Scrutiny

Overview and Scrutiny

Our Overview and Scrutiny Committees aim to improve the services that you use by monitoring the work of the Council and making recommendations on the way services are provided. They play a vital role in the decision-making and policy development processes at Maidstone Borough Council.

There are three Overview and Scrutiny Committees which correspond to the Council's strategic priorities.

The Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee is responsible for monitoring issues relating to the development of policy framework documents, the budget, performance management, IT, customer care and complaints, emergency planning, communications, legal services, licensing, local strategic partnerships, adult services, corporate services and procurement.

The Regeneration and Economic Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee is responsible for looking at transport, economic development, support for business, the visitor economy, planning, regeneration projects, learning and skills, local development framework and core strategy, highways and employment.

The Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee is responsible for looking at community development, social inclusion, environment, housing, revenues and benefits, parks and open spaces, environmental services, waste and recycling, crime and disorder, vulnerable people and deprivation, street cleansing, neighbourhood action planning, active citizenship and democracy, health and partnerships.

Operating rather like Select Committees in the House of Commons, the Committees’ work falls into four broad areas:

Call-in: The Overview and Scrutiny Committees are charged with ensuring that the decisions taken by the Executive are appropriate and within the Council’s policy framework. If two members of a Committee feel that the decision is inappropriate they can ‘call the decision in’ after it has been made to prevent the decision taking immediate effect. They can then interview the Cabinet Member or Council Officers and make recommendations to the decision-maker suggesting improvements to the decision.
Policy Reviews: The Committees carry out detailed, evidence-based assessments of Council services or issues which affect the lives of local people. At the end of the inquiry the Committee produce reports making recommendations to the Executive and other partner agencies as to how things could be improved. During the course of reviews Councillors speak to Council Officers and external witnesses to assist them in their information gathering.
One-Off Reviews: In addition to conducting in-depth policy reviews Committees often want to conduct a quick, one-off review of a topic. Typically the Committee will ask Council Officers to come and speak to them about a service or issue before making recommendations to the Cabinet.
Scrutiny of Council Documents: Much of the Scrutiny Committees’ work involves the detailed examination of key Council documents. The Budget, the Corporate Plan, the Best Value Performance Plan and the Asset Management Plan have all come under scrutiny in the last year and this process will be expanded over the coming year.

Watch our Meetings

All public items on our meeting agendas are webcast live and are then available to view from 24 hours after the meeting was held. You can visit the Council's webcasting site here.

Suggest a Review

Suggest a topic for the Committees to review in 2011/12. If you need this form in a different format, contact the OSC Team using the details to the right.