The Committee received a copy of the Work Programme for 2021/22 and the Chair stressed that all of scrutiny committees need to be aware that the work programme and will need to be flexible so that the Scrutiny Function can respond to matters as and when they arise. The main points of the discussion may be summarised as follows:

The Committee

v  Noted that at the last meeting they had considered a draft scrutiny work programme for discussion. Since then, the draft has been circulated to Cabinet Lead Members and senior council officers for their comments. The draft Work Programme had also been presented to Full Council on 21^st July 2021.

v  Noted that following the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Savills Information briefing session, the Chair has proposed for the Committee to hold a follow up spotlight session on this once it has been possible to scope this out with officers.

v  Noted that the scrutiny work programmes included key equality considerations of the Strategic Plan, including reducing inequality, promoting community cohesion, and enabling community engagement. Identifying and prioritising issues, which are important to local residents, and will play a significant role in developing the work programme to drive service improvements.

v  Noted that key to addressing equalities issues is to make scrutiny more accessible to residents. Accordingly, a Scrutiny Communication Plan had been developed and appended to the report, which provided an overview of the Scrutiny goals to raise and improve the profile of the Scrutiny Function.

v  Noted that to ensure that the Scrutiny work programme captures the diverse range of resident’s views and concerns, an online form has been created to allow them to submit their items for Scrutiny to consider as part of the 2021/22 work programme. This has been promoted through the Council’s social media channels to ensure all residents are aware of this opportunity and their submissions will be considered when reviewing relevant items.

Accordingly, as a result of discussions on the report the Committee:

1. Agreed the draft work Programme for 2021/22 2; and
2. Noted the specific equalities considerations as set out in Paragraph 4 of the report.