What is scrutiny?

Scrutiny means "the action of looking searchingly at something; a searching gaze" (Oxford English Dictionary 1989).

The main aim of the government's modernisation agenda was to make councillors more accountable for the decisions they make on behalf of the local community.

Government changes in 2000 required local authorities to end the old committee system and replace it with a decision making Executive made up of Councillors, with scrutiny panels to hold it to account.

The purpose of scrutiny is to:

• Hold the executive to account
• Undertake policy development and review
• Monitor and tracking

Put simply, scrutiny means looking at the quality of council services and other issues that affect the lives of people in Sandwell.

Overview and scrutiny will listen to the concerns of local people to check out how the councils and other organisations are performing and where necessary seek improvement.

How to get involved

Outlined below are a number of ways that people can get involved:

• By suggesting topics for scrutiny;
• By attending meetings as observers;
• By taking part in scrutiny fact finding forums through co-options to Scrutiny Panels;
• By submitting written evidence relevant to a particular scrutiny investigation when invited to do so; and
• By offering to appear as “Expert” witnesses at scrutiny investigations when invited to do so

These options are open to all those living, working or visiting Sandwell.

Suggesting topics for scrutiny

The selection of topics for scrutiny is the first and most critical step in the entire scrutiny process to ensure the objectives the Council has set for it are achieved.

The other key practical consideration in topic selection is capacity. Councillors and Council staff have a finite amount of time to invest in scrutiny, but the number of scrutiny topics is potentially very large, far exceeding the Council’s capacity to deal with them all in a thorough and effective way.

As stressed at the outset, scrutiny therefore needs to be fully focused on the things that matter most and on outcomes that make a real difference.

Sandwell MBC has developed a set of internal questions to help the Council select the right topics before committing resources to the work programme. That way, individual whims, the unimportant, the inappropriate, and non-priorities can be filtered out in a consistent, open and transparent way.

• Has the item been identified as a key issue for local people, or is it a national/local priority?
• Is new guidance or legislation expected which will affect service delivery?
• Have there been criticisms of service delivery eg user surveys, complaints?
• Is this an area of potential overspend/high budgetary commitment?
• Is this the right time to examine this issue?
• Would this duplicate effort and resources?

A request form to raise an item for a scrutiny investigation is available. This includes guidance notes to help anyone who wishes to raise an item for a scrutiny investigation. Please download the pdf document at the foot of the page, or select downloads from the left hand menu.

This information has been taken from the Scrutiny Guide and has been supplied by the Senior Scrutiny Policy Officer.

Contact Details:

Scrutiny Unit
Oldbury Council House, Freeth Street
Oldbury
B69 3DQ

Telephone: 0121 569 3161