To consider and amend the draft Scrutiny Committee Work programme for the 2022/23 Municipal year.

The Chair introduced the draft work programme which contained items carried forward from the previous year and items that had been suggested by Executive Members and officers.

Councillor Carter asked what the aim of the meeting was. Officers responded that the meeting was to discuss the topics within the work programme along with any suggestions for items that Members wanted to put forward. A further discussion of the topics would be held at an informal meeting after the Chair and Vice Chair had met with the Leader.

The Chair then went through the items listed in the work programme. The Committee discussed each item and assigned scores for importance and impact. As the Committee went through the list Members noted they did not have enough information about many of the suggested items to agree a score. The Governance Officer made note of those items to message officers after the meeting to gain more information for the informal meeting of the Committee.

Councillor Carter asked that the information be checked against the motion by Council for the item for the Cost of placing all Parks into a Field of Trusts, as it appeared to be inaccurate.

The Committee agreed to continue to receive quarterly updates about homelessness via email with reports presented by exception if there was cause for concern.

The Chair suggested a piece of work be done as a Task and Finish Group around match days at Old Trafford. The Task and Finish Group would investigate the problems the local community faced around anti-social behaviour associated with events at the venue. The Chair suggested that input would be needed from Manchester United, Council Officers, Residents, and Fans to adequately address the issues. The Committee agreed to form a Task and Finish group and that Councillor Walsh would Chair the group.

Councillor Carter suggested the Urmston Active Neighbourhood as an item for the work programme. The Urmston Active Neighbourhood was first consulted on before the pandemic and there had been a lot of frustration within the community about the lack of progress so far and it looked as though there would be additional delays. The Committee agreed to add the item to the work programme.

Councillor Coggins informed the Committee that a review by the Trafford Climate Commission had shown Trafford was falling far behind the action plan the Council had agreed. Councillor Coggins suggested that it be an item on the work programme as it aligned with the Council’s priorities and there were several actions the Council could take to improve performance. The Governance Officer asked Councillor Coggins to share the information from the Trafford Climate with the Committee. The Committee agreed to add the topic to the work programme.

Councillor Frass proposed a series of possible topics for the Committee to consider. The first was the takeover of Trafford Housing Trust by LNQ and the lack of democratic oversight in social housing. It that the Corporate Director of Place would be contacted to provide more information. The second was the quality of social housing within the borough. This was another area where additional information was required before the Committee could agree on whether to add it to the work programme.

The final item suggested by Councillor Frass was accessibility of services within Trafford and looking at the level of satisfaction among residents who tried to contact the Council. The Committee agreed to add this item to the work programme.

The Committee concluded the item by agreeing a draft agenda for the next meeting which was to include items on the Carrington relief Road, the Finance and Change Board, the Cost of placing all Parks into field of trusts, and an update from the Task and Finish Group on Events at Old Trafford.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the draft work programme be updated in line with the decisions agreed by the Committee.

2)    That emails be sent to the relevant officers to request further information for the Committee.

3)    That a task and Finish Group be created to look at the impact of match days at Old Trafford on the local Community.

4)    That Councillor Walsh be the Chair of the Task and Finish Group.

5)    That the agenda for the Committee meeting 21^st September include items on the Carrington relief Road, the Finance and Change Board, the Cost of placing all Parks into field of trusts, and an update from the Task and Finish Group on Events at Old Trafford.