A GUIDE TO OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY OF COUNTY COUNCIL FUNCTIONS IN LEICESTERSHIRE
UNDERTAKING OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY
Overview and Scrutiny Committees have to balance the need to examine some issues in depth whilst at the same time being able to respond within limited timescales to actions proposed by the Cabinet or the formulation of plans to be submitted to the County Council. The following sections of the Guide look at how the Committees can seek to adopt a balanced approach to handling their workload.
A variety of information is available to assist members in the Overview and Scrutiny process:
i) The Forward Plan of Key Decisions to be taken by the Cabinet is circulated to all members of the Council;
ii) Agenda and supporting papers for Cabinet meetings are circulated to the Scrutiny Commissioners and Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees;
iii) Departments’ Annual Service Plans;
iv) Performance-related information such as:
- Analysis of trends, service user surveys, Citizens’ Panel surveys and complaints by service users;
- Outcomes of public consultation;
- Results of external evaluation of the Council’s performance, eg CAA, Joint Area Reviews, District Auditor, OFSTED;
- Quarterly Performance Monitoring reports.
Scrutiny Commissioners should also be pro-active about keeping up to date with service developments. Regular meetings will be held between the relevant Chief Officer, Cabinet Lead Member and Chairman and Deputy Chairman of each Committee (or Scrutiny Commissioners in the case of the Scrutiny Commission) to discuss forthcoming items and other key issues. A copy of the job descriptions for Scrutiny Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Overview and Scrutiny Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen are attached as Appendix C to this Guide.
Although there is no legal requirement on Overview and Scrutiny Committees to publish a forward plan as the Cabinet does, it is a useful tool in forward planning for Overview and Scrutiny Committees to develop a work programme for the year ahead. This can be produced initially in an outline form, using the various sources of information referred to earlier, and developed and amended during the course of the year to include matters which arise and could not be foreseen at the start.
The work programme can be considered, updated and amended as part of regular agenda setting meetings held between the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, (or Scrutiny Commissioners in the case of the Scrutiny Commission*) relevant Chief Officer and Cabinet Lead Member between meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to decide:
- What business to include on the agenda and what supporting information may be required;
- Whether the Cabinet Lead Member and/or any other Council officers or people from other organisations should be invited to attend and for what purpose;
- How best to deal with large documents, such as plans, e.g. whether these should be circulated in advance of the committee agenda papers to give members more time to study them;
- Whether a meeting should be held to consider a single issue;
- Whether to consider an issue over several meetings or to recommend that a Scrutiny Review Panel should be established;
- Whether an alternative means to a meeting can be used to provide Members with information. This will help to ensure that Scrutiny is focussed on the key issues.
Note:-
* – The Scrutiny Commissioners or Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Committee are authorised to take action between meetings on behalf of their Committee in commenting on matters referred from the Cabinet which are of an urgent nature.
Witnesses can be invited to attend meetings of Overview and Scrutiny Committees and the Scrutiny Commission, although it is more common for witnesses to be invited to Scrutiny Review Panel meetings. They will usually be experts on the issue being considered, or able to provide the Committee with a different perspective on it.
It is important for Scrutiny Commissioners, or Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and Scrutiny Review Panels to be clear as to reasons for inviting witnesses and what is expected of them. They should also ensure sufficient time is allowed for witnesses to prepare themselves.
There is no obligation for external witnesses to attend meetings of Overview and Scrutiny Bodies. The exception to this is officers of local NHS bodies, who can be required to attend meetings of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee under the National Health Service Act 2006.
The protocol for witnesses attending Overview and Scrutiny meetings, attached as Appendix D, sets out in detail what the County Council will do to advise and support witnesses. It also contains guidance notes for the witnesses. Additional guidance on witnesses attending Review Panels is contained in Appendix G. It should be noted that, whereas meetings of all Overview and Scrutiny Committees are public meetings, some meetings of Review Panels, particularly those attended by external witnesses, may be held in private, although a public record will be produced.
There are a number of points to bear in mind in order to get the best out of meetings:
All Members
- Preparation – read through the agenda and supporting papers thoroughly. The Scrutiny Commissioners, Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen should ensure that members are properly briefed and have prepared for the meeting. Try to identify anything that needs explanation or clarification. If possible, contact officers before the meeting to obtain this clarification. Is all the information you require there? To help members to consider and, if necessary, challenge the contents of reports (other than plans) a checklist is circulated with every Overview and Scrutiny Committee agenda. A copy of this is attached at Appendix E.
- Think about what questions you want to ask and how best to ask them. The Centre for Public Scrutiny guide entitled ‘Putting it into Practice: The Questioning Technique’ is attached at Appendix H. This will help members to develop their questioning skills.
- Members of the Public, or witnesses invited to attend the meeting, may not be familiar with committee procedures and should always be treated with courtesy and respect.
