How we do it
How does a review work?
A suggestion for a review topic can originate from a number of sources, such as a councillor, officer of the council, or member of the public. Members of the public can either lobby their councillor with an issue that is of concern to them or suggest a review topic to the scrutiny team (insert link to contact us page).
Councillors of the Scrutiny Sub-Committee choose up to six of their colleagues drawn from either the Sub-Committee or the main Overview and Scrutiny Committee to form a panel to look at the issue of concern. If appropriate, the panel may also choose to co-opt an external expert onto the panel (this was the case with the Parish contributions review where a representative of the Kent Association of Parish Councils was co-opted onto the review).
During the review, the panel will take evidence from a range of sources including views of expert witnesses, community groups, officers working at the council and consultation with the public. Councillors working on the review, staff and co-optees will draw together their conclusions at the end of a review and produce a report outlining all the issues together with suggested improvements.
Monitoring of reviews
Monitoring is essential to ensure that reviews are not just a paper exercise.
Once a review is completed, and the recommendations are accepted by the council’s Executive, an action plan is drawn up and officers selected to implement the actions. The Scrutiny Sub-Committee then receive updates on the progress towards achieving these actions every six months until they are complete. If necessary, they will ask questions as to why progress has not be made.
Report and Action Plan produced with actions assigned to relevant council officer
Report and action plan accepted by Executive
After six months the action plan is updated with progress against each action noted
Updated action plan is reviewed by Scrutiny Sub-Committee who comment on progress and request further action where necessary
Call-in of an Executive Decision
Where members of the Scrutiny Sub-Committee or main Overview and Scrutiny Committee feel that a decision has been taken incorrectly, they have the power to ‘call-in’ that decision. The decision cannot be implemented unto the Scrutiny Sub-Committee has considered the call-in. If after considering the issue the Sub-Committee still have concerns, they can refer the matter back to the Executive, setting out in writing the nature of their concerns.
Decisions have been called-in on a range of subjects including the visitor information service, review of markets, woodland burials, student impact and taxi operations.
If the matter is referred back to the Executive, the Executive consider the call-in and decide whether to accept the recommendations made by the Sub-Committee and adjust their decisions accordingly.
Related Links: What we do | Structure | Getting involved
