Agenda item

The Council considered the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report, which highlighted the progress of Doncaster Council’s Overview and Scrutiny function during 2018/19.  The report also provided a summary of the work undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee (OSMC) and its four Standing Panels during 2018/19, and highlighted some of the key achievements and the impacts that Overview and Scrutiny had made over the past year, and identified priorities for 2019/20.

In presenting the report, Councillor Jane Kidd, Chair of the OSMC, conveyed her thanks to Members, the Executive, Officers, the Youth Council, Partners, Stakeholders, and the public, who had all taken the time to attend meetings, evidence gathering sessions, site visits and contribute to the Overview and Scrutiny process.  Councillor Kidd also expressed particular thanks to Scrutiny Officers, Andrew Sercombe, Caroline Martin and Christine Rothwell, who had provided the management Committee and the Panels with such fantastic support.

Councillor Kidd confirmed that much of Scrutiny’s work had been driven by the wider strategic objectives of Doncaster Growing Together and the priorities detailed in the Corporate Plan.  The challenges facing the Borough required joined up thinking and effective partnership working through Team Doncaster.  Overview and Scrutiny worked best to support this when it took a holistic cross-cutting view of issues that the Borough faced and took evidence from a wide range of partners, most importantly, the views of those people who were directly affected by how services worked, such as young people in care and survivors of domestic abuse.  Overview and Scrutiny could give a voice to Doncaster’s communities, including the most excluded.

Councillor Kidd highlighted some of the key activities undertaken by OSMC and its Panels, which demonstrated the key areas of Overview and Scrutiny’s remit including:-

• public engagement and participation;
• policy review and development;
• reviewing the performance and the work of partners; and
• holding to account and being a critical friend to challenge decision makers

Councillor Kidd also highlighted some of the key issues for consideration by the Committee during 2019/20.  These would continue to be reviewed over the course of the year as the Committee responded to the outcomes of the “Doncaster Talks” exercise and heard what its residents had to say about the kind of Borough they wanted for the future and consider the options for effectively engaging with residents at a local level.  The review of area governance would form a major part of the Committee’s work next year and Councillor Kidd encouraged all Members to get involved in the review.

Furthermore, Overview and Scrutiny would also continue to hold decision makers to account for the effective delivery of services and budgets, to ensure Overview and Scrutiny could support the Council’s Performance Monitoring arrangements and help improve the delivery of services to residents.

Councillor Kidd concluded by conveying thanks to everyone who had contributed to the Overview and Scrutiny process last year, and challenged everyone in the Chamber, no matter what their role was, to think about whether they could contribute to the work of Scrutiny, especially the review of area governance as Overview and Scrutiny wanted a model that gave a voice to all communities in Doncaster, and to be one of the most effective in the country.

RESOLVED that the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2018/19, be noted.