The Overview & Scrutiny Co-ordination & Finance Committee (OSCFC) met on Wednesday 10 September 2025 to discuss the development of the council plan, the Elected Mayor's annual report, and a performance and financial management report. The committee was also scheduled to review reports from the Secure Sub-Committee, the Thriving Sub-Committee and the Family Friendly Sub-Committee relating to anti-social behaviour, derelict properties and reading attainment, respectively. In addition, the committee was expected to discuss its work programme for the coming year.

Local Plan Preparation and Engagement

The committee was scheduled to receive information on the preparation of a new Local Plan for North Tyneside. The current Local Plan was adopted in July 2017 and sets the development framework for North Tyneside.

A briefing note prepared by Martin Craddock, Planning Policy Team Manager, and Steve Lyttle, Principal Planning Officer, stated that work on the new Local Plan started following Cabinet agreement in February 2025, and that the first consultation document and Local Plan engagement proposals were agreed by Cabinet on 28 July 2025.

The briefing note stated that the report was provided so that OSCFC could note the first consultation document and Local Plan engagement proposals and provide an opportunity for feedback.

The report also noted that formal involvement of OSCFC as part of the Budget and Policy Framework procedure will be in securing Full Council agreement of the Local Plan Publication Draft in 2026, but that this early involvement of OSCFC at its meeting in September 2025 is intended to provide an opportunity for members of OSCFC to have early involvement in this important process for the Authority.

The report stated that the views of members of OSCFC on the approach to Member engagement as part of the Local Plan preparation would be welcome, and that suggestions would be taken into consideration and details of how they are implemented will be fed back to OSCFC.

The report also noted that the 28 July Cabinet Report approved consultation on the Vision, Issues and Options document, and that information regarding the consultation document is now available online through the Local Plan consultation hub on the Our North Tyneside Voice website.

The report stated that preparation of the Local Plan is governed by National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Practice Guidance (PPG), and that the Local Plan must also demonstrate legal compliance and respond to robust evidence. As a result, any comments received are considered against these requirements.

The report noted that consultation on this stage of the Local Plan is open until 3 October 2025 and feedback from members of OSCFC is welcome. As the current draft Local Plan is open to public engagement feedback by members of OSCFC can be made in response to any part of the Local Plan Vision, Issues and Options. Responses that are received will be recorded and reported as part of a Consultation Statement included within the Delegated Decision Report for the next stage of consultation – the Local Plan Preferred Options.

The report also stated that participation secured from OSCFC at this stage would also be referenced in future Cabinet, OSCFC and Full Council reports as the Local Plan is progressed through the Budget and Policy Framework procedure, and that this would reference how any comments received have been responded to in development of the Local Plan proposals.

The report also noted that the statutory Statement of Community Involvement 2025 (SCI) was adopted by Cabinet on 28 July. The SCI sets out the key principles for engaging with the public and others in plan making and decision making. Specific engagement activities are developed to ensure compliance with these engagement principles.

The report stated that the engagement activities for the first stage of consultation on the Local Plan has focused on making information available through a range of paper and electronic formats and making information as accessible as possible, and that this has included preparation of a Summary Consultation document and informative videos for each section of the Plan.

The report also noted that notifications have been issued through the Authority's communications team whilst planning stakeholders and consultees, including representatives of residents' organisations and local community groups, have been invited to respond to the consultation, and that in person drop in events have been scheduled at different times of the day and weekend at North Tyneside's six Community Hubs and Libraries.

The report stated that the advice and suggestions of members of OSCFC on the approach to future Local Plan engagement is welcome, and that any feedback received before the end of October 2025 would be considered and acted upon where practical and achievable within available budgets and timeframes in approaches to engagement on the Local Plan Preferred Options, and that feedback on the suggestions would be included in future reports to Cabinet, OSCFC and Full Council.

2025/26 Performance and Financial Management Report to 31 May 2025

The committee was scheduled to receive and scrutinise the authority's performance and financial management report. The report provides a full overview of both the budget and service delivery performance position across the authority as at 31 May 2025.

The report to the OSCFC included a cabinet report from 28 July 2025, which stated that:

Service delivery overall across the Authority and specifically delivery of the Our North Tyneside Plan 2021-2025 priorities remains strong.

However, the report also noted that the authority continues to experience challenges in some areas of delivery, which impact on the overall financial forecast for the year, and that since the outturn report, work by Cabinet and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) has continued to address the ongoing pressures, which were seen in the 2024/25 Outturn report. It stated that there remains a £9.692m forecast overspend for 2025/26, which is a significant risk for the Authority, and that the main areas of pressure continue to fall in the scope of the existing MTFP projects and the report sets out further details on the reasons for the variance and work continues to mitigate this.

