Overview and Scrutiny at Richmondshire District
Council
The 4 main areas of Overview and Scrutiny
are:
- Holding the decision makers to account
- Performance Monitoring
- Policy Development and Review
- Internal/External Scrutiny
What Overview and Scrutiny aims to do:
- Provide 'critical friend' challenge to the Strategy Board as
well as external Authorities and Agencies
- Reflect the voice and concerns of the public and its
communities
- Enable Members to take the lead
- Make an impact on the delivery of public services
What
can Overview and Scrutiny lead to?
- More openness and accountability about the way that decisions
are made.
- A Council that holds to account those Councillors and Officers
responsible for formulating implementing policies and delivering
services.
- A Council that measures its own performance and regularly
reports, in public, on how it is meeting its promises to local
people.
- A Council that is more responsive to the needs of local
residents.
- Improved policies and services from other Organisations that
serve the people of the Richmondshire District.
Guidance Booklet
The scrutiny office has produced a guidance
booklet to provide the tools to offer effective scrutiny for
the District of Richmondshire. Within this guide, you will find
information on how scrutiny is arranged, the process of scrutiny
and useful hints and tips on effective scrutiny.
Reviews
Part of the work of scrutiny involves carrying out reviews,
sometimes they are quite lengthy and in depth and other times
they are fairly short and concise. They can be on internal or
external topics. Members of the public can be co-opted
by the Committee to assist with their reviews if they have a
special knowledge or interest in the topic of review, as can
experts on that particular area.
Richmondshire District Council already use a variety of
questionnaires and surveys to gauge the opinions of local
people.
However, if you think that a particular topic or service should be
scrutinised, please complete the form below, or write to the
Overview and Scrutiny Committees at the address below.
The Government has given Overview and Scrutiny Committees a
wide brief, allowing then to look at any issues that affect the
local area and the quality of life of local people.
To that end, Richmondshire's Overview and Scrutiny Committees
organise meetings with local bodies such as the North Yorkshire
Police and North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust, as well as
meetings with local employers and other Agencies.
Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme and
Annual Report
The Overview and Scrutiny Committees have a work programme which is
constantly monitored to ensure that it reflects the concerns of
local people.
The Committees produce an Annual Report setting out what they have
achieved over the previous twelve months.
Formal Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings are open to the
public. They are usually held at the Council Offices, Swale House,
Frenchgate, Richmond but sometimes go out to external venues.
Overview and Scrutiny Committees also work in an
informal way by means of Task Groups where they may make
site visits, go out into the district to engage with the residents,
carry out surveys etc. to enable them to reach conclusions on
internal or external matters. They can then make
recommendations for improvement which they take formally to the
Strategy Board or Council.
Click on the links below to read
Scrutiny Commitee 1 and
Scrutiny Committee
2 workplans, and the
Annual Report
The Overview and Scrutiny Committees regularly review their work
programme to take account of issues of concern to local
people.
Please fill in the
online
form and submit or print and return to:
Scrutiny Officer
Michael Dowson, Head of Democratic Services
Penny Hillary, Scrutiny Officer
overviewscrutiny@richmondshire.gov.uk
01748 827093
For further, general information
on Overview and Scrutiny please click on the link below: -
Members of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee
Scrutiny Committee 1 (Strong, Prosperous and Improving
Council)
Councillor Paul Cullen
(Chairman)
Councillor Helen Grant
(Vice-Chairman)
Councillor Raymond Alderson
Councillor Rachel Allen
Councillor Mark Bradbury
Councillor Michael
Heseltine
Councillor Rob Johnson
Councillor Keith Loadman
Councillor Jill McMullon JP
Councillor Stuart Parsons
Councillor John Robinson
Councillor Howard Thomas
Scrutiny Committee 2 (Healthy, Green and
Safe)
Councillor William Heslop (Chairman)
Councillor Yvonne Peacock (Vice-Chairman)
Councillor Mark Bradbury
Councillor Campbell Dawson
Councillor Sue Fairhurst
Councillor John Harris
Councillor Rob Johnson
Councillor Ken Lambert
Councillor Russell Lord
Councillor Stephanie Todd
2 vacancies
Scrutiny Management
Board
The Scrutiny Management Board
comprises 3 Councillors from each of the 2 Scrutiny
Committees, that is the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and 1 other
from each committee.
Councillor Paul Cullen
Councillor Helen Grant
Councillor John Robinson
Councillor William Heslop
Councillor Yvonne Peacock
Councillor Rob Johnson
If you require this leaflet in a different format e.g.
large print, audio cassette or another language please contact:
01748 829100.
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Last updated:
23 July 2010