- Establish a constructive relationship with the Cabinet and Lead Members. A ‘critical friend’ style of relationship is more likely to be productive than an adversarial relationship. Where appropriate it is worth considering the use of an informal question and answer procedure for Cabinet Lead Members who are invited to an Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, i.e. giving notice in writing of questions which will be asked and accepting written replies.
- Recognise and respect the respective roles of members and officers (see Part 5C of the Council’s Constitution – Protocol on Member/Officer Relations).
Chairmen
- Layout of the meeting room. ‘One size doesn’t fit all’. A conventional circular arrangement of tables and chairs may be appropriate for some meetings but, on other occasions, a ‘theatre’ style arrangement of chairs is better for presentations.
- Establish the priorities and stick to them unless there is good reason to do otherwise.
- Give all members the same opportunity to contribute. There should not be limits on how often members speak and they should be encouraged to pursue a particular line of questioning as long as it leads to a productive outcome. (There will be occasions where Chairmen have to exercise judgement and control the process of debate of questioning or discussions that do not appear to be productive.)
Chairmen should adopt an approach to meetings which results in the following:
- Achieving consensus, as far as possible, recognising that any proposals or resolutions that were not supported by the Committee will be recorded. The Council’s Constitution provides for the submission of minority reports (see Rule 9 (b) of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure rules in Part 4E);
- A clear and understandable conclusion – at the end of discussion on each item the Chairman should sum up what he/she believes to be the main points and to ask if the Committee accept that summary;
- A well-argued case when issues are being referred to the Cabinet for consideration. Only comments where there is a shared view should be passed to the Cabinet.
There is a page dedicated to Overview and Scrutiny on the County Council’s website, accessible via the following link:-
This provides the public with information on any Scrutiny reviews that are currently being undertaken or where it has been agreed that a Scrutiny Review Panel will be established to consider a particular issue.
The ‘Have Your Say’ section of the website can be used by Overview and Scrutiny bodies or Scrutiny Review Panels as a vehicle for consulting the public. It is accessible via the following link:-
However, any proposals for consultation should be carefully thought through to ensure that they are necessary and focussed. Care should be taken to avoid the pitfalls of consultation overload. Consideration should also include whether the information sought can be obtained by means other than questionnaires or surveys.
With regard to publicity in the local media, Appendix F provides details of the Media Relations Scrutiny Protocol. This sets out guidance for members and officers and ensures appropriate publicity for the work of Overview and Scrutiny.
Proper scrutiny is time consuming and involves in-depth examination and discussions. It is important, therefore, to make sure that there is not too much business to consider in the time available. It may be more sensible to have single-issue agendas on some occasions or consider one issue over a number of meetings. For more in-depth scrutiny, involving complex and time-consuming issues, it is more appropriate to establish a Review Panel that can look at the issue in detail and report back.
Briefly, the process for establishing Scrutiny Review Panels involves:-
(i) Considering why a review is necessary.
(ii) Identifying the scope of the review and the desired outcomes.
(iii) Producing a timescale for completing the review.
(iv) Assessing resource requirements.
Review Panels are resource intensive so it is important that both the need for a review and the existing level of scrutiny activity is looked at critically.
The process for undertaking a review consists of the following four stages, further details of which are set out in Appendix G:-
Stage 1 – Familiarisation and planning the review
Stage 2 – Gathering evidence
Stage 3 – Deliberations and evaluation of options
Stage 4 – Formulate recommendations and agree final report
Review Panels should be chaired by one of the Scrutiny Commissioners or Deputy Commissioners.
There is no need for Scrutiny Review Panels to be politically balanced. They do not exercise any formal powers associated with Overview and Scrutiny and they therefore do not constitute formal committees. The maximum recommended size for Panels is seven members.
Once the Panel has been established, there is no provision for the appointment of substitutes. Review Panels have a much narrower focus than Overview and Scrutiny Committees and members are required to develop a certain amount of expertise over the period of the review in order to inform the final report and recommendations of the Review Panel.
The findings of Review Panels should be submitted to the Scrutiny Commissioners before they are presented to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee will consider the report and forward it to the Cabinet, together with any comments it wishes to make. It should also agree a timetable for progress reporting and ensure that timetables are adhered to.
Note:
Light Touch Reviews
A light touch review can be carried out by one or more Deputy Commissioners rather than a Scrutiny Review Panel. The purpose of a light touch review is to undertake a preliminary investigation to ascertain whether a full review is warranted.
Light touch reviews will normally be set up by the Scrutiny Commission and/or Scrutiny Commissioners. The Scrutiny Commissioners will produce a ‘letter of engagement’ which will set out the purpose of the light touch review and may provide guidance on how it is to be undertaken. It will also provide a timetable for reporting back on the findings.
As this is not a full review the findings will not be reported in public until after the Scrutiny Commissioners have had an opportunity to discuss the findings and consider how best the issues identified could be progressed.
Page Last Updated: 17 March 2010
