The Chair of the Scrutiny Committee must be an opposition councillor (Constitution Part 13.6a).

The Committee resolved to elect Councillor Katherine Miles as Chair for 2024/25.

The Vice Chair can be from any political group.

The Committee resolved to elect Councillor Tiago Corais as Vice-Chair for 2024/25.

There were no declarations of interest made.

There were no announcements.

Minutes from 11 April 2024.

Recommendation: That the minutes of the informal remote meeting held on 11 April 2024be APPROVED as a true and accurate record.

The Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the informal remote meeting held on 11 April 2024 as a true and accurate record.

The Committee requested that the Scrutiny Officer schedule the following items into the Work Plan for 2024/25:

• Adult Exploitation and Modern Slavery
• Tourism

The Head of Law and Governance has submitted a report which seeks the Committee’s agreement to the adoption of a set of Scrutiny Operating Principles for the 2024/25 Council year, the establishment of standing panels and review groups, the appointment of standing panel and review group chairs and a proposed work plan to September 2024. The recommendations are set out in the report.

Alice Courtney, Scrutiny Officer introduced the report which asked the Committee to approve the Scrutiny Operating Principles for the 2024/25 Council year, which were broadly similar to previous years.

It was recommended that the standing panels from the previous year be re-established, namely Finance and Performance Panel, Housing and Homelessness Panel, and Climate and Environment Panel. It was also recommended that the scrutiny of executive decisions made in relation to any companies wholly or partly owned by the Council be included within the remit of the Finance and Performance Panel, effectively replacing the previous Companies Scrutiny Panel.

The Committee was recommended to re-establish the Budget Review Group; comprising the membership of the Finance and Performance Panel, including Chair.

The Scrutiny Officer informed the Committee that political groups had made nominations to panels as per the revised cross-party principle guide to political balance on panels and review groups. The Committee was asked to agree the membership of the panels and appoint respective Chairs.

The Committee was advised that a preliminary work plan up to September 2024 had been included in the report. The Scrutiny Officer indicated that the Forward Plan had been updated since the publication of the Forward Plan summary included in the agenda; it was therefore recommended that the following additional items be included on the Work Plan for the Committee’s July meeting:

• Leisure Investment Programme
• Citizen Experience Strategy Progress Report

The Committee was reminded to send any ideas for Scrutiny-commissioned reports by e?mail to the Scrutiny Officer for consideration at its meeting on 02 July 2024.

In response to questions, the Scrutiny Officer confirmed:

• That, in relation to companies scrutiny arrangements, she would seek clarification as to whether ‘scrutiny’ would continue to be a standing item on Shareholder and Joint Venture Group meetings and whether Finance and Performance Panel members would still be permitted to attend those meetings (as Companies Scrutiny Panel members had been previously), and report back to the Committee in due course.
• That Panel Chairs could be from any political group.
• That, in consultation with the Chair, permission had been granted for a substitute to attend the additional Finance and Performance Panel meeting required in July 2024, due to exceptional circumstances related to Member availability and the requirement to hold a meeting in July.

In addition to the nomination set out in the report of Cllr Hunt as Chair of the Climate and Environment Panel for 2024/25, Cllr Jarvis proposed, seconded by Cllr Altaf-Khan, the nomination of Cllr Kerr for Chair of the panel. On being put to the vote and by 6 votes to 5, the Committee resolved to appoint Cllr Kerr as Chair of the Climate and Environment Panel for 2024/25.

Cllr Latif joined the meeting.

The Scrutiny Committee resolved to:

1. Agree the proposed Committee Operating Principles for the 2024/25 municipal year, as set out at Appendix A to the report.
2. Agree to establish the following standing panels for the 2024/25 municipal year with the following remits:

                           i)          Finance and Performance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

At its meeting on 17 April 2024, Cabinet considered the following reports from Scrutiny and made responses to the recommendations:

·       Oxford City Council Annual Business Plan 2024-2025 and Progress of the 2023/24 Priorities

Cabinet deferred consideration of the following reports to its meeting on 12 June 2024; responses to these recommendations will be reported back to the Scrutiny Committee at a future meeting:

·       Adult Exploitation

·       Implementation of Selective Licensing

·       Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code Self-Assessment

·       Integrated Performance Report Q3 2023/24

·       Biodiversity Net Gain

·       Citywide Retrofit Strategy

·       Energy Generation/Solar Potential on Council Buildings

·       Tree Planting

There have been no Panel meetings since the Scrutiny Committee’s previous informal remote meeting on 11 April 2024.

The Committee is asked to:

1.    Note Cabinet’s responses to its recommendations.

The Committee noted that on 17 April 2024, Cabinet considered recommendations related to the following reports, responses to which were set out in the agenda pack:

• Oxford City Council Annual Business Plan 2024-25 and Progress of the 2023/24 Priorities

The Scrutiny Officer advised that Cabinet deferred consideration of a number of reports to its meeting on 12 June 2024 and responses to those recommendations would be reported to the Committee at a future meeting.

The Committee noted that no Panel meetings had been held since the Committee’s previous informal remote meeting on 11 April 2024.

Scrutiny Committee

·       02 July 2024

·       06 August 2024

·       03 September 2024

·       08 October 2024

·       04 November 2024

·       02 December 2024

·       14 January 2025

·       29 January 2025

·       03 March 2025

·       01 April 2025

Standing Panels

Housing & Homelessness: 03 July 2024; 07 August 2024; 10 October 2024; 07 November 2024; 06 March 2025

Finance & Performance: 04 September 2024; 04 December 2022; 15 January 2025; 07 April 2025

Climate & Environment: 11 June 2024; 05 September 2024; 20 November 2024; 26 February 2025; 27 March 2025

All meetings start at 6.00 pm.

The Committee noted that the Finance and Performance Panel meeting on 06 June 2024 was cancelled due to no business.

The Committee noted that its next meeting on 02 July 2024 would be held as an informal remote meeting due to the unavailability of a suitable room as a result of preparations for the upcoming General Election.

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings.