Agenda item

[To consider the Scrutiny Annual Report May 2022 – May 2023 before it is received by Full Council on 8 November 2023]. 

The Chief Operating Officer introduced the Scrutiny Annual Report May 2022 – May 2023.  He remarked that a mark of good governance was to have good and effective Scrutiny as a Council.  The report was cross-party, with quotes from the Chairs and Vice-Chairs.  The report set out an extensive number of really important issues that had been considered by Scrutiny.  He cited the work on the Wolverhampton Pound as having achieved good outcomes.  A report was in fact due to be received by Scrutiny Board shortly again on the very latest progress from the recommendations made by the Select Committee. 

The Chief Operating Officer stated that originally 31 Scrutiny meetings had been scheduled in the Municipal calendar and by the end of the Municipal year May 2022 – May 2023, 43 meetings had taken place.  Ultimately no matter how challenging some of the meetings may had been, they had taken place to improve the lives of the City’s residents.  He was personally very pleased to see that Scrutiny regularly reviewed performance, budget and risk. 

The Chief Operating Officer remarked that it was his professional view that the Council was complying well with the Statutory Scrutiny Guidance.  He felt Scrutiny was working well within the authority, which was of utmost importance.  When Scrutiny did not work well in other authorities, that was when problems arose.  Scrutiny and Audit were two critical functions within any Council for good Governance to ensue.  Important and wide-ranging issues were scrutinised at the Council which directly impacted on people’s lives.  He commended the report to Scrutiny Board and paid a personal tribute to the Scrutiny Team, describing the team as a real strength for the authority. 

The Chair of Scrutiny Board gave a statement on the Scrutiny Annual Report May 2022 – May 2023.  He said that looking forward and looking back was what the excellent Annual Scrutiny Report May 2022 – May 2023 was successful in achieving, which mirrored his vision for Scrutiny Board going forward.  It was always important to bring fresh new items to Scrutiny.  It was equally important that the Council did not lose sight of the impact Scrutiny had made through recommendations.  There could be great value in evaluating recommendations and reviewing the status of important services, policy and strategy. This was why in the last Municipal year Scrutiny Board had continued to monitor the recommendations from the Wolverhampton Pound Select Committee.  Another great example was the work on evaluating the Blue Badge Service. 

The Chair of Scrutiny Board commented that he was very pleased that there would be two Scrutiny Task and Finish groups in the current Municipal year.  There would be one on flooding and one on the night-time economy, as agreed at the last meeting of the Scrutiny Board.  The Scrutiny Work Programme came to almost every meeting of Scrutiny Board and he was always keen to have Members comments on the agenda for the forthcoming meetings.  Member led Scrutiny was always best practice.  Asking pertinent questions and making strong recommendations could make a real difference to the lives of Wolverhampton residents.  He was aware that the Leader of the Council, Cllr Simkins, who was once a Chair of Scrutiny Board himself, fully supported the work of the Board and the Panels and could see it’s incalculable precious value to the Council.

The Chair of Scrutiny Board commented that when you looked back on the 43 official public meetings of Scrutiny held last Municipal year the breadth of topics was wide ranging.  He added that Members, Officers and the Council’s external partners who had contributed to Scrutiny should be proud of the work which had taken place.  He gave a particular thanks to Cllr Paul Sweet, the Chair of Scrutiny Board last Municipal year.  In addition, he gave a special thank you to all the Chairs and Vice-Chairs who had worked tirelessly to help steer Scrutiny.  Every Member of Scrutiny had also played their part and he thanked them for their contributions. 

The Chair of Scrutiny Board stated that the Scrutiny function was the best example of a One Council approach in action, working in a matrix style across multiple departments and sectors.  He was certain that the work of Scrutiny last year had led to better decisions and policy making.  All the meetings of the Panels and Board were webcast and could be viewed up to 12 months afterwards, which he believed had enhanced the profile of Scrutiny within the City. 

He thanked the Scrutiny Team for their support in the last Municipal year, namely Laura Noonan, Martin Stevens, Earl Piggott-Smith and Lee Booker. He also thanked David Pattison, the responsible Director for Scrutiny, who’s guidance he described as invaluable.  He was pleased that this year the report included quotes from both the Chair and Vice-Chairs, which he was very pleased to read.  He commended the report, and said he was very happy for it to come before Full Council on the 8 November 2023. 

The Vice-Chair remarked that the Scrutiny Annual Report May 2022 – May 2023 was a good report.  He was pleased to see the photographs contained within the report.  The Scrutiny system in his opinion had worked very well last Municipal year and had been very productive.  There had been a considerable number of additional meetings, with a considerable amount of topics covered.  Scrutiny Board had considered the Civic Halls project and there had been an important meeting about the Relaunch grant for the Victoria Street Traders.  These two examples proved that the Scrutiny function was looking at issues of huge importance.  He paid a personal tribute to the Scrutiny Team who he described as doing a very good job for the Council.  He thanked fellow colleagues for their contributions and in particular Adam Collinge, a former Councillor for Oxley who had been the Vice-Chair of the Stronger Families, Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel, during the Municipal year the annual report covered.  He had contributed to the Annual Report. 

The Vice-Chair stated that there was always room for improvement in the Scrutiny function, with no local authority’s Scrutiny function being perfect.  He personally wanted to see more scrutiny recommendations coming from Scrutiny meetings.  He was of the view that the Chairs of the Panels and the Board should not be appointed by the Leader of the Council.  Scrutiny was an independent function of the Executive and therefore he hoped this would be considered in the future.  He was pleased that there would be two Scrutiny Task and Finish Groups in the current Municipal year, Flooding and the Night-time economy were both important issues for the City.  He looked forward to their progression and an even better Scrutiny Annual report next year.

A Member described the good working relationship she had with the Scrutiny Officer Team and thanked them for their efforts across the year.  She asked who scrutinised the scrutineers.  In response the Chief Operating Officer stated that the Democratic Process through elections meant the public could determined who they wished to be represented on the Council.  Officers were scrutinised by elected Members.  Peer reviews could also take place, and this had been done in the past and would be considered again for the future.  The Member responded that there had been improvement in the Scrutiny in almost every area in the last ten years and since the last peer review. 

A Member commented that the function of Scrutiny was very important in the democratic process of the Council.  Many reports had been to Scrutiny that later went on to Cabinet and Full Council.  He was pleased to see that the Scrutiny procedure rules were being developed. 

A Member praised the Scrutiny Annual Report and raised the importance of reviewing the implementation of recommendations.

The Chair asked for a hard copy of the Scrutiny Annual Report to be placed in Libraries across the City.  When he looked back over the last Municipal year, he had no doubt that there were crucial pieces of work completed by Scrutiny, which had an impact.  The Members of Scrutiny Board and the Panels were delivering a very important service for the citizens of Wolverhampton.  He had a strong appetite for continuous improvement of the function.