Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Chairman for the forthcoming year.

Nominations were sought for a chairman for the forthcoming year. On the nomination of Councillor Ruth Hopkinson, seconded by Councillor Dr Nick Murry, it was,

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Graham Wright as Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee for the forthcoming year.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the forthcoming year.

Nominations were sought for a Vice-Chairman for the forthcoming year. On the nomination of Councillor Martin Denz, seconded by Councillor Ruth Hopkinson, it was,

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Gerry Murry as Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee for the forthcoming year.

To receive details of any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Committee Members Cllr Lianna Konnig and Cllr Alan Hagger.

The following substitutions had been arranged for the meeting:

• Cllr Phil Chamberlain in place of Cllr Lianna Konnig
• Cllr Martin Denz in place of Cllr Alan Hagger

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2025 were presented for consideration, and it was;

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a true and correct record of the minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2025.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

The Chairman thanked the Committee for electing him as the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee. The Chairman noted that though he was not new to this position, he considered this to be a new committee and would therefore be open to new ideas on how work should be approached and the issues to be focused on.

The Chairman referred to the induction sessions on Overview and Scrutiny that had taken place, with the session still available to view on the Councillors’ Hub as well as a briefing that had been providedon the morning of the meeting, recapping on scrutiny’s role and setting out the committee’s specific responsibilities. It was outlined that Members were therefore aware that the committee had a special, dual role in that it must lead the Overview and Scrutiny function and work programme and also scrutinise corporate matters. Under the previous council, that corporate remit included finance, however following Full Council’s decision in May, finance would move to the new Finance and Procurement Select Committee, as of September. Therefore, the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee would have more capacity to undertake comprehensive scrutiny of its remaining corporate portfolio.

The Chairman referred to the change of administration following the elections and that it was hoped that some councillors who were previously scrutinised would now become the scrutineers, and vice-versa with energy and enthusiasm. It was also outlined that Councillors were encouraged to read reports and ask questions at every meeting as well as supplementary questions and that the last council had produced a list of standard questions to serve as a prompt sheet.

The Chairman noted that from his experience under the previous council, the senior officer team genuinely welcomed robust scrutiny and saw it as vital way to improve the council’s performance. Therefore, the Committee should not be afraid to challenge them and the Executive and hold them both to account in this statutory role on behalf of the people of Wiltshire.

The Chairman invited Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Council, to speak who made the following points that Scrutiny was a crucial role within the Council and that evidence suggested that Councils worked better with good, open and transparent scrutiny. Cllr Thorn noted the electoral politics of Wiltshire Council but suggested that this would be positive in that Councillors would have to work together across party.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Tuesday 27 May 2025 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response, questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Thursday 29 May 2025. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

There were no questions or statements submitted by members of the public.

To report to the new Overview and Scrutiny (OS) Management Committee:

a)    Topics recommended for inclusion in the new OS work programme by its predecessor Committee based on experience during the 2021-25 council.

b)    The comments of its predecessor Committee regarding the strengths and weaknesses of OS during the 2021-25 council.

c)    Next steps for developing a comprehensive OS work programme that reflects the priorities of the council, its members and Wiltshire residents.

The Chairman noted that on page 13 of the agenda pack was a report setting out the topics recommended for inclusion in the new Overview and Scrutiny work programme by the predecessor Committee based on its experience during the 2021-25 council. The report also included the comments of the predecessor Committee regarding the strengths and weaknesses of Overview and Scrutiny during the 2021-25 council. Additionally, the report proposed the next steps for developing a comprehensive Overview and Scrutiny work programme that would reflect the priorities of the council, its members and Wiltshire residents.

Henry Powell, Democracy and Complaints Manager, introduced the report, which included topics in Appendix A that the predecessor Committee under the previous Council, had considered deserved ongoing scrutiny. It was suggested that as this was the first meeting of the new Committee that the topics suggested, be used as a starting point for the Committee to begin with before shaping its own work programme. It was also outlined that if there were items that Members believed were missing, this could be raised with the Chairman and Democracy and Complaints Manager. Reference was also made to a training event that would take place on 1 July to cover effective questioning as well as a workshopping session for priorities.

Henry Powell, Democracy and Complaints Manager, outlined that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of each Select Committee had a leading role in shaping the forward work programmes. In addition, the Scrutiny team were organising meetings between them and Cabinet so they could consider how the visions of Cabinet could be reflected in the work programmes. Reference was also made to the strengths and weakness of the predecessor Committee which had been included in the last report, and this could be used to supplement the lived experience of the new Committee members, and that the Scrutiny team were thinking of ways to address the weaknesses.

It was noted that on the Cabinet Work Programme for 15 June was the final Q4 outturn reports for the revenue and capital budgets, which would have previously been taken to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee however, there was not a meeting scheduled in time to discuss these reports. As the Finance and Procurement Select Committee would not start until September, it was suggested that the Committee consider a rapid scrutiny exercise to consider the reports ahead of Cabinet.

