A SCRUTINY committee could be set up by Glasgow City Council to analyse the authority's decisions during the ongoing response to the coronavirus.

Most meetings were suspended in March, with senior officers taking over in an emergency decision-making process, to allow the council to focus on dealing with the pandemic.

A streamlined City Administration Committee (CAC), made up of the leaders of each political group on the council, has met via telephone conference.

They will meet again on Thursday to consider reinstating the full membership of the CAC and setting up a single scrutiny committee, following advice from the Centre for Public Scrutiny.

READ MORE: Coronavirus shuts down all Glasgow council meetings and buildings

The councillors are recommended to ask officers to draw up more details on how the scrutiny committee would work, including frequency of meetings and areas of focus.

A Centre for Public Scrutiny report states scrutiny is critical because "substantial decisions" are being made which will impact on the lives of residents.

It adds the crisis "will not be ending any time soon" and the suspension of scrutiny arrangements cannot be indefinite.

"Councils do not have the discretion, even at this time, to decide to dispense with a substantial part of their governance framework."

The report does state "carrying on with a full slate of scrutiny meetings, and existing work programmes, is untenable".

It suggest a single scrutiny committee, meeting for 60 to 90 minutes every three to four weeks.

During the pandemic, the council leader has been holding a weekly briefing meeting with other councillors.

A report by Carole Forrest, Director of Governance and Solicitor to the Council, states: "We are still in the response phase and there are significant pressures on essential services and reduced staffing levels from the impact of Covid-19 on our staff.

"Political oversight is a key function of the council as is our service response in an emergency.

"It is challenging to balance these functions and demands in the operational response phase without diverting resources from essential services."

The council's summer recess is scheduled for July but the report adds: "It is important to note that although we have our well established practice of recess we can still use the emergency powers to convene a meeting of the current streamlined CAC to take decisions over the recess if required."

Work is underway to find a digital solution to allow full council meetings to be held after recess. "Once identified it will need to be assessed to ensure it meets our needs and then tested."

The CAC was reduced to just six members on March 17. It now consists of the leader of the council, the depute leader of the council, the leader of the majority opposition (Labour), the depute leader of the majority opposition, the leader of the Conservative Group and the leader of the Green Group.