Issue - meetings

That the progress achieved during Q2 of 2024/25 be noted and the contents of report CAB3476 be endorsed.

Councillor Cutler introduced the report which was the second quarterly report in the new format which related to the themes of the Council Plan and also reported on regeneration and growth.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Wallace, Lee and Bolton addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Wallace

He expressed concern that the report had not been fully considered at Scrutiny Committee due to lack of time available at the meeting caused by the large agenda.  He requested clarification regarding the change in the new homes target date.  He was also concerned that the “Red/Amber/Green” (RAG) status appeared to be applied inconsistently.

Councillor Bolton

He concurred with concerns that the report had not been fully considered at Scrutiny Committee and requested that the report be referred back to Scrutiny for  further consideration  prior to  Cabinet. He also suggested that further discussion of the scrutiny work  agenda was required.

Councillor Lee

He asked a number of questions relating  to a potential KPI improvement exercise,   emergency planning,  risk of the landline switch off, Natural Burial areas,  and  low carbon assessments referred to in the Economic Development Strategy Action Plan 2024-27.  

Councillor Cutler and other Cabinet Members responded to the comments made in relation to their areas of responsibility. 

In response to Councillor Bolton’s request, Councillor Tod stated that Cabinet was being asked to note progress and endorse contents and there was no requirement for consideration by Scrutiny Committee prior to this decision.  He also emphasised that the Scrutiny Committee was responsible for setting its own work programme and managing agendas.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

That the progress achieved during Q2 of 2024/25 be noted and the contents of the report be endorsed.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the Scrutiny Committee:

1.       Raises with the Deputy Leader or relevant Cabinet member any issues arising from the information in this report, ref CAB3476, which is being presented to Cabinet on the 20 November 2024 and considers whether there are any items of significance to resolve or to be drawn to the attention of Cabinet.

The Chairperson advised that this item would not be discussed at this meeting but that the Q3 report would be available shortly.