Agenda and minutes

[To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutions]. 

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Jacqueline Sweetman, Cllr Simon Bennett and Cllr John Reynolds.

Cllr Alan Butt was substituting for Cllr Jacqueline Sweetman.

Cllr Jenny Cockayne was substituting for Cllr John Reynolds.

Cllr Wendy Dalton was substituting for Cllr Simon Bennett. 

[To receive any declarations of interest]. 

There were no declarations of interest.

[To appove the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2023 as a correct record]. 

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

[To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 14 March 2023 as a correct record]. 

Resolved: The minutes of the meeting held on 14 March 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

[To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 2 May 2023 as a correct record.]

Resolved: The minutes of the meeting held on 2 May 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider a report on City West Relaunch Grant Scheme – Payments]. 

[Report is marked: To Follow]. 

The Chair stated that the item was in relation to the City West Relaunch Grant Scheme Payments and not the wider public realm project.  He wanted to keep comments and questions relevant to the issue.  He confirmed he had permitted two speakers from the West Side Traders Group to give a statement.  The two speakers from the group were Bilvir Chander-Kumar and Esme Stackhouse.  The Clerk to the meeting had received further documents from the West Side Traders Group at 1:31am on the morning of the meeting by email.  These had been published as a supplement paper on the Council’s website.

Esme Stackhouse gave the first presentation, a copy of the presentation slides had been circulated prior to the meeting and are attached to the signed minutes. 

Bilvir Chander-Kumar gave the second presentation, a copy of the presentation slides had been circulated prior to the meeting and are attached to the signed minutes.   

The Director of Regeneration outlined the Briefing Note which had been provided by Officers of the Council describing what each section covered. 

The Vice-Chair commented that every Councillor in the authority should take the time to watch the recording back from the meeting if they were not physically present, so they could hear what the representatives from the traders had to say.  There were two areas he wanted to focus on from the traders presentations, one was a hardship grant for the businesses impacted by the road works and the second was the proposal for free car parking in the City Centre.  He asked why a similar scheme to the Bilston Road scheme had not been introduced.  The Bilston Road Scheme had also used RSM Consultants.  He commented that it was his opinion that the relationship with businesses and the Council had broken down, based on the evidence which had been submitted by the Traders.  He was alarmed over misinformation and the information regarding the traders feeling hounded. 

The Vice-Chair proposed that the next phase of the Public Realm Scheme should be put on hold until Scrutiny Board were confident that the businesses would be properly consulted, listened to and receive appropriate recompense for the disruption that would inevitably occur.  The motion was seconded. 

Speaking on the motion, a Panel Member commented that there had been a lack of empathy from the Council towards the businesses impacted by the Public Realm works.  Experience of running a business was crucial to understanding.  She felt the offer of £5,000 was not substantial enough for the losses of the businesses during the last 17 months.  She expressed dissatisfaction that it had taken until March 2023 for businesses who had applied to receive the £5,000 grant.  She felt it was reasonable for the next phase on Lichfield Street to be put on hold until businesses could be reassured as to what scheme would be put in place to cover losses.  The motion which had been proposed by the Vice-Chair and seconded by Cllr Wendy Thompson was put to the vote and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

[To consider a report on Statutory Scrutiny Guidance and the role of Scrutiny Board]. 

The Chief Operating Officer gave a presentation on the Statutory Scrutiny Guidance and the role of Scrutiny Board. The presentation also covered potential proposed changes to the Scrutiny procedure rules within the Constitution.  Any changes to the Constitution if they were to go forward would go to Governance and Ethics Committee and then to Full Council for  approval. 

The Chief Operating Officer remarked that the foreword of the Statutory Scrutiny Guidance was written by the current Prime Minister who at the time of publication of the guidance was a Local Government Minister.  The guidance was published in May 2019 to ensure that local authorities were aware of the purpose of overview and scrutiny, what effective scrutiny looked like, how to conduct it effectively and the benefits it could bring.

The Chief Operating Officer stated that effective overview and scrutiny should:

·       Provide constructive, critical friend challenge.

·       Amplify the voices and concerns of the public.

·       Be led by independent people who take responsibility for their role.

·       Drive improvement in public service.

Scrutiny was more than just holding the Executive to account it was also about having a defined impact on the ground, with the Committee making recommendations that would make a tangible difference to the Local Authority and the lives of Wolverhampton residents.  He gave an example of the scrutiny of the Blue Badge Service conducted by Scrutiny Board which had led to significant improvements and made a real positive difference in people’s experience of the service.  He also cited the work of the Fire Safety Scrutiny Review Group which had led to a great deal of improvements in fire safety following the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower Fire.

The Chief Operating Officer spoke on the matter of culture.  Identifying a clear role and focus was important as was prioritisation.  It was also important to have early and regular engagement between the executive and scrutiny.  It was good to bring the executive work programme regularly to Scrutiny Board.  The Statutory Guidance stated that it was for the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee to determine the extent of an Executive Member’s participation in a Scrutiny Committee.  An Executive-Scrutiny protocol was one way of helping to manage the relationships between the Executive and Scrutiny. 

The Chief Operating Officer commented that the Statutory Guidance had a section on performance monitoring and Members access to information.  The guidance stated that Scrutiny Members should have access to a regularly available source of key information about the management of the authority and in particular information on performance management and risk.   A quarterly performance report was received by Scrutiny Board on the performance of the authority, alongside an assessment on the budget.   

The Chief Operating Officer stated Scrutiny must be aware of the context in which it was operating and seek to understand how national and regional issues could impact on the City.  There were implications on how the City worked with the West Midlands Combined Authority and other organisations.

The Chief Operating Officer stated that effective scrutiny needed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[To consider the Forward Plan of Key Decisions]. 

The Vice-Chair commented that there wasn’t anything listed on the Cabinet Forward Plan of key decisions on hotel proposals in the City of Wolverhampton.

The Scrutiny Team Leader confirmed it was on the Economy and Growth Scrutiny Panel for the November meeting but the Vice-Chair was correct in saying that it was not currently on the Forward Plan of Key Decisions. 

The Chief Operating Officer remarked that he would ensure it was added at an appropriate time when more information was known.   

[To consider the first draft Scrutiny Work Programme for the Municipal year. This Work Programme is a work in progress and is subject to change.  Agenda planning meetings are taking place over the coming weeks with Members and Officers to refine the programme].

The Chair remarked that it was a first draft of the Scrutiny Work Programme and there would be further meetings with Members and Officers over the coming weeks to refine the programme.  It was a live document and would be updated throughout the Municipal year.

The Vice-Chair referred to Task and Finish Groups as detailed in the Statutory Scrutiny Guidance issued by the Government.  He suggested a Task and Finish Review into the City’s night time economy.  He felt it was important to consider what the night time economy was offering and what it was missing.   

The Vice-Chair suggested an item on the lessons learnt from the public realm phases to date and how they would do things differently moving forward. The Chair thought such a report was not required at the present time. 

The Chief Operating Officer agreed to bring a proposal about how scrutiny could consider the City’s night time economy to a future meeting.  Members were in agreement with the suggestion.