What is overview and
scrutiny?
The Local Government Act 2000 changed the way in
which Councils are structured. Bassetlaw District Council operates
a Cabinet system with a Leader. The Cabinet is made up of
seven Elected Members and is responsible for the majority of
decision-making at the Council.
As a balance to this more concentrated
decision-making process, the Act introduced Overview and Scrutiny
into local government. Councils operating the Leader and Cabinet
model must have in place a scrutiny structure to challenge the
decisions of Cabinet. It can, therefore, be a powerful tool
to ensure that the Council is run effectively and efficiently.
How does scrutiny work?
Scrutiny
Committees are similar to Parliamentary Select Committees.
Scrutiny is not a decision-making body, but does have the power to
influence, investigate and persuade. Good scrutiny should be
evidence based and unaffected by the bias of political parties and
provides non-Cabinet Members from all parties an important role to
play in the running of the Council.
There are
two Scrutiny Committees that support the work of the Cabinet and
the Council as a whole. These are:-
Overview and Scrutiny Committee
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee monitors the
decisions of the Cabinet or an individual Member of the Cabinet. It
can, in certain circumstances, consider ‘calling-in’ a
decision that has been made but not yet implemented. This enables
the Committee to consider whether the decision is appropriate and
ensure that all evidence has been presented to Cabinet for them to
make the right decision. Pre-decision scrutiny is undertaken
by monitoring items on the Council’s Forward Plan.
The Committee may also look into a range of other
topics and can gather information from a range of sources; by
inviting officers or other stakeholders as witnesses or from
internal and external sources of data. The Committee may also
conduct Scrutiny Reviews which look at topics in detail and provide
reports and recommendations to the Cabinet. Scrutiny Reviews
can be conducted by Task and Finish Groups who will report their
findings back to the Committee.
The Committee reviews the Council’s
performance within the Performance Management Framework and makes
recommendations to the Cabinet/Service areas as appropriate, to
ensure good performance levels are maintained.
The Committee also discharges the statutory
functions arising under Section 19 Police and Justice Act 2006
relating to crime and disorder. The Committee can also receive
requests from Members in respect of Councillor Calls for
Action.