The Committee moved on to the scoping document for their major review topic, ‘The Council as a Business’.  Members emphasised that the review was about ’blue sky thinking’ (original or creative thinking, unfettered by convention) and mention should be given to income generation specifically in the broader explanation of the title and a question mark should be added to the title of the review to add resonance. Members looked at the outcomes and decided how best to group these together to tackle at meetings. The Committee felt that the outcomes for the review (Appendix A) would be better presented in a numbered order and on that basis they would like to address 1, 2 and 6 first, then 3 and 5 and lastly 4 and 7.  It was decided that the first meeting should include the outlook of the council on the review topic with the Chief Executive and Directors invited as witnesses. 

The Committee felt that it was important that they looked at the outside world and the business community as much as the activity of other local authorities.  Members suggested areas to investigate such as the Local Government Association for examples of good practice and decided that all Committee Members should conduct individual research on innovative income generating practices which would be presented and discussed at the September meeting when the Committee would invite external witnesses. Members suggested ways in which they could engage with the public and staff to find out what services residents wanted and ways in which income could be generated. The Committee decided that a survey would be the best way to engage with staff and Councillors and this should be designed by the Scrutiny Officer, with the Committee’s input so the initial responses could be discussed at the next meeting with a workshop to follow at a later date. Members emphasised that they were looking for innovative business opportunities from staff and Councillors and an anonymous response may encourage participation. Members felt that a press release would be their initial step in engaging with the public; Councillors Paine, English and Pickett volunteered to meet with the Communications team for advice and decide the best way forward on behalf of the Committee.

The Committee resolved that:

a)  A question mark should be added to the review title;

b)  The outcomes should be numbered and grouped together to be examined at specific meetings: 1, 2 & 6 at the first meeting in August, 3 & 5 for the September meeting and 4 & 7 at a later meeting;

c)  The LGA should be looked to for good examples of best practice;

d)  A meeting should be arranged with Communications and volunteers from the Committee to decide the best way to engage with the public on the review with a press release as the starting point;

e)  An anonymous staff and Councillor Survey should be designed with the input of members asking staff and Councillors for their ideas for business innovation to provide the Council with an income.  This should be the starting point for a later cross Councillor/staff workshop;

f)  An interim report showing the results of the staff survey should be prepared for the August meeting;

g)  The Committee should prepare their own research on best practice for the September meeting when external witnesses will be invited; and

h)  Senior Officers should be invited to the next meeting to provide Members with the Council’s outlook on income generation and the authority operating as a business.