The Scrutiny Committee will meet on 9 September 2025 to consider the following items. Report and recommendations, including those from its working groups, from the meeting will be published as a late supplement.

·       Scrutiny Budget Review Group Scope

·       Citizen and Community Engagement Policy 2025 - Adoption of Plan

·       Re-procurement of Housing First Support Service

·       Temporary Accommodation Placement Policy

·       Housing Service Q1 Performance for 2025/26

·       Annual update on Social Housing Allocations and Lettings

·       Heat Network Update

·       EV Infrastructure Update

·       Local Energy Area Planning

The Scrutiny Committee met on 9 September and reviewed the Citizen and Community Engagement Policy 2025 and the Scrutiny Budget Review Group Scope, there were no recommendations for the Budget Review Group Scope. The Housing and Homelessness Working Group met on 2 September 2025 to consider the Re-procurement of Housing First Support Service, Temporary Accommodation Placement Policy, Housing Service Q1 Performance for 2025/26 and Annual update on Social Housing Allocations and Lettings. Councillor Alex Powell noted there were only recommendations for the Temporary Accommodation Placement Policy. The Climate and Environment Working Group met on 4 September 2025 to consider the Heat Network Update, Local EV Infrastructure and Local Energy Area Planning. Councillor Powell noted there were no recommendations for the Local Energy Area Planning.

Councillor Powell presented the Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations for the Citizen and Community Engagement Policy 2025, reflecting on the Committee’s discussions.

• Recommendation 1: That the Policy specifically assigns locality managers a role in the dissemination of consultations, making use of their deeper understanding of each local area’s needs and dynamics with the intention to tailor engagement efforts more effectively. 
• Recommendation 2: That the Policy acknowledges and identifies busy time periods to be avoided for consultations, to ensure residents or participants have adequate opportunity to participate, particularly where the consultation topic requires more focused attention. 
• Recommendation 3: That every consultation document undergoes an inclusivity check by an officer, resident panel, or elected member prior to release for readability and understandability by all audiences. 
• Recommendation 4: That Cabinet ensures the Policy is applied in a manner that maximises the inclusion of disabled people in the Council’s consultation processes. 
• Recommendation 5: That Cabinet requests officers to undertake exploratory work to incorporate a system for ranking the importance of each consultation, and to investigate whether the use of incentives could effectively increase participation and engagement. 

Councillor Chapman observed that scrutiny, on occasion, blur the lines between strategy, policy and the operational delivery. Referring to the recommendation which involved the role of localities manager, he explained this would be better placed in the operational plan rather than set out as a general provision in the policy. In relation not the fifth recommendation, Councillor Chapman expressed appreciation for the Committee’s intent but highlighted the difficulties in ranking consultations, stating that it was not always possible to do as each varies in scope and impact. He also cautioned that use of incentives may produce perverse outcome in that participants could be motivated by incentives rather than the substance of the consultation, in addition to creating financial implications. Overall, he valued the constructive discussions at Scrutiny, confirming his support for three and indicating partial agreement with two of the above listed recommendations.

Councillor Powell also reported the Housing and Homelessness Working Group’s recommendation to the Temporary Accommodation Placement Policy. In presenting this, he conveyed concerns regarding the statutory six week limitation on placements in temporary accommodation and whether this period could be reduced. It was however understood that the six week limit is prescribed in legislation.

• Recommendation: That Cabinet ensures the Temporary Accommodation Placement Policy incorporates a degree of flexibility to take account of extraordinary employment circumstances including those who work irregular hours or on variable contracts, in order to support fairness and further clarity. 

He proceeded to draw attention to the key points discussed during the Working Group’s consideration of the Social Housing Allocations and Lettings report. These included the significant demand for one-bed homes and their underrepresentation within the current stock; issues of unseen overcrowding in council properties; the need for greater transparency around eligibility of applicants placed in Band 5 where likelihood of being housed is very low; and the potential benefits of downsizing incentive schemes. He confirmed that no formal recommendations were made in respect of this item.

Councillor Powell then presented the Climate and Environment Working Group’s discussions and recommendations on the Heat Network Update. He pointed out that this topic had also attracted considerable interest amongst members of Scrutiny upon endorsing the recommendations, noting that it was positively received by both the Committee and the Working Group.

• Recommendation 1: That social value creation is explored and embedded in the delivery of the heat network, with particular focus on mitigating the negative impacts of construction, including compensation for any disruptions to local businesses, safety concerns, damage to properties, and other community impacts, and that income generated through the network is directed toward addressing fuel poverty through measures such as insulation and energy efficiency upgrades. 
• Recommendation 2: That Council ensures there is further scrutiny specifically around the ownership models of the infrastructure under consideration for the heat network.
• Recommendation 3: That concerns around potential monopoly are duly noted, and that commercial arrangements include mechanisms that will ensure long-term public benefit and enable public oversight;  that any profits or financial turnover generated through the network are shared with the City Council and used to directly benefit residents; and that where possible, infrastructure is retained in public ownership or alternative safeguards are implemented to ensure dependency on a single private provider is prevented. 

Lastly, Councillor Powell presented the Climate and Environment Working Group’s recommendation on the Local EV Infrastructure.

• Recommendation: That OX Place, as a council-owned company, ensure that EV charge points in new developments are accessible to the wider community; and that further work is undertaken to explore the use of workplace EV charging points by local residents during evenings and weekends, potentially through planning conditions.

In response to Councillor Powell, Councillor Smith expressed agreement with the recommendation seeking flexibility within the Placement Policy particularly to allow employment to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Councillor Railton confirmed her acceptance of all three recommendations relating to Heat Network noting the discussions had been constructive. In respect to the final recommendation concerning EV charge points, Councillor Chapman acknowledged the positive intent but advised that, in practice, such condition would be unworkable. He explained that the Council would be unable to enforce this requirement unless private owners voluntarily agreed to make their charge points publicly accessible at designated times, which could itself give rise to complex practical issues. Differentiating this from communal EV charge points, he highlighted further issues around sharing access with the wider community, laudable though the aim might be.

Councillor Brown thanked Councillor Powell for his contributions, and Scrutiny’s work on various reports presented to Cabinet in this meeting.