Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and to note the attendance of any substitute Members.

Cllr Michael Forster, Cllr McKenzie-Boyle, Cllr Cath Thompson, Cllr Webb and Victoria Hill

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission held on 6 July 2023.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Commission held on 6 July 2023 be approved as a correct record, and signed by the Chairman.

Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interests and the nature of that interest, including the existence and nature of the party whip, in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

Any Member with an Affected Interest in a matter must disclose the interest to the meeting.  There is no requirement to withdraw from the meeting when the interest is only an affected interest, but the Monitoring Officer should be notified of the interest, if not previously notified of it, within 28 days of the meeting.

Councillor Christoph Eberle declared an interest as his job occasionally involves work on commissions with Thames Water.

There were no indications that members would be participating while under the party whip.

There were no items of urgent business.

No submissions had been made by members of the public under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

To consider the Council’s recommendation that members of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission undertake a scrutiny review into Thames Water.

The Chair of the Commission, Cllr Pickering, explained the meeting was called for commission members to consider the recommendation, agreed at Council on 12 July 2023, that Overview and Scrutiny should work with other local authorities across the Thames Valley to challenge failures of Thames Water and minimise environmental damage.  The Statutory Scrutiny Officer, Kevin Gibbs, introduced the technical report.  This outlined three recommendations for members to consider.  Option A, to approve the recommendation drafted at Council, option B, agree a scrutiny review on Thames Water with a revised scope or to option C to reject the referral from Council.

A technical question was asked to explain in simple terms the difference between option A and option B.  It was clarified that option A would agree the exact wording at Council.  Option B would allow the panel, through the Commission, to develop its own scope but with a focus on elements of Thames Water.

A debate of the recommendations took place. The following points were raised:

·        Support for the topic shown by Council was acknowledged and it was noted that due to the complexity of the matter a revised scope would be beneficial and so option B was favoured.

·        It was important to note that the interest from Council in this matter was not to undermine the work of the Commission but to ensure that Thames Water would be scrutinised.  It was indicated that the support on the matter from Council could be used to leverage access to people within Thames Water to scrutinise.

·        Support was given for the proposal to work with Scrutiny Panels across Berkshire to ensure accountability was taken for water courses across the area which pass through Bracknell Forest.

·        Support was given for option A due to the strong interest on the topic from Council, it was felt that this would ensure the report would be completed in accordance with the requirements set out at Council.

The Chair of the Commission summed up with support for the topic, agreed that it should be investigated by the appropriate panel and confirmed a vote for Option B.

Recommendations were put to the vote:

·        Option A received one vote.

·        Option B received four votes.

·        Option C received no votes.

RESOLVED – that Option B was followed, a scrutiny review on Thames Water with a revised scope.