The Committee is asked to elect a Chair from among its voting members for the 2026/27 council year. In accordance with Part 13.6a of the Council’s Constitution, the Chair must be drawn from the opposition.

Councillor Ottino nominated Councillor Powell for the position of Chair, and this was seconded by Councillor Jarvis. Councillor Powell was elected to the role of Chair of Scrutiny.

The Committee is asked to elect a Vice-Chair from among its voting members for the 2026/27 council year. The Vice-Chair may be drawn from any political group.

Councillor Jarvis nominated Councillor Ottino for the position of Vice-Chair, and this was seconded by Councillor Morris. Councillor Ottino was elected to the role of Vice-Chair.

There were no declarations of interest made.

Councillor Powell thanked the Committee for his re-election to the positino of Chair.

The Committee is asked to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7 April 2026 as a true and accurate record.

The Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 07 April 2026 as a true and accurate record.

Public addresses relating to matters of business for this agenda. Up to five minutes is available for each public address.

The request to speak accompanied by the full text of the address must be received by the Director of Law, Governance and Strategy by 5.00 pm on Wednesday 3 June 2026.

None received.

Councillor addresses relating to matters of business for this agenda. Up to five minutes is available for each address.

The request should be received by the Director of Law, Governance and Strategy by 5.00 pm on Wednesday 3 June 2026.

None.

The Director of Law, Governance and Strategy has submitted a report to establish Working Groups and Review Groups for the 2026/27 municipal year and appoint standing Working Group and Review Group membership and chairs.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to:

1. Agree to establish the following working groups for the 2026/27 municipal year with the following remits:

a)    Finance and Performance Working Group – finance and budgetary issues and decisions, annual review of the Council’s budget, quarterly monitoring of finance and performance (including performance of the Council’s companies), executive decisions made in relation to any companies wholly or partly owned by the Council.? ? 

b)    Housing and Homelessness Working Group – strategic housing and landlord issues and decisions, homelessness, housing services performance and interaction with the Tenant’s Forum.? 

c)    Climate and Environment Working Group – climate and environmental issues and decisions, progress and performance monitoring, monitoring delivery of existing strategies, policies and projects. 

2. Agree the Terms of Reference for:  

a)    Climate and Environment Working Group at Appendix 1 

b)    Finance and Performance Working Group at Appendix 2 

c)    Housing and Homelessness Working Group at Appendix 3 

3. Agree to appoint members and chairs of the Finance and Performance, Housing and Homelessness, and Climate and Environment Working Groups or any other working groups as agreed by the Committee in accordance with nominations made by political groups.? 

a.    Finance and Performance: Cllrs James Fry, James Thorniley, Chris Smowton, Ian Yeatman 

b.    Housing and Homelessness: Cllrs Lizzy Diggins, Rosie Rawle, Roz Smith, Anne Stares 

c.     Climate and Environment: Cllrs Louise Upton, Chris Jarvis, Katherine Miles, Judith Harley 

4. Agree to establish a Budget Review Group, comprising the membership of the Finance and Performance Working Group and note that the proposed scope and Terms of Reference will be agreed at a future Scrutiny Committee meeting.? 

5. Agree the schedule of meetings as presented within the report; 

The Scrutiny Committee resolved to:

1. Agree to establish the following working groups for the 2026/27 municipal year with the following remits:

a)   Finance and Performance Working Group – finance and budgetary issues and decisions, annual review of the Council’s budget, quarterly monitoring of finance and performance (including performance of the Council’s companies), executive decisions made in relation to any companies wholly or partly owned by the Council.? ? 

b)   Housing and Homelessness Working Group – strategic housing and landlord issues and decisions, homelessness, housing services performance and interaction with the Tenant’s Forum.? 

c)   Climate and Environment Working Group – climate and environmental issues and decisions, progress and performance monitoring, monitoring delivery of existing strategies, policies and projects. 

2. Agree the Terms of Reference for:  

a)    Climate and Environment Working Group at Appendix 1 

b)    Finance and Performance Working Group at Appendix 2 

c)    Housing and Homelessness Working Group at Appendix 3 

3. Agree to appoint members and chairs of the Finance and Performance, Housing and Homelessness, and Climate and Environment Working Groups or any other working groups as agreed by the Committee in accordance with nominations made by political groups.? 

a.   Finance and Performance: Cllrs James Fry, James Thorniley, Chris Smowton (Chair), Ian Yeatman 

b.   Housing and Homelessness: Cllrs Lizzy Diggins, Rosie Rawle (Chair), Roz Smith, Anne Stares 

c.    Climate and Environment: Cllrs Louise Upton, Chris Jarvis (Chair), Katherine Miles, Judith Harley 

4. Agree to establish a Budget Review Group, comprising the membership of the Finance and Performance Working Group and note that the proposed scope and Terms of Reference will be agreed at a future Scrutiny Committee meeting.? 

5. Agree the schedule of meetings as presented within the report; 

The Director of Law, Governance and Strategy had submitted a report to establish Working Groups and Review Groups for the 2026/27 municipal year and appoint standing Working Group and Review Group membership and chairs.

