To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2020 (SC.24 - SC.26), previously circulated.

The Decision:

That the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 13 February and 15 September 2020 (SC.24 to SC.26 and SC.1 to SC.2), previously circulated, be signed as correct records.

Report of the Director of Finance and Commercial (s151 Officer)

The Director of Finance and Commercial (s151 Officer) presented a report setting out the Quarter 1 Performance for 2020/21.  The Committee asked a number of questions which were responded to at the meeting and where further information was requested it was agreed that the Committee would be provided with this information separately.

The decision:

That progress made against the Council Plan for Quarter 1 of 2020/21, as detailed within Annex A of the report, be noted.

Note:  Councillor R Kirk joined the meeting at 9.43am.  As Councillor Kirk was not present for the duration of the discussion he abstained from voting on this item.

Report of the Director of Finance and Commercial (s151 Officer)

The Director of Finance and Commercial (s151 Officer) presented the quarterly monitoring report on the Corporate Risks, Corporate Project Risks and Service Risks with a net risk threshold of 12 or above affecting the Council.

To ensure that strategic risks were appropriately measured and that suitable actions were undertaken to mitigate the effect of each risk it had been agreed that the Scrutiny Committee would receive a quarterly monitoring report.

The decision:

That the quarterly report on the Corporate Risks, Corporate Project Risks and Service Risks and the actions that are in place to mitigate the impact upon the Council of each risk be noted.

Report of the Chairman

The Committee was asked to consider whether to carry out an in-depth policy review during 2020/21 or whether to postpone an in-depth policy review at the current time due to exceptional circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Committee agreed that the postponement of an in-depth review at the current time would be the most reasonable course of action under the current circumstances, and indicated that they were likely to recommence an in-depth policy review at the start of the financial year 2021/22.  The Committee requested that an update on issues regarding fly tipping be presented to the Committee at a future meeting.  The Committee also suggested potential topics for future consideration which included electric car charging points, planning enforcement and also the effects of COVID-19 on the District Council and the District in general.

The decision:

That:-

(1)     the Committee agrees to postpone the undertaking of any in-depth policy review of this current time due to the exceptional circumstances occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic; and

(2)     the Director of Environment be requested to submit an update report to the Committee on issues surrounding fly tipping at a future meeting of the Committee.