In his regular weekly column, Maldon District Council (MDC) Chairman, Councillor Mark Heard, explains more about one of the important ways the local authority has of making sure the council's finances are above board and in order, as well as how fit for purpose its policies and ways of engaging with the public are - and many other issues besides.

The council's Strategy and Resources Committee may have a long title, but it is crucial to monitoring how the council operates.

"Last month I explained about Maldon District Council's Performance and Governance Committee - but another of the Council's important committees is the Strategy & Resources Committee or 'S&R' as it is known.

"Members of this committee are appointed annually and politically balanced with five Independent Councillors, four Conservative Councillors and two non-aligned Councillors - again, it does not include members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to keep any scrutiny in relation to this committee impartial.

"S&R handles some pretty heavy subjects such as the monitoring and regulation of the council's finances, including investments and borrowing, reviewing the operation of the council's financial regulations and procedures, making recommendations on any changes in accordance with its treasury management strategy or budgetary framework.

"It is also responsible for the approval of some delegated policies and strategies, the review of non-regulatory policies and strategies and the approval of business cases for new corporate and commercial projects and the allocation of resources to new projects.

"The current Chairman of S&R is Councillor Richard Siddall (Indendent, Great Totham) and Vice Chair is Councillor Christopher Swain (Independent, Maldon East) and both Councillors have held these positions since November 2020 and were again ratified for the next 12 months at our Statutory Annual Meeting in early May.

"The last meeting (15 June) focussed on the council's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy for the next five years, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion of the workforce, community involvement on how the council will communicate with the public on planning matters and the appointment of representatives on committees relevant to S&R.

"The committee may also require any officer to attend the meetings to provide pertinent information and advice in relation to any internal or external audit report.

"The full terms of reference for S&R are available on the MDC website as well as all the dates it will meet. You can even download a copy of the agenda and reports from there. Be careful before printing anything though as many council agenda papers can be anything from 150 to 500 pages and members of the committee are expected to read, understand and contribute to any debate when these papers are presented!

"The next S & R meeting is at 7:30pm on Thursday, 15 July at the council offices with in person attendance requiring pre-registration, but will also be livestreamed and you can catch up with it thereafter on You Tube or through the MDC website.

"Meanwhile I do hope you and your families are still keeping safe and well."

Councillor Mark S. Heard