Overview and Scrutiny in Cheshire East

What is Overview and Scrutiny?

Whilst Cheshire East's 82 Councillors are committed to improving the well-being of the people of Cheshire East, decisions about how the Council operates and how the money is spent is largely decided by a group of nine Councillors, known as the Cabinet or Executive

Councillors who are not members of the Cabinet (known as non-executive members) act as watchdogs by examining Cabinet decisions, and the policies and performance of the Council.  They can make recommendations to the Cabinet where they think things could be improved for residents.  This function is called 'Overview and Scrutiny' or sometimes 'Scrutiny' for short.

Find out more about how scrutiny works and how you can get involved in making a difference for a better Cheshire East.

How does Overview and Scrutiny work?

There is no single definition of Overview and Scrutiny. It is generally viewed as an umbrella term covering a wide range of possible roles.  

Scrutiny has the following principles:

• To provide a 'critical friend' challenge to the Cabinet
• To reflect the voices and concerns of the public
• To be led and owned by Councillors
• To make an impact on service delivery

Find out more about how Scrutiny works

At Cheshire East there are six Committees which have specific themes to consider.  These Committees also carry out the call-in function and consider any Councillor Call for Action requests.

• Corporate Scrutiny Committee
• Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee
• Children and Families Scrutiny Committee
• Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee
• Environment and Prosperity Scrutiny Committee
• Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee

The Committees can request an in-depth review of Council service areas and policy, this is done by a 'task and finish group'.

How can you get involved in Scrutiny?

You can get involved by:

• attending meetings of the Scrutiny Committees
• Contributing evidence to a scrutiny review
• suggesting topics to be considered for scrutiny 

• Find out more about how to get involved with Scrutiny