How Does Scrutiny Work?
Overview and Scrutiny provides an
opportunity for Councillors, partners and members of the public
to:
- Challenge the performance of service providers
and raise standards, to ensure that services meet peoples
needs.
- Hold the Councils decision makers to
account.
- Examine issues that affect the well being of the
people of Cheshire East.
The main focus of overview and
scrutiny committees is:
- To hold the Cabinet to account for its decisions in its
leadership of the local authority. Committees have the power to
call-in a decision, whereby a specific
decision can be held and reviewed in a formal meeting with evidence
from the decision maker and those calling in the decision.
Following this and on the balance of the evidence received, the
decision can be accepted or recommendations made to the decision
maker for it to be reconsidered or changed in some way.
- Overview and Scrutiny may decide to consider existing council
policy or services to evaluate their effectiveness. Depending upon
the evidence gathered, it might be concluded that a policy or
service is performing well, or recommendations may be made to
improve or reshape the policy or service area.
- Overview and Scrutiny has an important role to play in the
Performance Management systems of the local authority. Each service
area has targets and Key Performance Indicators to meet. Overview
and Scrutiny can be a very powerful force for improvement in
highlighting areas of poor performance and investigating methods of
improving that performance.
- Overview and Scrutiny can engage in External Scrutiny of
other providers of public services. These initiatives are all
concerned with ensuring local elected representatives have a
greater say over public services which impact upon their
communities, with the local electorate able to observe the
transparent, evidence based Overview and Scrutiny process. Aside
from specific service areas, local authorities also have a power to
promote the social and economic wellbeing of the area. Using this
power, Overview and Scrutiny can scrutinise any matter, which has
an impact on a community. This contributes to the perspective that
elected local representatives can and should play a crucial role in
‘place-shaping’ and influencing the future vitality of their
community.
If they are based on the strength
of the evidence received Overview and Scrutiny’s recommendations
can be a very powerful force for change and improvement.
Consequently, it means that Overview and Scrutiny can be a highly
influential function in the local community. Its evidence led
reviews of existing services ensure that local people are receiving
the services they require and deserve. As a result of those reviews
Scrutiny Members can play a significant role in the shaping of
future policy that affects their community.
Scrutiny Toolkit
This toolkit aims to provide guidance to everyone involved in
the Overview and Scrutiny process in Cheshire East. The Toolkit
explains how Overview and Scrutiny works in Cheshire East and how
we can involve the public and our partner organisation:
- As contributors to the selection of topics
- As participators at Scrutiny meetings and Task and Finish group
meetings
- As co-opted members as full participants of the process
- As expert witnesses, brought in to provide evidence
The toolkit has been drawn from a variety of sources and
includes many good practice points selected from leading
authorities in the field.
The toolkit will enable Members of Overview and Scrutiny
Committees to ensure that they concentrate on topics that matter to
the residents of Cheshire East, and this in turn will help us to
play a large part in shaping the future direction of the new
authority.
