Overview and scrutiny
What is overview and scrutiny?
Slough Borough Council operates using a system where the Cabinet makes decisions. The role of the scrutiny system is to ensure these policies are rigorously examined both before and after they are made, with relevant recommendations being made to Cabinet, Council and external bodies on the basis of the discussions held at scrutiny meetings. Cabinet members are barred from membership of the scrutiny committees.
There are four scrutiny committees at Slough Borough Council. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee is the overarching committee, and looks at wider strategic priorities as well as matters such as Slough’s budget. Three other panels investigate matters that relate to their specific areas of interest; these areas are indicated by their names.
More details on these four committees can be found below.
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee
- Health Scrutiny Panel
- Neighbourhoods and Community Services Scrutiny Panel
In addition, the four committees may decide to commission a Task & Finish Group to undertake an in-depth review of a specific policy area. These will be time limited, draw up their terms of recommendations, investigate those terms of reference and then publish a report with recommendations at the end of their review.
How does overview and scrutiny work?
The committees outlined above meet on a regular basis. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meets at least nine times a year, and the other three meet six times a year. Agenda papers and minutes of previous meetings, and dates of future meetings are all available at the links above. All of these meetings are open to the public.
To find out about our previous work, please read our annual scrutiny reports from previous years.