Agenda item

The Committee received a refresh to the Protocol for Overview and Scrutiny. The Committee was requested to approve the new document for recommendation to Council. The covering report and attached draft protocol were introduced by Rob Mack, Principal Scrutiny Officer as set out in the agenda pack at pages 53-66. The following arose in response to the discussion of the refreshed protocol:

a.    The Committee commented that Paragraph 6.2 should reflect that the scrutiny process should be ‘led by’ rather than ‘coordinated by’ the Chair of Budget Scrutiny. (Action: Rob Mack).

b.    The Committee also queried the need for greater clarity on the role of co-optees and whether the protocol should set out in more detail their role, how they are selected and in general provide greater transparency around the whole process. The Chair agreed to note this point and take it forward as part of a wider future discussion one engaging with the community and/or the Terms of Reference for OSC. (Action: Rob Mack).

c.    The Committee raised concerns about the stipulation that access to information was on a need to know basis and whether this could be used to limit the capacity of scrutiny members to access relevant information. In response, the Legal Advisor to the Committee advised that this provision should be read in conjunction with what was set out in the constitution. Demonstrating a ‘need to know’ was a fairly well established practice and terminology. It was commented that the fact that a Chair of a particular panel was asking for the information in relation to a relevant piece of scrutiny work was more than sufficient to meet this criterion. Officers also set out that Section 10 of the protocol set out additional information in relation to access to information. Officers agreed to make this clearer in the protocol (Action: Stephen Lawrence Orumwense).

d.    The Committee also raised the issue about access to more junior officers and requested that this be clarified in the protocol. In response, officers advised that this was set out in the constitution and that any change to this provision would have to be amended in the constitution through the usual process, rather than through the protocol.

e.    The Committee also requested clarification about the role of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer. In response, officers clarified that the relevant point in the protocol was around having a right to appeal a decision to that person (in conjunction with the Monitoring Officer), such as not being given access to a particular officer. The Committee was advised that the Statutory Scrutiny Officer was Richard Grice.

f.     The Chair sought assurances that Cabinet would also be engaged around the content of the protocol and asked to sign up to it. In response, officers confirmed that this would also be considered by Cabinet and that they will be asked to sign up to it as joint protocol.

RESOLVED

1. That the draft updated Overview and Scrutiny Protocol was endorsed by the

Committee and recommended to Council for final approval; and

2. That the remits for each of the Scrutiny Panels be reviewed ahead of the

2022/23 Municipal Year.