What
is Overview & Scrutiny?
Each local authority
is required by law to establish an
overview and scrutiny function to support and scrutinise the
Council’s executive arrangements. Each overview and scrutiny
sub-committee has its own remit as set out in the terms of
reference but they each meet to consider issues of local
importance.
The sub-committees have a
number of key roles:
1.
Providing a critical friend challenge to policy and
decision makers.
2.
Driving improvement in public services.
3.
Holding key local partners to account.
4.
Enabling the voice and concerns to the
public.
The sub-committees consider issues by receiving
information from, and questioning, Cabinet Members, officers and
external partners to develop an understanding of proposals, policy
and practices. They can then develop recommendations that they
believe will improve performance, or as a response to public
consultations. These are considered by the
Overview and Scrutiny Board and if approved, submitted for a
response to Council, Cabinet and other relevant
bodies.
Sub-Committees will often establish Topic Groups to
examine specific areas in much greater
detail. These groups consist of a number of Members and the
review period can last for anything from a few weeks to a year or
more to allow the Members to comprehensively
examine an issue through interviewing expert witnesses,
conducting research or undertaking site visits. Once the topic
group has finished its work it will send
a report to the Sub-Committee that created it and will often
suggest recommendations for the Overview and Scrutiny Board to pass
to the Council’s Executive.
Terms of
Reference
The areas
scrutinised by the Committee are:
- Drug,
Alcohol & sexual Services
- Health
& Wellbeing
- Health
O & Scrutiny
- Adult
Care
- Learning and Physical Disabilities
- Employment & Skills
- Education
- Child
Protection
- Youth
Services
- Fostering & Adoption Services
- Education Traded Services
- Early
Years Services
- Looked
after Children
- Media
- Communications
- Advertising
- Corporate Events
- Bereavement & Registration Services
- Crime
& Disorder
