Issue - meetings

The Chairman invited the Democratic and Civic Officer to introduce the report regarding the Overview and Scrutiny Operating Methodology. The Officer explained that, as per the Constitution, the Operating Methodology for the Committee was reviewed every year and then agreed by the Committee at the start of each municipal year. She stated that, as a result of the recent scrutiny review, the Operating Methodology had been re-written to ensure it was clear, concise and reflected the working methods of the Committee, but the detail of how the Committee should work had not been changed.

The Chairman invited comments from the Committee and there were questions as to why an item could not be called-in if it had been subject to pre-decision scrutiny. The Monitoring Officer explained that if the Committee was involved in pre-decision scrutiny, it then became a part of the decision-making process and could not be considered unbiased. For this reason, the decision could not then be called-in. He highlighted that the Committee had always functioned in such a way and this had not been changed from previous Operating Methodologies.

There was further discussion regarding the time scales for call-in, with a Member of Committee noting that policy committee decisions could be implemented before there was the opportunity to call-in the decision. The Monitoring Officer stated that the authority could not enact a decision prior to the close of the call-in period, except in extreme circumstances, and suggested that with the use of pre-decision scrutiny, there need not be any concern about delayed decisions.

With no further comments it was

RESOLVED that the Overview and Scrutiny Operating Methodology, for implementation throughout the 2019/20 Civic Year, be approved.