Scrutiny of routine council decisions is expected to be put on hold as the authority focuses its energy on responding to the Covid-19 crisis.
The chairman of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Commission, which examines decisions made by Harrogate Borough Council, said some of its investigations which had begun before the virus outbreak will be delayed until a later date.
Instead, Cllr Chris Aldred said, the commission will focus on how the council is responding to the crisis to support residents and businesses.
“The council has a £15million shortfall and there’s going to have to be decisions made in the next few months to address that. Scrutiny need to be looking in more detail about issues involving that and offering advice and comment to officers.”
Until now, the commission has not been able to examine any major decisions the council was set to make. Giving commercial tenants a three-month rent break, for example, was proposed in a report by officers to the council’s leader, Cllr Richard Cooper, and his deputy, Cllr Graham Swift.
It was seen by Cllr Aldred in his role as commission chair, who has the option to call in decisions, but decided not to do so while it was unclear when the commission would next meet. He added:
“I think it was quite right that businesses were suffering and needed to be assured they would not have to pay rent now, rather than two months down the line.”
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Cllr Aldred said the commission was also keen to look at how community resources had been made available and the way in which council staff had been cared for through the crisis. So far, only a handful of planned public meetings have taken place online, with most cancelled since the lockdown began in March.
The commission’s proposal to change its focus will be put before the cabinet by officers later this month for approval.
It means its planned examinations, such as bus provision across the district, could be put on the back burner, which Cllr Aldred said may no longer be relevant anyway as use of public transport changes in the coming months. However, the commission’s in-depth investigation into the council’s handling of the UCI Road World Championships could still proceed this year.
“We’ve got a working group into that and there’s a proposition that it continues, but it will not report back to the main committee until it has done its job. There’s going to be a formal decision at the next meeting.”
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An informal online meeting was held on Monday evening to test the technology ready for official meetings to resume next month for the first time since March. While other council committees are not meeting regularly, Cllr Aldred said the Overview & Scrutiny Commission was the best body to examine and give feedback on council decisions and actions.
However, like all the council’s committees, agendas will be limited to just a few items because progress of debate is slower when councillors and officers are working remotely. He added:
“For all those committees from now until we can meet physically, there will only be two or three agenda items that we can manage. We tried it in real conditions – I was chairing it, we had an agenda. You’ve got to be aware of who wants to speak – some people will put their hands up, some people use chat and other technology. It’s a bit more difficult to chair than usual.”
Cllr Aldred has been a long-term advocate of making meetings available online and said he was pleased it is now happening. However, he acknowledged that it was harder to organise and run than a gathering in a meeting room and said it was important the council got it right before going ahead.
“It’s important we aren’t secretive about it. The way the council operates could be changed forever now and the public need to know about any changes that are going on.”
