What is Scrutiny?
‘Scrutiny is about assessing the situation and trying to make things better’
Crawley Borough Council uses Scrutiny to do this by;
- Holding the Council’s main decision-makers (the Cabinet and Senior Officers) to account, in a clear and open fashion, through publicly questioning and seeking further explanation of their decisions.
- Acting as a check and balance on the Cabinet to ensure that their policies are in line with the Council’s values and aims, as set out in the
Council’s Corporate Plan.
- Carrying out in-depth investigations into Council services and policies, by forming panels that rigorously examines and makes suggestions for improvements where value can be added.
- Investigating public concerns about local issues, both Council run services and facilities and those run by other organisations that impact on Crawley and its residents.
Scrutiny in Crawley is carried out through an Overview and Scrutiny Commission and its Panels.
The Overview and Scrutiny Commission (OSC)
The Overview and Scrutiny Commission (OSC) is a non-partisan committee made up of ten non Cabinet Councillors and is politically representative of the Council with all parties being represented on it.
The Commission is a powerful tool that should be used responsibly in the public interest. Its role is to scrutinise the full range of Council activities.
The Commission does this by:
- Examining and commenting upon reports that are going to Cabinet and other key Council document, such as budgetary documents, to see what value can be added.
- Inviting Cabinet Members to discuss their portfolios and to answer any questions relating to their responsibilities.
- Requesting reports from and discussions with Senior Officers on areas of interest or concern.
- Inviting other public service agencies, where appropriate, to discuss matters of local concern, such as Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust over the closure of the Hospital Shuttle Bus.
- Establishing time limited
Scrutiny Panels of non Cabinet Councillors to review specific internal or external services or policies.
- Examining and responding to issues of key public concern.
- Establishing a Performance Monitoring Scrutiny Panel to monitor how the Council is improving
How you can get involved:
The Council exists to serve its community and Scrutiny provides the public with an opportunity to influence policies and services. Scrutiny tries to focus on issues of importance to the people of the Borough and raise awareness of their views and concerns.
There a number of ways of getting your opinion heard or issues raised by Scrutiny:
Ask a question:
There is an opportunity to ask a question on any item on the Commission’s agenda, at the Public Question Time session at the start of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting.
Write In
You can send a written question or comment on the work of the OSC or one of its Panels to the
Scrutiny Support Team (see contact details to right of the page). The Team will ensure that you receive a written response as soon as possible.
Suggest a Topic for a Scrutiny Review:
The Commission always welcomes suggestions for reviews as they want to examine topics and issues that matter most to you. Click the link for a
Scrutiny Suggestion eForm.
Overview and Scrutiny Commission
Dates of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission meetings (starting at 7.00pm)
- Monday 22 March 2010
- Monday 14 June 2010
- Monday 5 July 2010
- Monday 13 September 2010
- Monday 4 October 2010
- Monday 8 November 2010
- Monday 29 November 2010
- Monday 10 January 2011
- Monday 7 February 2011
- Monday 21 March 2011
All agenda, report and minutes are available via the
document search.
