Council - 15/10/2019

■■■ Sandwell

Metropolitan Borough Council

Minutes of the Budget and Corporate
Scrutiny Management Board

2 nd October, 2019 at 5.45pm
at Sandwell Council House, Oldbury

Present: Councillor L Giles (Chair);

Councillors E M Giles, Moore and Singh.

Apology: Councillor Rollins.

In attendance: D Stevens (Interim Chief Executive);

S Tour (Director - Law and Governance and
Monitoring Officer);

S Suthi-Nagra (Democratic Services Manager);

I Parry (Centre for Public Scrutiny).

18/19 Minutes

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 11 th
September 2019 be approved as a correct record.

19/19 Scrutiny Review

Further to Minute No. 11/19, the Scrutiny Management Board
received the report of the Scrutiny Review Working Group, which had
been endorsed at its meeting on 24 September 2019.

The Working Group was established to examine how the Council’s
overview and scrutiny arrangements, including scrutiny outcomes,
could be improved so as to reflect recognised good practice.

The Working Group considered the insight and evidence gathered
through a series of engagement sessions, desktop studies, one-to-
one interviews, member surveys, analysis against statutory guidance
and explored good practice to make evidence-based
recommendations.

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Budget and Corporate Scrutiny Management Board - 2 nd October, 2019

The Working Group had been supported in its work by the Centre for
Public Scrutiny (CfPS) and the Local Government Association (LGA).

It was reported that six key themes emerged from the engagement
sessions:-

• Culture;

• Relationships;

• Work Programme;

• Structure;

• Support;

• Agile Working.

These were also borne out by the findings of the work undertaken by
CfPS during the review.

The Board acknowledged the excellent work that had been
undertaken in respect of the review. Particular thanks were given to
officers who had supported the Working Group and the Review, along
with the Centre for Public Scrutiny and the Local Government
Association. The Board praised the approach taken to engage
Members which had proven to be an excellent piece of work.

The Board further acknowledged the hard work undertaken to prepare
the Review Report and the pace within which the Review had been
undertaken, which ensured a strong focus was maintained
throughout.

The Review demonstrated that the single most important determinant
of whether the Council delivered an excellent overview and scrutiny
function that was nationally recognised, was the need for embedding
a positive, passionate culture and approach amongst councillors to
undertaking scrutiny, that was underpinned by a strong commitment
to maximising the opportunities effective scrutiny provided.

A number of recommendations were proposed by the Working Group
to strengthen the Council’s overview and scrutiny function which
included a focussed Scrutiny Work Programme to align with the
ambitions within Vision 2030. These included a revised structure for
the overview and scrutiny function, terms of reference for the panels
and sub-panels and refreshed role descriptions for scrutiny chairs,
vice-chairs, panel members and co-opted members.

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Budget and Corporate Scrutiny Management Board - 2 nd October, 2019

Ian Parry, CfPS, attended the meeting and commended the thorough
and inclusive work that had been done in Sandwell on the Review.
The engagement programme with councillors that had taken place
was highlighted as a strength, demonstrating the enthusiasm and
commitment elected members had to improve scrutiny. The CfPS
had been particularly impressed by the pace of the Review and
agreed that the proposed model for overview and scrutiny in Sandwell
would be an innovative and bold step to modernise the function.

The Scrutiny Management Board recognised that the Review outlined
many positive and worthwhile proposals; however also felt that more
time was needed to reflect upon the following:-

The proposed structure included a 2030 Scrutiny Panel with a
membership of 24. This would have three sub-panels reporting
to it and concerns were raised as to the practicality of such an
arrangement.

More clarity was needed around the roles of Vice-Chairs in
leading the sub-panels of the 2030 Scrutiny Panel and how this
differed to the role of Scrutiny Panel Chairs.

Greater analysis required on how the proposals met the
Statutory Guidance on Overview and Scrutiny in Local and
Combined Authorities, published by the Ministry of Housing,
Communities and Local Government. In particular, public
engagement principles and mechanisms needed to be more
explicit.

It was recognised that protocols were a tool to creating a
change in culture and the Scrutiny Management Board
requested that further work be done by the Working Group to
develop the protocols before any new proposals were
presented to Full Council.

Greater emphasis was needed in relation to the how scrutiny of
the West Midlands Combined Authority would be undertaken.

The Scrutiny Management Board highlighted the need to
conduct further engagement with elected members on the
proposals, to maintain the momentum that had been gained
from the previous engagement sessions which had been well
attended by councillors.

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Budget and Corporate Scrutiny Management Board - 2 nd October, 2019

It was felt that further information on the proposed methods of

resourcing the support for scrutiny needed to be made clearer.

Resolved that:-

(1) the Budget and Corporate Scrutiny Management Board:-

(a) note the excellent work undertaken in relation to the
Scrutiny Review so far;

(b) place on record its thanks to the Centre for Public
Scrutiny, Local Government Association for their
support to the Scrutiny Review and Officers for all
their hard work;

(2) the comments of the Budget and Corporate Scrutiny
Management Board set out in these Minutes be referred
back to Scrutiny Review Working Group for consideration
and action;

(3) the Scrutiny Review Working Group co-ordinates and
undertakes further engagement work with Elected
Members and the Executive (as necessary) on the
proposals detailed in the Scrutiny Review before
preparing final proposals;

(4) a revised Scrutiny Review Report of the Working Group
detailing the final proposals be submitted to a future
meeting of the Budget and Corporate Scrutiny
Management Board;

(5) in order to keep the pace of the Scrutiny Review, an
extraordinary meeting of the Council be arranged (if
necessary), with the Mayor’s consent, prior to 14 January
2020 to consider the recommendations of the Budget and
Corporate Scrutiny Management Board in relation to the
Scrutiny Review.

(Meeting ended at 7.56 pm)

Contact Officer: Alex Goddard
Democratic Services Unit
0121 569 3178

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