Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received on behalf of Councillor T Devine.

To be apprised of any changes to the membership of the Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, the Committee noted the termination of Councillors P O'Neill and A Sutton and the appointment of Councillors J Finch and Mrs M Westley for this meeting only, thereby giving effect to the  wishes of the Political Groups.

Note:  No other business is permitted unless, by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified at the meeting, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items of business.

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Legal and Democratic Services Manager in advance of the meeting.  (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position on any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.)

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rule 16, Members must declare the existence of any Party Whip, and the nature of it, when considering any matter in the following categories:

-       The review of any decision of the Cabinet or

-       The performance of any Member of the Cabinet

N.B. The Secretary of State believes whipping is incompatible with Overview and Scrutiny.

There were no declarations of Party Whip.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2021.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2021 be received as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider the report of the Chief Operating Officer.

Consideration was given to the report of the Chief Operating Officer as contained on pages 293 to 301 of the Book of Reports.  The report had previously been presented to Cabinet on 14 September 2021, which sought authority to instruct Local Partnerships to undertake an independent review of Tawd Valley Developments Limited as outlined in the scope set out in paragraph 6.3 of the report.

The Chief Operating Officer outlined the report which sought Members comments in respect of steps to progress the independent review in order to present a report with their findings to Council at the earliest opportunity, which she explained is likely to be in December.

The following discussion, comments and suggestions were raised:

• That Members meet at the earliest opportunity with the Local Partnership review team, with the option of meeting in their Groups
• That it would be best practice for a 'single point of contact' to be made between the Local Partnership and Council, who will have responsibility of ensuring that they are provided with all the appropriate paperwork.
• To receive information on how Brexit and Covid have impacted on the current Business Plan.
• To have view of the full five years of the Business Plan.
• Financial contribution – WLBC pay one third of review
• There is no value in the comparison with other Councils, unless it looks at those performing well and also those who are closing their companies down e.g. Croydon, to learn from their experience.
• Concerns were raised about whether the review would focus too heavily on Governance at the expense of the financial performance and projections of the Development Company. 

(The Legal and Democratic Services Manager informed the Committee that she would email details of similar reviews undertaken by Local Partnership at other authorities).

RESOLVED: That the following agreed comment of Executive Overview & Scrutiny Committee be forwarded to the Chief Operating Officer and relevant Portfolio Holder for their consideration.

"That Members receive the updated and current financial position on the approved Business Plan at the time the report goes to Council'.  

(Note: Councillor D Westley asked for it to be recorded that he had asked for a copy of the original Grant Application provided by Central Government to assist in establishing Tawd Valley Developments Limited, and the terms upon which the Grant was agreed.  He advised that he was informed that neither of the documents can be found).