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Summary when the minutes are published, usually a few weeks after the meeting.
On 20 July 2026 the Performance Scrutiny Committee - Place and Corporate considered the end of year reviews for 2025-26 for three corporate service areas: Law and Standards, People, Policy and Transformation, and Finance. Each review reports how the service did against its plan for the year. The Committee made recommendations and requests to officers and Cabinet Members, including on the review of the Council's Constitution (its rulebook), the People Plan, and debt recovery for Adult Social Care. The minutes record these recommendations and requests, not decisions.
On 6 July 2026 the Performance Scrutiny Committee - Place and Corporate considered the 2025/26 end of year reviews for four service areas: Housing and Communities, Infrastructure, Environment and Public Protection, and Regeneration and Economic Development. Scrutiny means councillors checking how well the council performs. The minute records the Committee's comments, requests and recommendations, including on temporary accommodation for homeless households, communication about street works, and how some performance ratings (RAG, meaning red, amber or green) should be assigned.
The Performance Scrutiny Committee - Place and Corporate considered the draft Newport City Council Library Strategy for 2026 to 2029 and asked for an extra meeting date. The Committee recommended that a Fairness and Equalities Impact Assessment be completed before the Strategy goes to Cabinet, and that the library service has enough funding to meet its statutory duties.
The Committee reviewed the Council's recruitment and retention work, including the new Strategic Recruitment team and staff sickness absence. It asked for ways to measure the team's success, the outcomes of an Audit Wales review, and a breakdown of agency spending on schools. It also reviewed its action sheet and work programme, and requested that progress be colour coded.
The committee considered the Council's draft 2026/27 budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan (a forecast of spending and income over several years) as it affects the Place and Corporate services. Councillors questioned officers and agreed five comments to send to Cabinet, which will agree the final budget in February 2026.
The Committee considered mid-year reviews of four Place directorate service areas for 2025/26: Infrastructure, Housing and Communities, Regeneration and Economic Development, and Environment and Public Protection. It made a range of recommendations, including on parking enforcement, notice of roadworks, bin reviews and staff check-in rates. It also noted its forward work programme and the responses to its earlier recommendations.
The Committee scrutinised the mid-year progress reports for three service areas in 2025/26: People, Policy and Transformation; Finance; and Law and Standards. It made comments and recommendations on staff check-in targets, Community Asset Transfers, complaints reporting, Customer Services staffing and Finance headcount figures.
The committee considered an update on the Customer Contact Improvement Project, which aims to make it easier for residents to contact the council. Members made several recommendations and comments, including asking Cabinet, the council's senior councillors who take most decisions, to keep providing financial support for the project.
The Performance Scrutiny Committee - Place and Corporate considered an update on the Council's corporate communications team, which is part of the People, Policy and Transformation service. The Committee noted improvements in the Council's social media work and asked Cabinet (the senior councillors who lead the Council) to review communications resources. It also asked for a plan for day-to-day engagement, more information, and training for councillors.
The Performance Scrutiny Committee (Place and Corporate) considered end-of-year reviews for 2024-25 of three council service areas: Law and Standards, People, Policy and Transformation, and Finance. Scrutiny means councillors checking how well the council is performing. The minute records a set of recommendations from the Committee to each service area, covering reporting, performance measures and the status of actions.
The Performance Scrutiny Committee - Place and Corporate looked at the 2024-25 end-of-year reviews for four council service areas: Regeneration and Economic Development, Environment and Public Protection, Infrastructure, and Housing and Communities. Scrutiny means councillors checking how council services perform. The Committee made requests and recommendations to officers on each service area, including on street cleaning, household waste bookings and footway maintenance.
At its meeting on 16 June 2025, the Performance Scrutiny Committee, a group of councillors that checks the council's work, considered the draft Local Housing Prospectus 2025/26 and the draft Newport Placemaking Plan for the city centre. For both items the Committee recorded recommendations: a clear timeframe and review process for the housing document, and a governance structure, measures and a communication strategy for the placemaking plan.
The Committee looked at Newport City Council's Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan, which aims to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated. The minute records five recommendations and requests from the Committee, but no decision to approve the plan. The Committee also reviewed actions from earlier meetings and recommended that all actions and outcomes be made easily and publicly accessible.
The Performance Scrutiny Committee - Place and Corporate considered two items: the Highway Asset Management Plan 2024-2029 and the draft Newport Culture Strategy 2025-2035. On both, the Committee made recommendations to the Cabinet Member. These cover road repair data, streetlight fault feedback, sharing the capital programme, planning-agreement funding, a more visual Culture Strategy, future projections and performance measures. The minutes record no other decisions.
The Committee scrutinised the budget proposals for the council's corporate service areas for 2025-26. Scrutiny means the committee checks council plans before Cabinet decides. The Committee made four comments to Cabinet on savings in Revenue and Benefits, paper forms, and the printed Newport Matters publication.
The Committee scrutinised the Place services part of Newport City Council's draft 2025/26 budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan, a plan of council spending over several years. Cabinet agreed these proposals for public consultation on 13 January 2025. Councillors questioned officers and made comments and recommendations to Cabinet on community centres, libraries, homelessness, home to school transport and grass cutting, and Cabinet will decide the final budget in February 2025.
The Committee considered mid-year reviews of four 2024/25 service plans: Environment and Public Protection, Regeneration and Economic Development, Housing and Communities, and Infrastructure. The reviews cover 1 April to 30 September 2024. The Committee made comments and recommendations on each service, and asked for several pieces of further information.
The Committee considered mid-year reviews of three service plans covering April to September 2024: Finance, People, Policy and Transformation, and Law and Standards. The minute records comments and recommendations from the Committee on staff turnover, complaints data, the Council website, a Coroner's Court project and a £305,000 overspend, but no formal decision.
The Committee questioned officers, said it was content with the report, and made nine recommendations, including a breakdown of the most common reasons for contact and a six-monthly update in person. It also felt the Placemaking Plan should be postponed until a working group has finished.
The Committee scrutinised the 2023-24 end-of-year reviews for three council service areas: People, Policy and Transformation; Finance; and Law and Standards. Each review reports progress against the service plan for the year to 31 March 2024. The minute records questions to officers on sickness, check-ins, digital services and assets, and a set of comments and recommendations from the Committee.
The Performance Scrutiny Committee - Place and Corporate met on 22 July 2024 to consider the 2023-24 end-of-year reviews for four council services: Regeneration and Economic Development, Infrastructure, Environment and Public Protection, and Housing and Communities. Councillors questioned officers and Cabinet Members on each review, then asked for further updates, information and reports, including on the Shared Prosperity Fund, the new leisure centre, the Local Toilet Strategy and the 20mph speed limit feedback system. The Committee also accepted the draft 2024-25 forward work programme, which sets out the topics it will scrutinise (scrutiny means councillors checking the council's work).
The Committee considered the draft Newport Local Flood Risk Management Strategy for 2024 to 2030, which the council must produce as a Lead Local Flood Authority. The Committee noted the draft and agreed seven recommendations to pass to the Cabinet Member for consideration with the Strategy, mainly on wider public consultation, a more accessible version, and information on flood grants.
The committee considered the draft 2024-25 budget proposals for the Place and Corporate service areas before they go to Cabinet. It agreed to forward its minutes to Cabinet as a summary of the issues raised, with comments on several proposals. It also received its forward work programme and action sheet.