Finance Scrutiny Committee

05/04/2012 - End of the Year
Our March meeting has brought us to the end of the committee year. It has been a challenging year for the Committee because of the reduction to the Council's overall budget. This has affected the number and level of services provided by the Council across the city. We have spent a lot of time looking at how the Council can save money and how it can raise more funds for the city without asking residents to pay more for Council services. We have asked the Council to develop an Income Generation Strategy setting out how the Council can raise money through marketing the city as a location for films and television programmes, and will return to see how this is developing as part of our work next year.

We have also been to visit the Town Hall Extension, which will reopen next year. This project will transform the library and the public space around St Peter's Square. A new Customer Service Centre will be introduced where you will be able to access a range of services. We have asked the Council to investigate whether it would be possible to use the Centre as a place where people can get involved in decision making, whether by speaking to their local Councillor, registering to vote or finding out what decisions the Council are due to consider.

You will see some changes to scrutiny next year. All of the committee names have been changed to make them shorter and simpler. From May, the Resources and Governance Overview and Scrutiyn Committee will become the Finance Scrutiny Committee. We have also updated the areas of responsibility for each committee so that we are more closely aligned with the thematic groups of the Manchester Partnership.

01/03/2012 - Are You Registered?
The figure for the number of people registered to vote in Manchester rose by almost 8,000 people this year.  This makes a great difference in ensuring that as many Manchester residents as possible who are eligible to vote can have their say in local and national elections and referendums.  The increase also gave Manchester one of the highest rates of registration amongst major UK cities.  We want to make sure that the Council develops interesting and innovative ways to encourage young people to register to vote in the future and we will return to look at how this is being done next year.  You can find out if you're registered to vote, or request a registration form, by calling the Electoral Services Unit on 0161 234 3145. You can also download a form from http://www.manchester.gov.uk/elections. 

30/01/2012 - Manchester on Film
As there's now greater pressure on Council resources, we've started an investigation looking at what the Council can do to raise more funds for the city.  Because of the state of the economy, it's important to avoid asking residents to pay more for Council services.  We've asked the Council to develop an Income Generation Strategy setting out how the Council can generate income through marketing the city as a location for films and television programmes, and will return to see how this is developing later in the year.   

Get Involved

To find out more information have a look at our full work programme.  This includes what topics we will be looking at, what specific issues we will be considering and who we will be hearing evidence from.  Please bear in mind that the programme is continually updated, and so dates and agenda items may change from those listed in the programme.

If there's an issue you want to contribute to, let us know.  You can either send a written contribution to scrutiny@manchester.gov.uk or you can attend a meeting and ask the Chair if you can speak.  You can also suggest a topic for us to look into by filling in our 'suggestions form.' 

If you want to speak to somebody about contributing to the committee, please call our scrutiny support officer on 0161 234 3376 or e mail scrutiny@manchester.gov.uk. 

The Role of the Committee

"As Councillors on the Finance Scrutiny Committee we have two broad roles.   One is to keep a close eye on the Council's finances and the other is to make sure that the Councillors you have elected can voice your concerns in an effective way to different public services, such as the Council, NHS, Police and Fire.  We have discussions with these organisations and use our local knowledge of Manchester to recommend to them how they can ensure their services meet your needs. 

Our areas of interest include finances, Council buildings, staffing, corporate and partnership governance as well as Council tax and benefits administration. 

Through this page you'll be be able to keep in touch with what we've been doing and find out what we'll be investigating over the next few months and how you can get involved."- Councillor John Flanagan, Chair of Finance Scrutiny Committee. 

Find out more

• You can read our agenda, minutes and reports here, as well as find future meeting dates.
• You can find out who's a member of the Committee here.