Agenda item

To present the Committee’s draft forward programme for 2023/24 for adoption.

To adopt the committee's work programme for 2023/24.

Submitted - the committee's forward programme for 2023/24.

It was agreed to:

·         Identify items over a period of 18 months, in order to facilitate preparation for the first meetings of 2024/25;

·         Schedule an update on the Gwynedd Town Centres item around this time next year;

·         Add Additional Learning Needs in the mainstream and special schools as a potential item on the forward programme.

The Scrutiny Advisor was asked to discuss the forward programme with the Chair and present the revised forward programme to the next meeting, or before that by e-mail to the members.

Members submitted the following observations in relation to the arrangements for the meetings:

It was suggested that this committee was dominated by education items, and it was asked if it would be possible to establish a system of having one meeting to scrutinise education matters, and a subsequent meeting to scrutinise matters that were of a more economic nature.  In response, it was noted that:

·         An attempt was made to spread the matters across the whole year so that all the pressure did not fall on one department at a certain period.

·         The economy items could be put first on the agenda, but the co-opted members attended for the education items specifically, although they were welcome to stay throughout the meeting.

It was suggested that the presence of the co-opted members for the education items alone was not enough of a reason to put the economy/corporate items last on the agenda each time, and that it was necessary to establish an alternating order, informing the co-opted members when the discussion on the education matters was about to start.

A member noted that she remembered a request being made to separate education and economy matters, and that this had been done neatly in the forward programme, but that consideration needed to be given to achieving a balance in terms of the order of the items on the agenda of Committee meetings.  She elaborated that she would prefer to see two completely separate scrutiny committees, one for the scrutiny of education matters, and the other for the scrutiny of economy/corporate matters, due to the workload.  Another member suggested that economy matters should be scrutinised by the Communities Committee as there was a considerable overlap between the two fields, and that that committee's workload was lighter.

In response to the observations, it was noted that:

·         As a result of the review of the effectiveness of scrutiny in Gwynedd, and interviews with some members, a draft report from Audit Wales was expected soon.

·         A promise was given at the election last year, when the current system of sharing responsibilities between the three scrutiny committees was established, that that system would be reviewed in 18 months.

·         There was an intention, therefore, in the autumn, to review the current system, together with any recommendation in the Wales Audit report, and the members would have input into any changes that would result from that.

A member noted that he was not aware that there had been an opportunity for the members to make observations to Audit Wales, stating that he would be pleased if there was another opportunity for the councillors to make observations individually.  In response, it was stated that the intention was to consult the scrutinisers in terms of the internal review of the scrutiny procedure, and the members would be informed of the arrangements after the summer.

          RESOLVED to adopt the committee's work programme for 2023/24.