MPs call for strengthened overview and scrutiny in local government

Overview and scrutiny in local government is often not held in high esteem, leading to a lack of constructive challenge to improve services for residents, MPs have claimed.

In a report, Effectiveness of local authority overview and scrutiny committees, the Communities and Local Government Committee said the Government “must encourage a culture change at local authorities to ensure overview and scrutiny is truly independent of the executive and can properly contribute to improving services for taxpayers”.

The committee also called for increased scrutiny of combined authorities, Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs) and arm’s length bodies.

The report’s recommendations included that:

• Overview and scrutiny committees should report to an authority’s full council meeting rather than to the executive, mirroring the relationship between select committees and Parliament.
• Scrutiny committees and the executive must be distinct and that executive councillors should not participate in scrutiny other than as witnesses, even if external partners are being scrutinised.
• Councillors working on scrutiny committees should have access to financial and performance data held by an authority, and that this access should not be restricted for reasons of commercial sensitivity.
• Scrutiny committees should be supported by officers that are able to operate with independence and offer impartial advice to committees. There should be a greater parity of esteem between scrutiny and the executive, and committees should have the same access to the expertise and time of senior officers and the chief executive as their cabinet counterparts.
• Members of the public and service users have a fundamental role in the scrutiny process and that their participation should be encouraged and facilitated by councils.
• Overview and scrutiny committees should be given full access to all financial and performance information, and have the right to call witnesses, not just from their local authorities, but from other public bodies and private council contractors. They should be able to follow and investigate the spending of the public pound. 
• The Department for Communities and Local Government should work with the Local Government Association and the Centre for Public Scrutiny to identify councils to take part in a pilot scheme where the impact of elected chairs on scrutiny’s effectiveness can be monitored and its merits considered.

The CLG committee also recommended that the scrutiny committees of combined local authorities have a role in monitoring the performance of LEPs and that the Government commits more funding to the scrutiny of mayoral combined authorities.

Clive Betts MP, Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee, said: "Scrutiny is marginalised at too many local authorities, which in extreme cases can contribute to severe service failures, letting down council taxpayers and those that rely on services.

“Scrutiny of those in power is a vital part of any democratic system and has huge benefits for all. We are calling on the Government to strengthen guidance to make overview and scrutiny committees truly independent of those they are charged with holding to account and to make sure the process is properly funded and respected.

“Only by rebalancing the system and ensuring scrutiny is held in high esteem will we see better decisions and the outcomes that residents who pay for council services deserve."