What is Overview & Scrutiny?
Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) is one of the roles undertaken by non-executive councillors (i.e. those not on the Cabinet).
O&S helps to inform the Council’s decision making and policy development, and drive improvement in public services. It does this by monitoring the work of the council and making recommendations on the way services are provided.
Use the left hand menu to;
- find dates of Scrutiny Committee meetings
- read agendas, minutes and reports considered at committee meetings
- view work programmes for each of the Scrutiny Committees
- find who is in each Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- and read full reports from reviews carried out by the Scrutiny Committees.
Or read further down this page to read more general information about the Overview and Scrutiny role.
What are the Committees?
Overview & Scrutiny at North East Derbyshire is undertaken by the following committees:
- The Economic Regeneration, Skills and Environment (ERSE) Scrutiny Committee - looks at things to do with physical regeneration, sustainability, and environmental safety. The Committee is chaired by Councillor Michael Emmens (Cons).
- The Safer Homes and Neighbourhoods (SHN) Scrutiny Committee – looks at things to do with community safety, neighbourhoods and housing. The Committee is chaired by Councillor Harold Laws (Lab).
- Healthy Communities and Well Being (HWB) Scrutiny Committee - looks at things to do with public health, leisure and tourism. The Committee is chaired by Councillor Michael Gordon (Lab).
- The Audit and Governance Scrutiny Committee – oversees the council’s governance arrangements, financial reporting process and looks at things to do with risk management. The Committee is chaired by Councillor David Mortimer (Lib Dem).
The Overview and Scrutiny Board co-ordinates the work of the Committees and develops links with other aspects of the Councils’ improvement activity, and the scrutiny work of other local authorities. The Board is chaired by Councillor Frank Taylor (Lab).
What does Overview and Scrutiny do?
Each of the Scrutiny Committees has a work programme setting out what it will be considering during 2008/09. The Committees undertake this work in a number of different ways, including:
- Review work - there are two types of review work. “In-depth” reviews take a project based approach to reviewing an issue and gathering evidence to inform a report and recommendations. “Spotlight” reviews are a much shorter review process, and centre round a one day of programme of evidence gathering meetings. They produce a short report and recommendations.
- Consultation on key plans, policies and strategies – for key plans and strategies, Scrutiny Committees are provided with an (early) opportunity to input to their development. Committees offer critical friend challenge to the policy proposals and to the process by which they are being developed.
- Performance management and monitoring – Scrutiny Committees have a role to play in monitoring and challenging progress against action plans developed following performance clinics.
How can you get involved?
Consultation – You could be asked your views on an issue or be invited to provide any specialist knowledge you may have by being a witness in a scrutiny review or becoming a non-voting co-opted member.
O&S review and development
A review of O&S at North East Derbyshire was undertaken during 2007. Peer reviews by the Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA) also identified areas where O&S could be developed further. In response to these an O&S Development Plan was developed and implemented resulting in O&S being restructured and new ways of working introduced.O&S now has;
- better alignment of scrutiny work with the priorities of the council and its partners – so that it adds value to those areas of greatest importance and has a more strategic focus
- a work programme that is more integrated with the councils’ policy development cycle – so that recommendations arising from scrutiny are more timely in terms of service and budget planning
- better understood roles and relationships, and improved communication processes - so that the value and impact of overview and scrutiny is recognised by the whole council
- more community involvement in the overview and scrutiny process – so that local people are actively involved in shaping and informing what scrutiny looks at.
Downloads
A copy of the Council's plan to improve and develop the Overview and Scrutiny function. (34.0 KB)
The report of the Spotlight Review on Policy Development carried out in May 2008. (620 KB)
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