To consider what topics the Panel would like to consider over the course of the municipal year.

Councillor Wilson requested a word change to his suggested topic, to consider whether the resourcing of staff across the council was appropriate.

Mark Beeley, Principal Democratic Services Officer – Overview and Scrutiny, said that performance reports would be considered in a different format to previous years. Performance would go to Cabinet for review and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny would be provided with an opportunity to focus on areas of concern at meetings. Plans on the draft budget would also be finalised and added into the work programme once confirmed.

Councillor Hunt asked what the proposed item on the RBWM Property Company was.

Mark Beeley was unable to confirm the details until Councillor Howard had sent through an initial scope.

Councillor J Tisi mentioned that Birmingham City Council had recently been issued a S114 notice, which effectively declared the council bankrupt. Given the financial situation at RBWM, he suggested that a finance update or budget monitoring report should be considered by the Panel.

Mark Beeley said that Corporate had previously considered budget monitoring reports, he would explore this with the Deputy Director of Finance.

ACTION – Mark Beeley to speak to the Deputy Director of Finance to bring a report on the financial position at RBWM to the Panel.

Councillor Price was concerned that items the Panel had previously scrutinised and should be considered on a yearly basis had not been coming through. She said that the Panel needed to ensure that items were brought forward and that there was tight grip on the work programme. Councillor Price suggested that an offline meeting should be organised with the Panel to finalise items which would come forward for consideration.

ACTION – Mark Beeley to work with officers to ensure that statutory items were brought forward and once confirmed this would be shared with the Panel.

Councillor Wilson felt that it would be useful to have a list of items which the Panel reviewed each year.

Mark Beeley said work was being done to update the Overview and Scrutiny webpages, a list could be added to the website. The work programme would also be updated so that the Panel were aware of what the Panel would be looking at.

ACTION – Mark Beeley to circulate link to the website once ready and the updated work programme.

Councillor Hunt asked if RBWM was in any danger of having a similar problem to what had occurred at Birmingham City Council, which had served a S114 notice due to equal pay claims.

Nikki Craig said that no organisation was safe from equal pay claims but felt that considering the job evaluation, grading system and the way recruitment was done she did not believe that RBWM had the same issue and nothing had been raised with her.

Councillor Sharpe said that there were routine reports which were missing, this should be added to the work programme to ensure the Panel was able to carry out its work effectively.

Councillor J Tisi asked about timescales involved in preparing the agenda.

Mark Beeley said that ideally officers should have 4 weeks’ notice to be able to prepare items and write reports. The agenda for November should be confirmed by early October to ensure that there was adequate time.