Scrutiny
Scrutiny allows the Executive to be held to account by other council members on behalf of residents. It also helps review and improve services and functions run by the council and its local partners. The council’s constitution sets out the roles of overview and scrutiny;
- develops and reviews policy
- holds the executive (cabinet) to account
- scrutinises the work and impact of East Herts and our partners on the local community so that councillors can represent the views of that community to the council
Scrutiny can be applied to any agency whose activities affect residents of the East Herts District. This can include the police, the NHS, and other bodies providing services to local people or affecting the local area.
To balance the powers exercised by the Executive, the Council has established Overview and Scrutiny Committee. This committee helps support the work of the Council and its Executive and also scrutinises the decisions taken by the Executive. Decisions to be taken by the Executive can be challenged by the Call-In process. For further information please review the links as shown.
Overview and Scrutiny Committee will help develop new policies and review the effectiveness of existing policies by examining, questioning and evaluating what is in place in order to achieve improvement and best value in the provision of services and ensuring there is objectivity of performance management and review.
The Council has also established an Audit and Governance Committee which will have the specific role of monitoring the budget; approving the Council's Statement of Accounts and acting as the Council's Audit committee. The committee is also responsible for promoting and maintaining the Ethical Standards Framework.
Scrutiny Committee meetings are open to the public to attend. Details of meetings, agendas, minutes and reports from OSC can be found on our website
Scrutiny’s Work
The Scrutiny Programme of Work sets out the plan for Overview and Scrutiny meetings. The programme is reviewed regularly so items for agendas may change as new or urgent issues arise during a year.
Scrutiny Annual Report
The following annual reports provide an overview of work undertaken in the past 3 years.
Getting involved with Scrutiny
There are two main ways in which you can get involved in scrutiny;
- Come along to one of our meetings. They are all open to the public to attend and you can view all the decisions made via the links above
- Send us a referral - You can ask the OSC to scrutinise a particular issue by completing the following Scrutiny referral form.
