Scrutiny
What is scrutiny?
Scrutiny is a key part of the Council's political structure and
plays a vital role in improving the services that the people of the
district use, whether resident, employed here, or just
visiting.
Scrutiny committees review decisions made by the Council and make
recommendations to ensure that the residents of the district get
the best out of their public services. Scrutiny committees also
play an important part in helping to develop council policies for
the benefit of local people. Committees mainly look at services
provided by the Council but can also look at wider issues involving
other agencies.
How does scrutiny link into the decision making process?
Wyre Forest District Council is led by the Cabinet - a group of
elected district councillors who make key decisions about policy,
budget and procedure. Those councillors who are not part of the
Cabinet are able to participate in "Scrutiny" - whereby the
Council's policies and the decisions of the Cabinet can be examined
in detail.
How does scrutiny work?
Committee membership is drawn from all political parties. Some
of the committees also have other members (called co-optees) who
bring a different perspective because of their background, for
example as a member of a local voluntary organisation.
Scrutiny Committees meet once a month and have four main
responsibilities:
- To review the Council's existing policies
- To help develop new policies
- To review the Council's performance
- To review decisions taken by the Council's Executive
Committees also have the power to stop decisions taken by the
Executive from being implemented if they think that decisions
should be looked at in more depth (this is known as "Call
In").
Wyre Forest District Council currently has one Scrutiny
Committee:
Overview and
Scrutiny Committee
This committee acts as a check on the Cabinet and its
decisions, it also plays a major part in the development of
council policy and monitoring the Council's performance. Scrutiny
committees can create time limited Review Panels to carry out
in-depth scrutiny investigations