Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2022 as an accurate record. (Attached)

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2022 were agreed as an accurate record with the amendment that on page 2, paragraph 3 the word ‘highlighted’ is substituted for ‘concluded’.

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), an other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda.  If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.  

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they should complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required to disclose any DPIs and ORIs at the meeting: -

·     Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  

·     Where the matter relates to an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.   

·     Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to their financial interest or wellbeing, or that of a relative or close associate, they must disclose the interest at the meeting, may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  Where a matter affects the NRI of a Member or co-opted Member, section 9 of Appendix B of the Code of Conduct sets out the test which must be applied by the Member to decide whether disclosure is required.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3, to be recorded in the minutes.

 There were no disclosures of interest made at the meeting.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business for the consideration of the Scrutiny & Overview Committee at the meeting.

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee is asked: -

1.    To note the update provided by Executive Mayor Perry on his priorities for the year ahead.

2.    To scrutinise the Executive Mayor’s priorities, providing challenge as appropriate

3.    To consider how the Mayoral priorities should be reflected in the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2022-23.

The Chair introduced the item and explained that the Committee would be focusing their questioning to the Executive Mayor, Jason Perry, on four main topics. There were ‘strengthening our democracy’, ‘budgeting’, ‘planning’ and ‘climate change’.

The Executive Mayor thanked the Committee for inviting him to the meeting and stated that he looked forward to working with scrutiny going forward as a part of his commitment to opposition led scrutiny. Members heard that the Executive Mayor’s top priorities were finances; the budget; securing additional income from government; reformation of planning with the revocation of the Suburban Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document 2 (SPD2); amendments to the Local Plan; the Housing Directorate; regeneration of the town centre; reopening of Purley Pool and Leisure Centre; street cleaning; restoration of the Graffiti Removal Service and tackling youth and violent crime by working in partnership with the police, community and schools. The Committee heard that as plans for these priorities were developed, they would be added to the Forward Plan.

The first set of questions focused on ‘strengthening our democracy’. The Committee raised the first Report in the Public Interest Action Plan and asked whether this was still Council Policy. It was confirmed that this was the case; further questions were asked about recommendations to provide additional resources to Scrutiny Committees and whether there were any updates in progressing this. The Executive Mayor explained that this was the case but that it was in the context of significant cuts and savings that needed to be found across the Council and that any additional resource would need to be found from within existing budgets. The Director of Resources, Jane West, added that growth had been built into the Democratic Services budget for this year that would support additional resource in Scrutiny; the Committee welcomed this and suggested that this could be used to increase scrutiny of the Housing Directorate. The Executive Mayor welcomed a greater focus on housing issues and commented that additional resource needed to be used wisely. The Chair informed Members of plans for a separate scrutiny Housing Sub-Committee that would be discussed at the next meeting.

Members asked how an enhanced role for residents in the borough would be used to ensure that their voices were heard and how they would be able to influence the decisions of the Executive Mayor. In response the Committee heard that there were plans for a ‘Cabinet Roadshow’ to meet with members of the public to ensure the Cabinet was aware of their views; in addition to this there would be some form of ‘Mayoral Surgeries’ to engage on a more personal level with individuals. There were plans for greater community involvement with the decision-making process to ensure input from residents, local businesses, faith groups and the voluntary sector. Members heard that this had started with the recently implemented Resident’s Charter to put residents at the heart of decisions in the Housing Directorate. These initiatives were welcomed by the Committee and the Executive Mayor explained that a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35/22

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This motion was not required.