Council changes scrutiny committee structure
Changes to the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s scrutiny committee structure were agreed at a meeting of all Councillors last night.
Scrutiny committees are groups of Councillors from a mix of parties that examine specific areas of the Local Authority’s work before feeding back their thoughts to the political leadership.
Previously there were five such committees that met every month to receive updates and analyse decisions.
That number will now reduce to four, meeting every other month, with all of them coming together twice a year to form a joint committee that will assess the Council’s overall performance.
New Task and Finish Groups made up of Councillors, Council officers, partners and other stakeholders will also be formed. These will examine specific issues and offer residents the chance to be closely involved in the decisions that matter to them.
There will also be regular briefing sessions for Councillors to ensure they are kept well informed on important topics.
Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: “These changes are designed to improve local democracy by encouraging more public participation in the process. We want to work in partnership with residents to improve the place we all call home.
“It is also hoped this move will create closer, more focused scrutiny of Council decisions, allowing Councillors to better represent the people that elected them and improve decision making. It follows a recommendation from the Council’s Panel Performance Assessment last year, a comprehensive review carried out by independent people from outside the organisation. It also reflects feedback from our Let’s Talk About Life in the Vale survey that indicated residents wanted a more direct route to influence decisions.
“Though there will be a reduction in formal scrutiny committee meetings, there will likely be an increase in scrutiny activity as these changes mean Councillors can undertake investigative scrutiny on a more regular basis through the Task and Finish Groups.
“This should lead to more detailed recommendations to the Council’s Cabinet, create a focus on quality not quantity as far as output is concerned and ensure we are working to achieve positive outcomes.
“Although the Task and Finish Groups will not be public meetings, members of the wider public can contribute to this work giving them a more involved role. We look forward to sharing details of this in due course. Any final recommendations from Task and Finish work will be shared formally with scrutiny committees, Cabinet and the wider public. Any Councillor can also ask for a decision to be considered by scrutiny committee if they believe it needs further attention.”
The four scrutiny committees will be called Start Well, Live Well, Place and Resources, each focusing on work related to one or two of the Council’s Wellbeing Objectives.
Start Well’s remit covers Giving Everyone a Good Start in Life.
Live Well is concerned with Supporting and Protecting Those who Need Us.
Place will consider matters that help Create Great Places to Live Work and Visit and Respect and Celebrate the Environment.
Resources will help deliver on the aim to Be the Best Council we can Be.
Extensive engagement on these proposals took place with all Elected Members in a range of settings, including committees, offering them the chance to share their views and help shape the restructure.
They were then agreed by Cabinet before being voted through by a majority at a meeting of Full Council.