Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and noted the emergency evacuation procedure.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Graham Morris and Brenda Massey.

To note any declarations of interest from councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.  Any declaration of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

No declarations were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on 3 March 2023 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2023 were approved as a correct record.

Resolved; That the OSMB minutes of 3 March 2023 be approved.

To note any announcements from the Chair

No Chair’s Business was raised.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Any member of the public or councillor may participate in Public Forum. The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda. Public Forum items should be emailed to scrutiny@bristol.gov.uk

and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:

Questions - Written questions must be received at least 3 clear working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5.00 pm on Wednesday 12 April 2023

Petitions and Statements - Petitions or written statements must be received at latest by 12.00 noon on the working day prior to the meeting. For this meeting, this means that petitions or statements must be received in this office at the latest by

12.00 noon on Monday 17 April 2023

Please note: questions, petitions and statements must relate to the remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

Suzanne Audrey submitted two public forum statements related to Item 7. Written responses were provided as part of the published Public Forum document.

A statement regarding the Scrutiny Annual Report was submitted and presented by Cllr Richard Eddy.

A statement regarding WECA and Bristol bus services was submitted and presented by David Redgewell.

RESOLVED; That OSMB note the Public Forum. 

To note and comment on the 2023/24 Corporate Business Plan and Performance Framework in advance of the Cabinet’s consideration of this matter on 2 May 2023.

The Deputy Head of Policy and Strategy presented the Bristol City Council Corporate Business Plans. A workshop with Scrutiny Members had been held on 16^th March 2023 to consider and provide feedback on a draft version of the Business Plan. The amendments made following the Scrutiny feedback were outlined.  It was emphasised that the full range of feedback was considered for further and ongoing discussions. Scrutiny Members were thanked for their attendance and input at the workshop.

The Director for Policy, Strategy and Digital presented the Performance Framework. It was noted that City Measures had been introduced for metrics where Bristol City Council did not have full control but would continue to monitor. Annual Business Plan measures were also included. For the 2022-23 year, themed clinics had been held and presented to Scrutiny on a quarterly basis, and this was expected to continue for the 23-24 year.

Following the Scrutiny workshop some amendments had been made, including changing KPI 2 from Bristol City Council Measure to a City Measure. KPI 5 had also been clarified as council spend only. Following input from the Corporate Leadership Board a further KPI around compliance with financial management codes had been added.

Further work was anticipated around reporting. Work was underway on the development of a performance score card; an interactive dashboard accessible to both Officers and Members to provide real time progress updates. This was expected to support the timeliness of reporting.

Members were invited to comment and raise questions.

The Chair thanked the Officers and commented that the workshop had been a useful exercise. It was suggested that as the Council moved towards a committee model of governance that future development work be opened to all Members. The Chair also suggested that once the Business Plan was finalised that a hard copy be sent to all Councillors to ensure all were aware of the document and its contents.

A Member noted that WECA had been identified as a key partner and queried whether work had been undertaken to ensure the alignment of priorities and funding allocation. The Deputy Head of Policy and Strategy stated that while WECA was not part of the same approval pathway that regular communication and touch points were made with WECA colleagues, including the sharing of draft documents. Officers noted that clarifying this relationship would be useful.

A Member noted that TC3 had identified the work underway for the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood but that the South Bristol project had not been included, which seemed like an omission. The Deputy Head of Policy and Strategy stated that this action would have been derived from service planning conducted in Autumn 2022 and agreed to discuss this with the relevant Service Managers as an action.

A Member noted that by not allocating actions in the business plan against all priorities identified in the Corporate Strategy that commitments had been made without demonstrating how they would be achieved. Extensive internal conversations had been held around the KPIs and where actions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To confirm the content of the Scrutiny annual report ahead of its submission to the Full Council in May 2023.

Please note: this item is to follow and will be published as soon as available.

The Chair presented the Scrutiny Annual Report. A Member suggested that in future a greater emphasis be placed on policy development messaging to demonstrate the business achieved.

The Scrutiny Annual Report was unanimously approved for submission to Full Council.

Resolved; That the Scrutiny Annual Report 2022-23 be approved and submitted to Full Council.

To note the work programme.

The Scrutiny Advisor noted that the meeting was the last scheduled of the 2022-23 year, but that a Scrutiny workshop had been planned for 6 June 2023 to consider the 2023-24 year. Work had been ongoing in preparation for this.

A Member noted that an OSMB meeting and a Cabinet meeting had also been scheduled for the same day. It was clarified that the OSMB meeting was specifically to confirm the work programme immediately following the workshop.

A Member recommended consideration of how to most effectively work with WECA and WECA Scrutiny as part of work programming. This was noted.

A Member queried whether there would be sufficient information available to construct a 2023-24 work plan as only one item had been listed on the Mayor’s Forward Plan after June 2023. It was thought that more information would be available by the time of the workshop, and that discussions were being held with Officers in advance in order to gather relevant planning information.

Resolved; That i) co-ordinated work with WECA is noted as an item of consideration for 2023-24 Scrutiny Work Programming, and that; ii) the Work Programme be noted.

The latest update of the Mayor’s Forward Plan is enclosed, as published on 3 April 2023.

The Mayors Forward Plan was noted. The Chair stated that establishing relevant items with appropriate notice had been an issue with the Forward Plan. The Chief Executive acknowledged the issue and considered that it may have been exacerbated by the time of year.

A Member recommended the monthly refresh of a 12-month Forward Plan; the Chief Executive noted this as a useful suggestion.

A Member recognised the issues with the Mayor’s Forward Plan but also noted the improvements that had been made over previous years. It was emphasised that with the move to a committee system a long sight of upcoming decisions would be necessary.

Resolved; That the Mayors Forward Plan be noted.

The minutes of the meeting of the WECA Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 23 January 2023 are enclosed for information.

Resolved; That the WECA Scrutiny Minutes be noted.