Scrutiny

The Council has a Cabinet of 10 councillors who have their own areas of responsibility and make most of the Council’s decisions.

Other councillors sit on Scrutiny Boards which keep a check on the decisions and how they are made.

But this is just one part of our scrutiny work. Scrutiny Boards can also:

• Play a part in developing Council policy
• review Council services
• make sure the Council is acting efficiently and effectively
• hold reviews of public bodies – not the Council – especially for health and crime and disorder matters and carry out work with partners during the reviews

Scrutiny is designed to increase transparency at the Council and enable decisions and policy to be challenged. Scrutiny publishes an Annual Report to Council every year detailing some of the work the Boards have done over the previous year. Read the most recent annual report. 

Papers are available to view and anyone is welcome to attend the meetings (unless an item is exempt under certain reasons). Scrutiny works better if you get involved – why not suggest a topic for scrutiny, give evidence at a meeting or host a site visit.