Issue - meetings

Report of the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny

The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) introduced the report and took the opportunity to  reflect on the successes of the committee. She highlighted that there had been a call-in on the decision to bring  Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) back in house at her first meeting as Chair, which resulted in the setting up of a scrutiny task group on the transition project. She was proud of its achievements and thanked those involved, including councillors, CBH officers, and a tenant representative. The Chair also referenced the attendance of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the scrutiny of the Minster Exchange project.

She welcomed the involvement of Members of O&S in drafting its work programme and invited feedback to ensure that scrutiny was focused on the right issues for councillors and members of the public.

In response to Member questions, the Chair of O&S made the following points :

-       the state of local NHS dentistry and GP waiting lists is something that had been examined under the previous Chair of O&S but she would be happy to raise the issue with local MPs if required;

-       the Annual Report does not include a summary of feedback from councillor representatives on joint committees, such as the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), but those Members would be invited to submit a summary report for subsequent Annual Reports. Members were also invited to contact representatives if there were any matters they wished to raise at these meetings;

-       it was encouraging that the Local Government Association Peer Review had recognised the work scrutiny had undertaken on deprivation in the town, and this will be kept on the work plan in the coming year. The Chair would be happy to write to the MP with regard to the fact that the indices of multiple deprivation had not been reviewed since 2019 and more up-to-date data was requested;

-       joint scrutiny of licensing policy would be considered.

In debate, the Leader commented that, as an elected Member, she visits other councils as part of a peer review team, acting as a critical friend. She is proud to say that Cheltenham has a good scrutiny committee when compared to some of those other councils she has visited.

The Chair of O&S was praised for her significant contributions to scrutiny.

RESOLVED (unanimously) THAT

The Annual report of Overview and Scrutiny be noted.