Background
Overview and Scrutiny was introduced under the Local Government Act 2000 and required councils to set up new structures to replace the traditional committee system. This saw major changes to the way Council democracy works, its decision-making processes and how those in charge were held to account for their decisions.
Previously, it was common for each Council department to be run by a Committee which was responsible not only for executive decisions on policy, but also reviewing progress.
The development of Overview and Scrutiny was intended to ensure transparency and accountability, through publicly reviewing actions and decisions taken by the Council’s Executive.
More recently, the Local Government & Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 introduces formalised scrutiny of a wider group of partners across many service areas, particularly focused on those involved in the Local Area Agreement (LAA). The Act enables all councillors to refer matters for overview and scrutiny through a new function known as the Councillor Call for Action.
The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 included a provision to require councils to provide dedicated officer support to overview and scrutiny committees (in Hackney this is the Head of Overview & Scrutiny). It also made provision for joint overview and scrutiny committees to be created across local authority areas in any subject area, whereas previously this had only been possible for health scrutiny.
A short summary on the national devleopment of Overview & Scrutiny can be found on the House of Commons website.
Page updated: 15 Jun 2010
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