The Committee discussed the report with reference made to the size of the scrutiny work programmes and what the capacity and limits for work would be, to which the Democracy and Complaints Manager stated that the scrutiny team was a flexible resource and that currently the workload was not near capacity however concern would be raised if this was the case. It was suggested that having more Task Groups would cause projects to slow down due to the officer time required.

Suggestions were made by the Committee that work on boater communities be added to the work programme as well as consideration of the Local Transport Plan,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

To receive a report on Temporary Agency Staffing Procurement.

Please note that this report will follow as an agenda supplement.

The Chairman noted that in Agenda Supplement 1, was a report asking for Cabinet to:

·       Approve the commissioning of a new contract for Temporary Agency Staffing;

·       Delegate authority to deal with all matters relating to the Contract to the Director of HR&OD in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Members; and

·       Approve a Contract Term of three years with the option to extend for a further twelve months, with the associated costs.

Cllr Mel Jacob, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities, Engagement, and Corporate Services introduced the report with it outlined that temporary agency staff were essential for providing the services of the Council. It was outlined that such agency staff were used to bridge gaps in hard to fill roles with ongoing recruitment challenges and that this tended to be in adult social care and education. It was stated that the current contract had ran for three years and had been extended to September 2025, when a new contract would need to be in place.

The Committee discussed the report with further clarity provided on the current contract that due to delays in going out to procurement, the current provider was content to extend the current contract on a monthly basis at the same rate of pay until procurement was complete. It was also outlined that there was no anticipated change in cost caused by the extensions. Clarity was also provided regarding Oracle ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning System), which would make procurement easier for the Council with data able to be drawn on such sets as head counts.

As discussion took place regarding IR35, which reference had been made to in the Executive Summary of the report, with it noted that historically this had enabled a lot of self-employed people working in permanent roles to avoid tax. It was outlined that the Council was compliant with IR35 and that a checklist was completed in order to demonstrate such compliance.

It was questioned whether training currently employed Council staff for such roles could be conducted to save money, to which it was noted that the Council was constantly trying to be innovative with succession planning and a lot of work takes place with services in order to reduce costs. Assurance was also provided that the preference of the Council was to have permanent staff and to only use agency staff when there was a statutory responsibility to be delivered in hard to fill roles. It was also outlined that the Council has strong flexible working policies in place in order to attract staff.

The impact of agency procurement on the Council budget was discussed, with clarity provided that agency staff are funded within services with the individual services bearing the responsibility to manage the respective finances and implications. Mitigations are therefore expected at a service level. Clarity was also sought on the Council’s commitment to reducing reliance on agency staff, to which it was stated that it was complex due to the need for agency procurement fluctuating and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

To set out the allocation of the Overview and Scrutiny Fund, which is part of the Council’s Members’ Allowances Scheme, for 2024-25.

The Chairman noted that on page 41 of the Agenda Pack, was a report proposing the application of the Overview and Scrutiny Remuneration Fund for 2024-25. It was outlined that the Overview and Scrutiny Remuneration Fund was a longstanding feature of the council’s Members’ Allowances Scheme and that The Fund’s defined purpose in the Scheme is, “To remunerate councillors to recognise significant additional responsibilities undertaken as part of overview and scrutiny activities. A scheme on how to allocate the fund will be prepared and approved annually by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee.”

The method of allocating the OS fundwas agreed by the Committee in September 2018. The Scheme focused on remunerating leading Overview and Scrutiny positions (select committee vice-chairmen, chairs of task groups, rapid scrutiny exercises, panels, and representatives on project boards). However, the Committee agreed that the number of meetings involved in qualifying activities should be a factor in the level of remuneration received to ensure that the varying time demands of distinct roles are recognised.

The Chairman noted that only full, formal meetings of each activity are counted when calculating the allocations and such meetings represent only a portion of the actual activity involved in fulfilling the qualifying roles. Additionally, last year the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee agreed that the payment per qualifying meeting should be capped at £220 and that cap had been applied again this year. The payments allocated were set out under Appendix 1.

The Committee discussed the report with clarity provided that the last Independent Review Panel for allowances had taken place in 2021 and that the Monitoring Officer expected an up to date one to be completed this year. Clarity was also provided that the new Finance and Procurement Select Committee would receive a chairman’s allowance after it had been agreed this was a fair approach given the time and effort the Financial Planning Task Group had previously invested in this area of work.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee agreed:

To note the allocation of the Overview and Scrutiny Remuneration fund for 2024/25 in accordance with the scheme agreed by Committee in 2018, as detailed in Appendix 1.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 23 July 2025.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 23 July 2025.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.