The report stated that the figures shown are presented on a prudent basis, and work by Cabinet Members and senior officers continues to address these pressures and look for further mitigating actions during the year, and that SLT meets every other week to track progress in addition to the formal budget monitoring to Cabinet on a bi-monthly basis.

The report also noted that the work on the 14 Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) workstreams continues, which identified £10.882m of savings in the 2024/25 budget and of which around £10m was achieved in year, and that savings of over £14m in 2025/26 have been identified as part of the 2025-2029 MTFP and work continues to try and ensure these are achieved.

The report stated that the scale of the financial challenge in 2025/26 is significant, and that as this report and accompanying appendices set out, the key areas of pressure are already part of the MTFP projects, but the scale and acceleration of the pressures is greater than anticipated, particularly around social care and inflationary pressures, when the MTFP was agreed in February 2025, a situation that is being experienced across Local Government.

The report noted that an example of the inflationary pressure faced by the Authority includes the proposed pay award for the year, and that whilst this is not agreed, the current proposal from the Local Government Employers equates to circa 3.2% for the Authority, which is above the 3% provided for in the budget representing a further risk to the financial position.

The report also stated that the Investment Plan continues to make good progress, and that the Investment Plan as approved at February 2025 Council for 2025/26 is £92.730m and £344.269m over the five years, and that since February 2025 variations and reprogramming into 2025/26 have been approved, revising the 2025/26 Investment plan to £105.724m and £366.510 over the five years. It noted that Investment Plan spend to the end of May 2025 is £2.587m for the General Fund programme, and £2.457m for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) programme, and that the report seeks £5.103m of variations to the 2025-2030 programme and £9.423m of reprogramming as part of the 2024/25 Outturn.

The report stated that there are no issues noted in relation to Treasury Management, and that the Housing Revenue Account remains broadly stable, with a forecast underspend of £0.016m for 2025/26.

Task and Finish Group Reports

The committee was scheduled to consider reports from three task and finish groups that had been established by other sub-committees. These were:

Anti-Social Behaviour

The Secure Sub-Committee's Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Task and Finish Group report summarised the outcomes from, and recommendations made by the group. The aim of the group was to examine a number of aspects of the authority's approach to tackling anti-social behaviour.

The objectives of the Task and Finish Group included scrutinising the processes for the reporting of anti-social behaviour, how victims of anti-social behaviour are communicated with and kept informed, how casework in this area is handled and reported, and overall, where the Authority's approach is felt to be operating effectively, or where it might be improved further.

Derelict Properties

The Thriving Sub-Committee's Derelict Properties Task and Finish Group report summarised the outcomes from, and recommendations made by the group. The Thriving Sub Committee identified derelict properties as a concern across the Borough, and the Task and Finish group was set up in order to prepare a range of recommendations to support members and officers when dealing with such properties.

Reading Attainment and Literacy

The Family Friendly Sub-Committee's Reading Attainment and Literacy Task and Finish Group report summarised the outcomes from, and recommendations made by the group. The Family Friendly Sub Committee agreed that a Task and Finish Group would be established to provide a comprehensive overview of reading attainment in North Tyneside, highlight effective initiatives and offer actionable recommendations to further enhance reading outcomes across the borough.

Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to discuss a proposed approach to work planning for the Overview & Scrutiny Co-ordination & Finance Committee for 2025/26, and a summary of the plans for the other Scrutiny Sub-Committees together with a menu of potential topics which the Committee may wish to consider for the outline of its work programme for 2025/26.

The report set out the responsibility of Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination and Finance Committee to decide the topics which it wishes to consider as its work programme for 2025/26, and to set clear objectives for each item of scrutiny on its work programme, in order that the relevant information (pursuant to those objectives) can be provided to the Committee.

The report noted that all Scrutiny members have been invited to contribute ideas for the work programme via the Scrutiny Suggestion Sheet, and can do so at any stage during the year by submitting a completed sheet to the Chair of the Committee, and that the published Forward Plan is always available on the Council's website, and members may wish to consider this when determining areas for potential Scrutiny coverage.

The report also noted that a lead Cabinet member(s) and lead Senior Leadership Team (SLT) officers are available to provide information on any areas which the Committee may like to consider for future Scrutiny, and that the Committee should begin to consider the requirement to prepare a Scrutiny Annual Report by the end of 2025/26, for onward reporting to Annual Council, and what the Committee would like to see included in such a report.