The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Gloucestershire Council was scheduled to discuss the findings of a scrutiny review, the Corporate Asset Management Plan, and corporate performance, risk, and financial monitoring for the second quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. The committee was also set to consider a motion referred from Full Council regarding support for Gloucestershire's farmers and receive an update on Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution.

GCC Scrutiny Review Report

The committee was scheduled to consider a presentation on the findings of the GCC Scrutiny Review, which had been undertaken by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS).

Motion 977: Supporting Gloucestershire's Farmers

A motion, originally debated at the Full Council meeting on 12 November 2025, was referred to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The motion concerned the subject of supporting Gloucestershire's farmers and proposed the establishment of a working group to report back to the March Full Council meeting. The agenda papers included the original motion and any amendments proposed at the Council meeting for the committee's consideration.

Corporate Asset Management Plan

The committee was scheduled to consider the Corporate Asset Management Plan for the period 2026-2029. This plan aims to align property asset planning with the overarching objectives of the Council Plan and service needs, articulating the decision-making framework for managing the property portfolio and how business outcomes will be supported. It formalises the process of reviewing and rationalising property to encourage better use of existing assets and sets out the purpose and performance levels expected from the organisation's property portfolio. The plan adopts a three-year lifecycle, intended to be reviewed annually.

Corporate Performance, Risk and Financial Monitoring - Quarter 2 2025/26

This item was presented in four parts:

• Financial Monitoring: The report was intended to provide an update on the Quarter 2 end-of-year forecast for the County Council's Revenue and Capital Budgets. It aimed to ensure councillors and the public were aware of the Council's current financial position. The forecast revenue position as at Quarter 2 indicated a net underspend of £2.668 million against the revenue budget of £665.079 million. This was a favourable movement of £2.891 million compared to the Quarter 1 forecast. The report detailed movements in various service areas, including Adult Social Care, Children & Families, and Economy, Environment & Infrastructure. It also outlined the forecast use of revenue reserves, including the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit. The capital programme budget was also reviewed, with a revised profile of £144.368 million for 2025/26.

• Council Strategy Progress: This section provided an update on the Council's progress against its strategic priorities for Quarter 2 2025/26. The report detailed progress on key objectives and projects under ten strategic priorities, including Tackling Climate Change, Improving Our Roads, Sustainable Growth, Levelling Up Our Communities, Securing Investment, Transforming Children's Services, Transforming Adult Social Care, Transforming Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, and Delivering Our Ambitions (covering Customer Experience, ICT Transformation, Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion, Strategic Procurement Transformation, Workforce Development, Agile Working, Data Intelligence, Social Value). The status of each strategic priority was reported, along with highlights and challenges in performance and delivery.

• Overview of Performance: This part of the report provided a strategic overview of the Council's performance for Quarter 2 2025/26, including various scorecards. It indicated that 71% of strategic performance measures were on or ahead of target, with performance remaining better than target. The report highlighted specific areas of performance, including achievements in road maintenance, reablement services, and fire prevention visits, alongside challenges in areas such as EV charging point installation, children's social care re-referrals, and the timeliness of EHCP assessments.

• Strategic Risk Monitoring Report: This report detailed the council's strategic risks for Quarter 2 2025/26. It outlined risks that were increasing, such as insufficient workforce capacity in Children's Services and the impact of Local Government Reorganisation. Risks that were reducing included the impact of LGR/Devolution Planning, failure to maintain effective strategic partnerships, ineffective social care practice, and staff fatigue. The report provided a summary overview of strategic risks, their owners, residual risk scores, and direction of travel, with detailed information on specific risks such as the Dedicated Schools Grant High Needs Block Deficit, Adult Social Care provider failure, and insufficient workforce capacity in Children's Services.

LGR/Devolution Update

Nina Philippidis, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Corporate Resources, was scheduled to present an update on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and Devolution. The briefing was to cover national developments, government consultations on Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) areas, decisions made by Gloucestershire councils, and the overall programme status. Key points included the progress of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, the outcome of LGR in Surrey, and the anticipated timeline for government consultations and decisions on LGR proposals for Gloucestershire. The report also highlighted that the development of joint proposals for LGR was complete, and the next stage of work, including recruitment of a Programme Director and the design of new governance arrangements, was being mobilised.

Overview of Budget Scrutiny Agenda

The committee was to note the arrangements for the Budget Scrutiny session scheduled for Wednesday, 7 January 2026.

Work Plan

The committee was scheduled to review its work plan and suggest items for consideration at future meetings. Members were encouraged to consider the reasons for and expected benefits of scrutiny involvement when making suggestions, and to categorise items as 'Overview', 'Scrutiny', or 'Information'.