There were no declarations of interest made.

There were no announcements.

Minutes from 5 December 2022.

Recommendation: That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2022be APPROVED as a true and accurate record.

The Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2022 as a true and accurate record.

The work plan is driven to a very large extent by the Cabinet Forward Plan a summary of which is attached. The Scrutiny Committee agrees its priorities for items coming onto the Forward Plan, which then form part of its work plan.

The Committee is recommended to:

1.    Confirm its agreement to the current priorities and the work plan both of which are attached.

The Committee noted the Forward Plan.

The Committee reviewed the Work Plan and confirmed it agreement to consider the following reports at future meetings.

·         February Cabinet reports

o   Oxford Local Plan 2040 Regulation 18 Part 2 constitution

o   Implementing the Covered Market “Masterplan”

·         March Cabinet reports

o   Annual Update of the Council’s Business Plan

Council will, at its meeting on 30 January 2023, consider a report on Flexible Working/Hybrid Working Policy.  Cllr Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services, Helen Bishop, Head of Business Improvement and Gail Malkin, Head of People, have been invited to present the report and to answer questions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and to agree any recommendations it wishes to make to Council.

Cllr Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services introduced the report which sought approval for the Hybrid Working Policy.  He highlighted that the policy had been extensively consulted on with both staff and unions, and sought to codify arrangements in place since Covid-19. 

Cllr Hunt arrived at the meeting.

Gail Malkin, Head of People and Helen Bishop, Head of Business Improvement attended the meeting to speak to the item and answer Councillors’ questions.

During discussions, the Committee noted the following:

·       Data was not provided on the number of employees that fall in each group of work profiles outlined in the report, however this would be provided by officers.

·       Conservations had taken place at the Equalities Steering Group and Unions, at which no concerns had been raised.  Feedback received from the Women’s Health Network, Accessibility Champion/Advisors and LGBTQIAPIs Network, however this related to the relocation of office staff to the Town Hall, and was not relative to this policy.

The Committee made no recommendations to Council on this report.

Council will, at its meeting on 30 January 2023, consider a report on the Disciplinary Procedure.  Cllr Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services, Helen Bishop, Head of Business Improvement and Gail Malkin, Head of People, have been invited to present the report and to answer questions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and to agree any recommendations it wishes to make to Council.

Cllr Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services introduced the report which sought approval for the Disciplinary Procedure.  He further advised that an earlier edition of the report had been included within the papers for this Committee and the following should be noted for the final report that will go to Council:

Under Recommendations, please ignore bullet point 2 – there is no requested change to the Constitution or the role of Elected Members under the Disciplinary Policy.

Under Disciplinary Procedure and Guidance, please ignore bullet point 9 and replace with the following:

The current documentation indicates that a Councillor must always be present to observe appeal hearings against dismissal. The Constitution wording is that they may be invited to observe the meeting. The new documentation confirms that an Elected Member may attend to observe the meeting if this is requested by the employee.

Gail Malkin, Head of People, and Helen Bishop, Head of Business Improvement attended the meeting to speak to the item and answer Councillors’ questions.

Cllr Corais arrived at the meeting.

During discussions, the following was noted:

·       The new documentation confirmed that an Elected Member may attend an appeal meeting if requested by the employee, of which was welcomed by the Unions, and the procedure was therefore unchanged.

·       It was recognised that whilst the removal of the Elected Member simplified the process for managers, especially with appeal meetings arranged at short notice, it added additional scrutiny to the process.

·       The procedure did not state if the Elected Member should be a Cabinet Member, and it was considered that it should be stated that an appropriate portfolio holder would be sensible for inclusion in the procedure.

·       Controls are in place within the People Team, with guidance and advice provided to ensure the investigation is appropriately managed.

·       Representation is not required at a suspension meeting as no items are discussed or debated, the purpose of the meeting is for a management decision to take place, however witnesses are allowed.

The Committee resolved to make the following recommendation on the report for Council:

1.    That the Council should set out which Elected Member would be eligible to attend an appeal meeting if requested by the employee.

At its meeting on 14 December 2022, Cabinet considered the following reports from the Scrutiny Committee and made responses to the recommendations:

·       Thriving Communities Strategy 2023-2027

·       Grant Allocations to Community & Voluntary Organisations 2023/24

·       Authority Monitoring Report and Infrastructure Funding Statement 2021/22

·       Workplace Equalities and Action Plan

Since the last meeting of the Scrutiny Committee, the Finance and Performance Panel met on 07 December 2022.  The Panel considered reports to Cabinet on Integrated Performance Report Q2 and Treasury Management Mid-year Review for April-September 2022.  It made no recommendations to Cabinet on 14 December.

The Panel noted the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024-25 to 2026-27 and 2023-24 Budget for Consultation which had been published on 06 December 2022 in readiness for Cabinet on 14 December.  The Panel began to prepare a list of written questions to Heads of Service which were to form part of the discussion for the Budget Review Group.

The Budget Review Group has met three times, on 04 January, 05 January, and 10 January 2023.  It will meet a fourth time on 19 January 2023 in order to agree its draft report.  This will be confirmed by the Finance and Performance Panel on 23 January 2023 and submitted to the Scrutiny Committee for its approval on 01 February 2023.

The Climate and Environment Panel will have met for the first time by the time of the Scrutiny Committee's meeting.  It will have met on 11 January 2023 for a briefing by Professor Nick Eyre, the Scientific Adviser to the Council.  An update will be provided to the Committee.

The Committee noted the following Cabinet responses to its recommendations:

·       Thriving Communities Strategy 2023-2027

·       Grant Allocations to Community & Voluntary Organisations 2023/24

·       Authority Monitoring Report and Infrastructure Funding Statement 2021/22

·       Workplace Equalities and Action Plan

The Committee noted that since the Scrutiny Committee’s previous meeting, the Finance and Performance Panel had met on 07 December 2022, The Budget Review Group met three times on 04 January 2023, 05 January 2023 and 10 January 2023, and will meet again on 19 January 2023 to agree its draft report.  The Climate and Environment Panel met on 11 January 2023 for a briefing by Professor Nick Eyre, the Scientific Adviser to the Council.

Scrutiny Committee

·       01 February 2023

·       06 March 2023

·       04 April 2023

Standing Panels

Housing & Homelessness: 02 March 2023; 24 April 2023

Finance & Performance: 23 January 2023; 28 March 2023

Climate & Environment Panel: A provisional date of 01 March 2023 has been set for the first substantive meeting with another before the end of the municipal year to be agreed in consultation with the Chair and Panel.

Companies Scrutiny Panel will meet on the same dates as the SJVG: 01 March 2023; 27 April 2023.

All meetings start at 6.00 pm.

The dates of future meetings were noted.