The Corporate Overview Group met on 2 September 2025 to discuss health and safety, financial performance, and scrutiny group work programmes. The group endorsed the proposed health and safety objectives for 2025/26 and scrutinised the projected revenue budget efficiency, capital budget efficiencies, and overspend on special expenses. They also agreed to a request for a scrutiny of Rushcliffe Flood Risk and the East Midlands Freeport.

Health and Safety Annual Report

The Corporate Overview Group considered the Health and Safety Annual Report, which summarised the council's occupational health and safety performance from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The report is structured to reflect guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The report highlighted that the council's risk profile remains high, with Streetwise and Eastcroft depots considered high risk, and Rushcliffe Country Park and Rushcliffe Oaks Crematorium as medium risk.

The report noted the recruitment of a permanent Health and Safety Advisor and summarised a visit from the HSE, which found no material breaches regarding hand-arm vibration controls. Some recommendations were made and addressed, including the purchase of electric blowers and strimmers to reduce vibration at Streetwise.

The report also detailed health and safety training organised by Human Resources, including fire safety, display screen equipment, legionella awareness, asbestos awareness, and manual handling.

The group endorsed the proposed health and safety objectives for 2025/26, which include:

• Prioritising the review and update of policies that are over three years old
• Continuing to improve the induction programme for high-risk work areas
• Conducting health and safety compliance audits of medium to low-risk areas
• Continuing risk assessment and training audits
• Delivering appropriate workplace health initiatives
• Reviewing asbestos management to ensure compliance in all council-occupied buildings
• Reviewing lone worker procedures and controls

Financial and Performance Management

The Corporate Overview Group scrutinised the Q1 Financial Monitoring report for 2025/26, presented by the Head of Finance, Sara Whittaker. The report outlined the financial and performance position for the first quarter of the financial year.

The report projected a net revenue efficiency of £0.637m, with significant variances arising from savings in refuse collection and an unallocated contingency budget. This saving is proposed to be earmarked for additional cost pressures, including Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and Simpler Recycling¹.

The report also noted a projected capital budget underspend of £0.681m, mainly due to a reduction in expenditure on Warm Homes Grants.

The report highlighted the impact of inflation and increased employer's National Insurance contributions on council budgets. It also noted the potential impact on income receipts as increased costs affect residents and businesses.

The Council's Transformation and Efficiency Plan (TEP) is designed to meet emerging financial challenges and is budgeted to deliver £0.824m savings in 2025/26.

The group scrutinised:

• The projected revenue budget efficiency for the year of £0.637m and proposals to earmark this for cost pressures
• The projected capital budget efficiencies of £0.681m, including budget changes
• The projected overspend on Special Expenses of £6.3k
• Performance exceptions

Consideration of Scrutiny Group Work Programmes

The Corporate Overview Group considered the work programmes for the Growth and Development, Communities, and Governance Scrutiny Groups.

The group agreed to include the following items on future work programmes:

• Rushcliffe Flood Risk Update: Submitted by Councillor Tina Combellack, to be programmed for the Communities Scrutiny Group meeting on 16 October 2025.
• East Midlands Freeport (EMF): Submitted by the Head of Economic Growth and Property, to be programmed for the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group meeting on 16 July 2025.

The group reviewed five scrutiny requests, including two on shared ownership and affordable housing. After discussion with officers, requests on LGR Consultation, Digital Transfer, and Hedges and Hedgerows were withdrawn. Instead of scrutiny, officers will produce a good practice guide on hedgerow management for farmers, landowners, and developers.

Councillor Gareth Williams, Chair of the Corporate Overview Group, requested that councillors and officers put forward suggestions for areas of work they would like to scrutinise.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Scheme Update and Diversity Annual Report 2024 to 2025

At the previous meeting, on 17 June 2025, the Corporate Overview Group considered and endorsed the information provided for the Diversity Annual Report. They also reviewed the action taken so far as part of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Scheme action plan and made suggestions for future action or areas of focus.

Councillor David Simms asked how much of the work being carried out by the council was legislative and how much was gold standard, and whether it was possible to define how much the council spent on EDI work. The Head of Economic Growth and Property, C Evans, said that the council had an equality duty to assess how its policies and procedures affected people protected under the Equality Act², but that the council did not have a specific equality and inclusion officer and rather incorporated this consideration into its work across the council as an enhancement rather than at a significant cost.

Councillor Hetvi Parekh asked about UKSPF³ funding for events for ethnic minority groups and asked whether there was any benchmarking or criteria that was used to determine allocation. C Evans said that there weren't any criteria and whilst there was often a target community group for events such as for the Lunar festival, they were open to everyone.

The Chair asked about the council's support for women and girls in sport, noting that women's participation in sport had greatly increased. C Evans said that she would take this away and provide an update to the Group.

Review of Strategic Tasks

At the previous meeting, on 17 June 2025, the Corporate Overview Group reviewed the progress reported against each strategic task set in the 2024-2027 Corporate Strategy. They also highlighted any potential areas for scrutiny during the coming year.

Councillor Parekh asked about grants available for people who lived in older properties, for improvements such as insulation and solar panels and asked if it was known how many properties had benefited within the Borough. The Head of Corporate Services, Charlotte Caven-Atack, said that she would provide an update to the Group.