The Scrutiny Committee Chair has, due to exceptional circumstances, permitted a substitution for this meeting. Apologies have been received from Cllr Ian Yeatman; Cllr David Henwood will be substituting.

The Panel is asked to agree the notes of the meeting held on 26 March 2024 as a true and accurate record.

The Panel is asked to consider the provisional Work Plan and agree any amendments, taking into account the list of suggested items for Scrutiny-commissioned reports at Appendix A and ensuring that any additional Scrutiny-commissioned items which are agreed have a clear and specific scope.

At its meeting on 12 June 2024, Cabinet considered the following reports from the Finance and Performance Panel and made responses to the recommendations:

·       Integrated Performance Report Q3 2023/24

Cabinet’s responses to recommendations were presented to the Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 02 July 2024 for noting.

The Panel is asked to note Cabinet’s responses to its recommendations.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 10 July 2024, considered a report from the Head of Financial Services on the Financial Outturn Report 2023/24. Cllr Ed Turner, Deputy Leader (Statutory) and Cabinet Member for Finance and Asset Management and Nigel Kennedy, Head of Financial Services, have been invited to present the report and answer questions. The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

At its meeting on 26 March 2024, the Panel recommended: ‘That the Council undertakes a comparative analysis of the current overall slippage of the Capital Programme and how that aligns with the 40% optimism bias assumptions included in the MTFP 2024/25 to 2027/28, to understand the extent to which the 40% optimism bias assumptions from 2024/25 are realistic’. At its meeting on 12 June 2024, Cabinet agreed the recommendation and confirmed that a briefing note would be prepared for the Panel once year-end figures for 2023/24 were known. The briefing note is attached.

Cllr Ed Turner, Deputy Leader (Statutory) and Cabinet Member for Finance and Asset Management, Nigel Kennedy, Head of Financial Services, Tom Bridgman, Executive Director (Development) and Helen Horne, Managing Director (OX Place) have been invited to present the briefing note and answer questions. The Panel is asked to note and comment on the briefing note and agree any recommendations.

The Panel agreed to have Scrutiny Performance Monitoring as a standing item on its agendas for 2023/24. The end of year report for 2023/24 is attached.

The Panel is asked to:

1.    Note and comment on the performance report for KPIs selected by the Finance and Performance Panel in the 2023/24 municipal year as at March 2024.

2.    Agree any written questions to submit for response after the meeting; and/or agree to invite relevant officers to a future meeting.

3.    Agree whether or not it wishes to continue to have Scrutiny Performance Monitoring as a standing item on its agendas.

If the Panel does wish to continue having Scrutiny Performance Monitoring as a standing item on agendas, the Panel is recommended to agree to defer consideration of which KPIs to monitor during 2024/25 to a future meeting.

The Panel is asked to note the dates and times of future meetings of the Finance and Performance Panel:

·       04 September 2024, 6pm

·       04 December 2024, 6pm

·       15 January 2025, 6pm

·       07 April 2025, 6pm

Meetings will take place remotely via Zoom.

If the Panel wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any aspects of the preceding or following agenda items it will be necessary for the Panel to pass a resolution 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 if and so long, as in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

(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).

At its meeting on 26 March 2024, the Panel requested that a progress update on the Strategic Review of Services Across Community Services be submitted to a future meeting of the Panel at the appropriate stage; the progress update is attached. Peter Matthew, Executive Director (Communities and People), Nigel Kennedy, Head of Financial Services and Suzanne Hemingway, Service Review Consultant have been invited to present the item and answer questions. The Panel is asked to consider the update and agree any recommendations.

At its meeting on 26 March 2024, the Panel requested that a progress update on the Strategic Review of Services Provided by Oxford Direct Services (ODS) be submitted to a future meeting of the Panel at the appropriate stage; the progress update is attached. Peter Matthew, Executive Director (Communities and People), Nigel Kennedy, Head of Financial Services and Suzanne Hemingway, Service Review Consultant have been invited to present the item and answer questions. The Panel is asked to consider the update and agree any recommendations.