Agenda and minutes

It was noted that following receipt of the temporary resignation of Councillors Savage and Winning from the Committee the Director of Legal and Business Services, acting under delegated powers, had appointed Councillors M Bunday and Furnell to replace them for the purposes of this meeting.

In addition, the Committee noted changes to the membership of the Committee at the November meeting of Council and that Councillor Moulton had replaced Councillor Stead.

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings held on 10 November 2022 and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

RESOLVED: that the minutes for the Committee meeting on 10 November 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Committee considered the report of the Scrutiny Manager detailing items requested for discussion from the current Forward Plan.

Councillor Leggett – Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, Steve Guppy the SCC Green City Lead and George O'Ferrall, SCC Sustainable Projects Lead (Air Quality) were present and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

RESOLVED: on consideration of the briefing paper relating to the forthcoming Cabinet Decision “Air Quality Action Plan 2023 – 2028 Adoption” the Committee recommended that:

(i)  With particular reference to the Millbrook Road monitoring site, a summary is provided to the Committee outlining how the annualised pollution figures are amended to reflect background factors.

(ii)  To help inform actions and decisions, the Executive consider opportunities to develop understanding of the impact of home working and hybrid working is having on pollution levels in the City.

(iii)  The requirement for ongoing stakeholder engagement is reflected in the new Air Quality Action Plan.

(iv)  Details are provided to the Committee on the potential options that are being considered to improve the layout of Shirley High Street to reduce congestion and improve air quality (Action 50).

(v)  An overview of the uptake and geographical distribution of the home energy efficiency scheme, managed by The Environment Centre, is circulated to the Committee (Action 10).

The Committee considered the report of Chair of the Committee recommending that the OSMC discuss with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Change the options available, and the current proposals, to meet the forecast budget shortfalls.

Councillor Leggett – Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, Mike Harris – Chief Executive Officer, and Steve Harrison - Head of Financial Planning and Management were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

RESOLVED:the Committee recommended that:

(i)  The Executive commit to communicating proposals to councillors in advance of them appearing in the media.

(ii)  The detail within the email sent by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Change to the Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, relating to the £17.05m of draft savings proposals identified for 2023/24, are circulated to the Committee.

The Committee noted the report of the Scrutiny Manager enabling the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee to monitor and track progress on recommendations made to the Executive at previous meetings.