Agenda item

This report explains the procedural requirements of the committee, following the calling in of a key decision of the Executive at the meeting held on 14 April 2026.

Members considered a report which set out the reasons for the call -in and the process by which the committee should consider the call-in of the decisions made by the Executive on 14 April 2026 in respect of the above matter.

The decisions contained in the extract from the relevant Decision Sheet, at Appendix 2 to the report, had been called in by Cllrs Ayre, Hollyer and Wann.  The Monitoring Officer had determined that the call-in request, at Appendix 3, was partially valid and element 4(c) Failure to take account of all relevant matters could be considered.

The Lead Call-in Member, Cllr Ayre, addressed the committee, expanding on their reasons for the call-in.  He then responded to questions from Members.

Cllr Pavlovic, the Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safer Communities, addressed the committee and was joined by the Director of City Development and the Head of Procurement when responding to questions.

Finally, Cllr Ayre summed up and the Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safter Communities summed up their position.

During the above process the Executive Member confirmed that

·       All relevant options had been considered

·       The revised approach reflected lessons learned

·       The proposed model was considered the most realistic and deliverable.

Under the provisions of the council’s constitution at the time the call-in was made, Members were asked to state individually whether they considered the core principles identified in the call-in request had been breached or not.

The following options were available:

·       In the event of the majority of Members finding no breach, the call-in request would be immediately closed with no further action unless the Committee identified any areas worth of future exploration by the scrutiny function.

·       In the event of the majority of Members finding a breach, the called in decision would be referred back in full for further consideration at the next appropriate meeting of the Executive.

With four Members finding there had been a breach, and five Members finding there had not been a breach, the call-in fell and it was:

Resolved:   That the call-in request be closed.

Reason:     To determine the outcome of the alleged breach in Executive decision making

Members made the following suggestions in relation to future topics for scrutiny.

• Housing delivery programme, members to receive regular updates or briefings on progress.
• Review the impact of energy costs on residents, including data across tenure types and housing standards, to better understand affordability.

It was also agreed to clarify with the Council’s Statutory Officers that the delegations to officers contained within the Housing Delivery Executive report do not exceed the Councils published Scheme of Delegation.