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Overview & Scrutiny Committees
Welcome to OSC at Maidstone Borough Council
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 plays a vital role in
the decision-making and policy development processes at Maidstone
Borough Council.
There are four Overview and Scrutiny Committees which
correspond to the portfolios held by the Cabinet.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committees have two roles: to hold the
Executive to account and to help develop new policies. They
therefore monitor decisions taken by Cabinet Members and examine
the provision of services supplied by Council departments,
contractors, and external agencies within the Borough.
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 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!
Download our Review
Suggestion Form to suggest a topic for the Committees to review
in 2008/09. If you need this form in a different format,
contact the OSC Team using the details below.
Contact the OSC team
Email:
ku.vog.enotsdiam@REMOVEMEcso
Phone: 01622 602620
Fax: 01622 692246