Councillor Powell presented the report to the Committee and outlined the different working groups of the Scrutiny Committee.

The Scrutiny Committee resolved to:

1. Agree to establish the following working groups for the 2026/27 municipal year with the following remits:

a)   Finance and Performance Working Group – finance and budgetary issues and decisions, annual review of the Council’s budget, quarterly monitoring of finance and performance (including performance of the Council’s companies), executive decisions made in relation to any companies wholly or partly owned by the Council.? ? 

b)   Housing and Homelessness Working Group – strategic housing and landlord issues and decisions, homelessness, housing services performance and interaction with the Tenant’s Forum.? 

c)   Climate and Environment Working Group – climate and environmental issues and decisions, progress and performance monitoring, monitoring delivery of existing strategies, policies and projects. 

2. Agree the Terms of Reference for:  

a)    Climate and Environment Working Group at Appendix 1 

b)    Finance and Performance Working Group at Appendix 2 

c)    Housing and Homelessness Working Group at Appendix 3 

3. Agree to appoint members and chairs of the Finance and Performance, Housing and Homelessness, and Climate and Environment Working Groups or any other working groups as agreed by the Committee in accordance with nominations made by political groups.? 

a.   Finance and Performance: Cllrs James Fry, James Thorniley, Chris Smowton (Chair), Ian Yeatman 

b.   Housing and Homelessness: Cllrs Lizzy Diggins, Rosie Rawle (Chair), Roz Smith, Anne Stares 

c.    Climate and Environment: Cllrs Louise Upton, Chris Jarvis (Chair), Katherine Miles, Judith Harley 

4. Agree to establish a Budget Review Group, comprising the membership of the Finance and Performance Working Group and note that the proposed scope and Terms of Reference will be agreed at a future Scrutiny Committee meeting.? 

5. Agree the schedule of meetings as presented within the report; 

The Work Plan is driven to a very large extent by the Cabinet Forward Plan. 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 confirm its agreement to the Work Plan, or agree any amendments as required.

This report will be published as a supplement to the agenda.

The Chair presented the report. The Committee approved the workplan.

At its meeting on 15 April 2026, Cabinet considered the following reports from Scrutiny and made responses to the recommendations:

·       Watercourses and Ditches

·       Review of Ward Member Budget and Community Infrastructure Levy Councillor Applications

·       Urgent Key Decisions End of Year Update 2025-2026

Cabinet also considered the following reports from the Scrutiny Working Groups and made responses to the recommendations:

·       Finance and Performance Working Group – 26 March 2026

o    Integrated Performance for Q3 2025/26

o   OX Place Financial Business Plan, Development Sites update and Period 9 Monitoring report [SJVG]

·       Housing and Homelessness Working Group – 31 March 2026

o   Housing Performance 2025/26

o   Selective Licensing Year 3 update

·       Climate and Environment Working Group – 1 April 2026

o   Social Housing EPCC update

o   Local Area Energy Planning update

The Committee is asked to:

1.    Note Cabinet’s responses to its recommendations.

Appendices 1,2 and 3 contain exempt information pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. To discuss this item, it will be necessary for the Committee to pass a resolution to exclude the press and public from the meeting in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, specifying the grounds on which their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

(The Access to Information Procedure Rules – Section 15 of the Council’s Constitution – sets out the conditions under which the public can be excluded from meetings of the Council)

The Chair provided a summary of Cabinet’s responses to the Committee’s previous recommendations, as set out in the report. 

Councillor Ottino expressed disappointment in the Cabinet’s response to the flooding and watercourses issue that had raised. He asked how they could request a fuller response from Cabinet on this issue.

The Committee agreed that Councillor Powell would ask the Cabinet member for more details and for a timeline on the issue. The Committee agreed to add further consideration of this issue into their workplan.

The Committee discussed Cabinet’s response to the CIL spending and pricing list. The Committee and Member Services Manager clarified that it was difficult for them to provide a ballpark figure on the projects done through CIL and ward member spends because they are all bespoke and quite different from one another. The Committee discussed how it was possible to fund bigger projects and clarified that they should reach out to the director of planning for these applications.

The Committee agreed that Councillor Powell would reach out to Cabinet in the areas where they had not provided a clear response.

The Committee noted Cabinet’s responses to its recommendations.  

Councillor Tiago arrived during this item at 18:08.

Councillor Turkson Wood arrived during this item at 18:13.

Since the Scrutiny Committee’s previous meeting on 7 April 2026 there have been no further recommendations made by the Working Groups which require endorsement.

The Committee noted that since the Scrutiny Committee’s previous meeting on 7 April 2026 there had been no further recommendations made by the Working Groups which required endorsement.

Future meetings of the Scrutiny Committee are scheduled on the following dates:

·       30 June 2026

·       11 August 2026

·       8 September 2026

·       13 October 2026

·       10 November 2026

·       1 December 2026

All meetings start at 6:00 pm.

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings.  

Councillor Altaf-Khan arrived during this item at 18:15