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It noted a progress report from its Service Improvement, Regeneration & Finance Performance Panel and agreed changes to the membership of several scrutiny panels and working groups. It also considered its scrutiny letters and its work programme for the next meeting on 17 November.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 15 September 2026 to review progress on council housing and empty homes, and to consider a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for Swansea's city centre, beachfront and Dyfatty. The Committee agreed to send its views on the PSPO to Cabinet, approved the 2025/26 Scrutiny Annual Report, and approved changes to scrutiny panel memberships. It also ended formal monitoring of the Empty Properties working group.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 29 July 2026 to consider a call-in of the Cabinet's 16 July decision to agree the sale of the council's freehold of the Swansea.com Stadium to Swansea City AFC. A call-in lets scrutiny councillors ask for a decision to be reviewed before it takes effect. The minute records questions to the Cabinet Member and officers on value, investment, valuation and safeguards, but does not record the committee's outcome.
At its meeting on 14 July 2026, the Scrutiny Programme Committee made appointments and approved its plans for the year. It appointed Councillor Peter May as a non-voting co-opted member, renewed the co-option of Performance Panel convenors, and added a councillor to the Education Performance Panel.
The committee elected a Chair and a Vice-Chair for the 2026-2027 municipal year. Councillor P M Black was elected Chair, and Councillor T M White was elected Vice-Chair. No interests were declared.
On 14 April 2026 the Scrutiny Programme Committee reviewed the work of the Safer Swansea Partnership on crime and anti-social behaviour, and held pre-decision scrutiny of the draft Culture Strategy 2026-2031 before it goes to Cabinet on 16 April. It also noted a progress report from the Education Scrutiny Performance Panel and received an end of year review of the Committee's work. The Committee agreed to write letters to Cabinet Members and partners with its views.
The Committee agreed that the Chair would write to the Cabinet Members with its views. It also approved a change to the membership of the Public Toilets Scrutiny Working Group.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee considered reports on tackling poverty and enabling communities, the Workforce Strategy, and follow-up work on agile working. It also noted its work programme and approved changes to two working group memberships. For items 5, 6 and 7, the Committee agreed that the Chair would write to the relevant Cabinet Member with its views.
Scrutiny means councillors outside the Cabinet, the group that runs the Council, checking its work.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 9 December 2025. It considered progress on the Children and Young People's Rights Scheme and the annual complaints and compliments report for 2024-25, and noted progress reports from its performance panel and work programme. It also approved the membership of a new Cost of Living inquiry panel and a Taxi Services working group.
On 18 November 2025 the Scrutiny Programme Committee questioned the Swansea Public Services Board, the Cabinet Member for Service Transformation on homelessness, and the Cabinet Member for Care Services on corporate safeguarding. The Committee agreed that its Chair would write letters reflecting those discussions. It also approved panel membership changes, deferred one panel update, and noted the work programme and scrutiny letters.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 14 October 2025. It considered the Western Bay Drugs Commission report on drug-related deaths and agreed to write to the Cabinet Member, with a progress report due in 12 months.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 16 September 2025. It questioned the Cabinet Member for Community (Services) on recycling and waste collection and on fly tipping, and the Chair will write to the Cabinet Member after each session. It also approved the Scrutiny Annual Report 2024/25, the membership of new panels and working groups, and the work programme, and appointed Councillor Peter May as a non-voting co-opted Member.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 15 July 2025. It renewed the co-option of Performance Panel convenors and partner organisations, followed up the 2024 Community Growing Working Group, reviewed Scrutiny Letters, and approved the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2025/26.
