       Clarification was sought relating to the reporting and performance monitoring timescales. In response, it was noted that certain portfolios are lot more difficult and time consuming to collate the KPIs, but the team were working to smoothen the process to separate the target setting from the measures which were annually or six monthly and for this to be explained to Committees going forward.

·       Members commented that there was a lack of tools to support the scrutiny committee to scrutinise the performance indicators. It was noted that a guide could be produced and shared with members at the induction session and also a refresher session could be organised regarding the portfolio dashboards.

·       There was a suggestion that there needed to be some ‘background text’ to accompany performance indicators to provide members with context.

·       Members suggested that the data also needed to be reviewed as it could be often lost on the performance sheets and that ‘absolute figures’ needed to be used together with ensuring that new KPIs stood out in the report.

·       It was also suggested that the report needed to reflect the effectiveness of the KPIs and how the comments/feedback from scrutiny committees was taken into account and considered.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That the comments and feedback be taken into account to improve the process of how the PPRAs are compiled and presented to Scrutiny Committees.