Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2023.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 3 July 2023 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair subject Under Minute 5 – ‘Process for Portfolio Performance and Resource Agreements’ to the addition of the following comment as a supplement to the third bullet point:-

“It was further stated that the format and presentation of the reports meant that members were not provided with sufficient information to make assessment around progress and performance.”

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 Director of Strategy.

In November 2021 the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee resolved that the ‘Portfolio Dashboards’ should be included as a standing item on all scrutiny committee agendas with the exception of any meeting where one of the quarterly portfolio performance reports was already listed for consideration.

As the dashboards are only updated twice annually in line with the reporting arrangements for the Portfolio Performance and Resources Reports, it is the case that the dashboards will always retrospective outside of this reporting schedule and are not a real-time indicator for scrutiny committees of current performance against any of the indicators. 

In practice, the retrospective nature of the dashboards has meant that none of the scrutiny committees have ever made use of the opportunity to ask any further questions when this item has been listed on the agenda.  It is therefore an opportune time to consider whether there remains any value in retaining the item on agenda for future meetings of the scrutiny committees.

The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is requested to consider whether it remains appropriate to retain the Portfolio Dashboards item on agendas for meetings of scrutiny committees where the Portfolio Performance and Resources Reports are not otherwise included on the agenda.

Officer contact: Kathryn Rees on 07989208640 or email:

kathryn.rees@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Director of Strategy submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) requesting the Scrutiny Committee to consider whether it remained appropriate to retain the Portfolio Dashboards item on agendas for meetings of scrutiny committees where the Portfolio Performance and Resources Reports are not otherwise included on the agenda.

It was noted that in November 2021 the Committee had resolved that the ‘Portfolio Dashboards’ should be included as a standing item, however in practice, the retrospective nature of the dashboards has meant that none of the scrutiny committees have ever made use of the opportunity to ask any further questions when this item has been listed on the agenda.

RESOLVED – That approval be given to the recission of the decision of the meeting of the Committee on 8 November 2021 relating to the inclusion of a standing item on the agenda for each of the five service-based scrutiny committees in relation to the portfolio dashboards (Minute 4 refers).

To consider a joint report of Assistant Director - Legal and Democratic Governance and the Chair of the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee.

The report outlines the work undertaken by Scrutiny Committees during the 2022/2023 municipal year.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to consider and comment on the report prior to its submission to the Council Meeting.

Officer Contact: Vicki Bates on Tel: 0161 474 3219 or email: vicki.bates@stockport.gov.uk

The Strategic Head of Service & Monitoring Officer (Legal & Democratic Governance) submitted the draft Scrutiny Annual Report 2022/23 (copies of which had been circulated).

It was commented that the abortive scrutiny review proposed by the Communities & Housing Scrutiny Committee relating to EV charging appeared incongruous as it did not have a membership for the review panel listed against it.  In response, it was stated that as the review was abandoned at a very early stage, a full complement of members had not been appointed to sit on the panel, however this position could be reflected in the commentary included in the final version of the report.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be approved for submission to the next ordinary meeting of the Council Meeting pending the inclusion of a foreword to be drafted by the Chair of the Committee.

(2) That the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee be requested to move and second the report upon its presentation to the Council Meeting.