Agenda and minutes

The Committee noted the evacuation and housekeeping procedure.

The were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 9 March 2026

AGREED that the minutes of the meeting held on 9th March 2026 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider and agree the draft final report.

The Select Committee considered the final report of the Scrutiny Review of the Governance of Capital Projects. Members agreed some amendments to the wording of the report.

The following changes were agreed:

• Members agreed that the wording should clarify that quarterly updates to the Capital Programme are available to all Members (paragraph 4.8).

• Members agreed that, in the Thornaby Town Deal case study, the term “Members” should be replaced with “local councillors” (paragraph 4.11).

• Members requested confirmation of the Cabinet approval date for the current governance structure to be included in the wording or removal of the reference (paragraph 4.16).

• Members agreed that the wording should reflect that some, but not all, governance documents are sensitive, and that only those containing commercial, legal or public interest considerations are not publicly available (paragraph 4.18).

• Members agreed that the final sentence be removed (paragraph 4.32).

• Members agreed that the wording be amended to clarify that the Council has made significant progress in implementing the governance framework, providing a clearer basis for the conclusion reached (paragraph 5.6).

Members also asked for information to be circulated to Committee Members on the governance framework that was in place prior to the introduction of the current framework in November 2024.

AGREED that, subject to the amendments above, the final report be approved for submission to Cabinet.

The Committee received an overview report and verbal update on Regeneration and Inclusive Growth on key achievements, challenges and emerging issues for 2025–2026, which included town centre developments, inclusive growth and regeneration activities.

Members were informed that the report was intended to provide a high?level overview to complement in-depth scrutiny review work and provided the opportunity to ask questions of Directors and Cabinet Member on the services that fell within the remit of the Select Committee. The report covered a wide range of work across the Directorate, including the Council’s large capital regeneration programme, inclusive growth activity, skills and employment initiatives, inward investment, planning policy developments and strategic asset management.

It was explained that Cabinet had taken a decision to start preparation for a new Local Plan and information would be presented to Planning Committee on planning reforms.

Officers outlined proposals for a new approach to performance reporting across the Council. Members were informed that:

• Executive Scrutiny would receive high?level reports on progress against Council?wide priorities.

• Select Committees and Cabinet would receive more detailed, service?specific performance updates bi-annually.

The Scrutiny Officer undertook to circulate the schedule of planned performance updates to Select Committee Members.

Members were invited to provide feedback on the type and level of performance information they would find most useful to help shape future reporting and ensure it supported effective scrutiny.

Consideration was given to the Work Programme

AGREED that the Work Programme be noted.