Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Neil Gethin, Majid Khan and Lani-Mae Ball.

RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for agenda item 4, Call-In of the Executive Decision: Market Operator - Temporary Financial Assistance, as the meeting considered exempt information under Paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affair of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended).

There were no declarations of interest made.

The Chair outlined the format of the meeting, reminding those present

that the focus should be on the issues raised on the Call In form.  Councillors Andy Pickering and Steve Cox explained their reasons for calling in the decision, which related to;

1.     The performance of the current market operator.

2.     Clarification of other options considered and reasons for the preferred option.

3.     The risks in providing financial assistance and achieving the overall vision for the markets.

The Deputy Mayor, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Equalities and officers in attendance were given an opportunity to respond to the issues raised by those Members Calling in the decision.

The Chair also provided an opportunity for Elected Members not on the

Committee to ask questions and speak on any relevant issues.

Having considered the issues raised, the Chair thanked the Call-in group and Members and Officers for their contribution and asked the Committee to propose a course of action in accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 9 including:

(i)        Refer the decision back to the Executive for reconsideration in the light of the recommendations from the Committee.

(ii)    Request that the decision be deferred until Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee or Panels have considered relevant issues and made recommendations to the Executive.

(iii)     Take no action in relation to the called-in decision(s) but consider whether issues arising from the call-in need to be added to the work programme of an existing or new Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

(iv)     If, but only if (having taken the advice of the Monitoring Officer and/or the Chief Finance Officer), the Committee determine that the decision(s) is wholly or partly outside the Budget and Policy Framework refer the matter, with any recommendations, to the Council after following the procedure in Rule 8 of the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules. Only in this case is there a continuing bar on implementing the decision.

The Monitoring Officer and the Chief Financial Officer had earlier confirmed that as the decision fell within the Budget and policy Framework, option (iv) above did not therefore apply.

RESOLVED that

The Committee take no action in relation to the called-in decision and agreed the Regeneration and Housing Overview & Scrutiny Panel would continue to receive updates on the performance of the market as part of its ongoing work programme.