Agenda and minutes

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillors Hastie and S Webb.

Councillor Forecast was present as Substitute Member for Councillor Webb.

The Chairman stated that there was an urgent item and invited the Vice-Chairman to address the Committee.

The Vice-Chairman announced that he had resigned from the position, as having reviewed his likely workload and that of the Committee’s he did not feel he would be able to devote the time required to support the Committee’s work.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Cleator be elected as the Vice-Chairman for the remainder of the 2023/24 Municipal Year.

There were no Visiting Members.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

RESOLVED: That all items be taken in public as proposed.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 April 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed.

There were no petitions.

There were no questions from Local Residents.

There were no questions from Members to the Chairman.

The Democratic Services Officer provided a verbal update, outlining the additional items likely to be included in the refreshed Cabinet Forward Plan being published by the end of the week; this would allow the Committee to consider if it wished to undertake pre-decision scrutiny on those items.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted. 

The Chairman highlighted that the Committee’s Work Programme was subject to change, following the Committee’s consideration of Item 15 – Work Programming 2023-24.

RESOLVED: That the Committee Work Programme be noted.

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report, and referenced the workshop held with the Committee as outlined in the report. The appendices to the report were outlined, some of which had been amended from the workshop.

In considering the topics for the 2023/24 work programme, the Committee supported conducting the second phase review into the Water Management Cycle; the majority of the work had been completed, and recent water supply issues had highlighted the need to continue the review. It was felt that the Housing Inequality and Enforcement reviews, as outlined in appendices B and C to the report respectively, were important issues to address, that could be reviewed without overloading the work programme and maintaining the flexibility required to undertake the Committee’s other responsibilities. The Democratic Services Officer highlighted the importance of completing the reviews in a timely manner. 

In response to questions, the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager outlined the ongoing recruitments to the Democratic Services Team; the level of staff resource available would be re-assessed in-year, and the Committee would be informed if this would allow additional reviews to be undertaken. 

RESOLVED: That the following items be added to the Committee’s Work Programme for 2023/24:

·  Water Management Cycle (Second Phase Review), to be conducted via working group;

·  Enforcement; and

·  Health Inequality.

6.30 p.m. to 7.05 p.m.