The Overview and Scrutiny Committee looks at Council
decisions and activities and requires the council to be open and
accountable. The committee may look at any matter affecting the
borough or its residents.
The Overview and Scrutiny committee can look at, or
call in, decisions made by the cabinet and recommend those
decisions are changed or reconsidered. The Committee can also
review other organisations that provide
services to residents of Ashford borough.
The Overview and Scrutiny committee is made up of 12
Councillors, appointed to reflect the political balance of the
council. Members of the Cabinet may not sit on the Overview
and Scrutiny committee, but can attend and speak at
meetings.
The main responsibilities of the Overview and
Scrutiny committee are to:
·
Review and/or
scrutinise decisions made/actions taken
in connection with any council service
·
Make reports
and/or recommendations to the cabinet and/or full
council
·
Consider any
matter affecting the area or its inhabitants
·
Exercise the
right to call in for reconsideration any cabinet decision made but
not yet implemented
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee set their own
work programme and produce an annual report on their
activities. The committee is intended to be free of political
bias so that members can examine issues without following a party
line.
Overview and Scrutiny meetings are open to the press
and public and anyone is welcome to attend. There are some
exceptions to this, for example, if the subject under discussion is
of a sensitive nature or related to named individuals. It is
intended that Overview and Scrutiny meetings should be open and
accessible, and that the committee's work deliver positive outcomes
for local people without duplicating work going on elsewhere in the
council.
Overview and Scrutiny Task Groups
Some Overview and Scrutiny work is carried out by
task groups; smaller groups of Councillors drawn from the main
committee who carry out in-depth investigations into specific
issues. At the end of a task group review a report will be
presented to the main Overview and Scrutiny committee, which may
make recommendations to the cabinet or to external organisations.
Get involved in Overview and
Scrutiny
You can get involved by:
·
Sharing your
views in writing with the Scrutiny Committee
·
Suggesting
topics for future scrutiny reviews; Councillors welcome all
suggestions but it cannot be guaranteed that the topic will be
reviewed. Scrutiny is not a forum in which to raise individual
complaints, as the council has a separate procedure for dealing
with complaints. As a general rule, topics should relate to
community issues that affect the people of the borough
·
Attending a
meeting
If you would like more information on the committee's
work, or feel there is an issue affecting the borough or its
residents that the committee should look at, you can
email overviewandscrutiny@ashford.gov.uk, or call the
Scrutiny team on 01233 330394.
If you would like to speak at an Overview and
Scrutiny meeting, please contact the council's Member Services team
on 01233 330564.