No interests were declared.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 13 May 2025 to question Swansea Public Services Board, consider the council's Welsh Language Standards Annual Report 2024-25, and review the year's work. The Committee agreed to write to the PSB Chair and to the Cabinet Member for Education & Learning with its views, and noted a progress report from the Climate Change & Nature Scrutiny Performance Panel. No decision was recorded on the end of year review.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 8 April 2025. Its main item was the annual crime and disorder session on the Safer Swansea Community Safety Partnership, where partners reported on their work and answered questions.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee approved the minutes of its February meeting and received reports on customer contact, the Digital Strategy, scrutiny panels, and the scrutiny work programme. The minutes record no declarations of interest and no decisions beyond approving the previous minutes and noting the Education Panel item was deferred. Several items have no published minute, so the committee's decisions on them are not yet known.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 18 February 2025 and received updates on the draft Tackling Poverty Strategy 2025-2030, the progress of the Workforce Strategy, and the work of the Child and Family Services Scrutiny Performance Panel. The minutes record no declarations of interest and no decisions beyond approving the previous minutes and agreeing a membership change, along with the usual resolutions to write letters to Cabinet Members.
The Committee heard an update on the council's Oracle Fusion computer system, which has now closed as a project, and questioned the Leader of the Council on his portfolio. It also approved a change to a scrutiny panel's membership, removing Councillor F D O'Brien from the Education Performance Panel. The Chair will write to the Cabinet Members involved with the Committee's views.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 10 December 2024 to check the work of several council services. Councillors questioned cabinet members and officers on tackling poverty, council housing standards, council house building, complaints handling, and the work of a scrutiny panel on adult services. The Committee asked its Chair to write to the relevant Cabinet Members with its views, and agreed that a draft Tackling Poverty Strategy will be scheduled for a future meeting when it is ready for review.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 19 November 2024. It noted a progress report from the Service Improvement, Regeneration & Finance panel, questioned the Public Services Board and the 2023-24 corporate safeguarding annual report, and agreed that the Community Assets inquiry report should go to Cabinet on 12 December 2024. The chair will write letters to the Cabinet Member for Care Services and to the Chair of the Public Services Board reflecting the discussions. No minutes have been published yet for the letters listed as items 13 and 14.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 15 October 2024. The committee also noted the work programme, scrutiny letters and upcoming meetings, and recorded one declaration of interest.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee questioned Councillor Andrea Lewis, Cabinet Member for Service Transformation, on the Council's work to tackle homelessness. The minutes published so far cover the agenda's procedural items, the scrutiny annual report, the membership of panels and working groups, and the work programme; the minute for the homelessness session itself records only the Chair's letter to the Cabinet Member as the outcome, and the letter was published later and records the Committee's views rather than a decision.
The Committee held its first meeting of the 2024-25 year. It renewed some co-options, agreed changes to panel membership, approved the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2024/25, and asked for a further report on co-production in 12 months. Items on the recycling and waste collection service and a co-production letter were listed as closed items, and no minutes have been published for them.
No interests were declared.
It also considered the Council's Welsh Language Standards Annual Report 2023-24 and a review of its 2017-22 Welsh Language Strategy, and reviewed the Committee's own work for the year. The minutes record resolutions for the Chair to write letters giving the Committee's views on the first three items; no other formal decisions are recorded.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee held a Crime & Disorder Scrutiny session on the Safer Swansea Community Safety Partnership, reviewing its 2023 performance, the Mayhill disorder learning, co-production examples and Operation Viscaria in the city centre. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved, and no decisions were recorded on the substantive item beyond the Chair writing to the Joint Chairs of the Partnership. The minute for this meeting is not yet published, so this summary is based on the agenda papers and the reports provided.
For the first two, the minute records that the Chair will write to Cabinet Members with the Committee's views. The Committee also noted the Education progress report. One councillor declared a personal interest in the Welsh Language item.
The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 13 February 2024 and considered a call-in of the Cabinet decision on the Customer Charter and Service Standards Framework. It resolved to write to the Cabinet Member recommending that the free school meals timescale be cut from 28 working days to 7 working days from confirmation of eligibility. It also noted reports on the Workforce Strategy and the Climate Change and Nature panel, and agreed membership of a new Community Growing working group; minutes for two letter items are not yet published.