The Chairmen of the
Scrutiny Committees, as set out in Article 6 of the Constitution
will be automatically appointed to the Scrutiny Commission for the
period of their office.
The Scrutiny
Commission will co-ordinate the work of the Scrutiny Committees but
it is not itself a Scrutiny Committee. The Scrutiny Commission has
no power to establish any Committees or amend its Terms of
Reference.
Terms of Reference
1.
To approve an annual overview and scrutiny work programme,
including the programme of any Sub-Committee appointed by a
Scrutiny Committee to ensure that there is efficient use of all
Committees' and sub-committees’ time, and that the potential
for duplication of effort is minimised.
2.
Where matters fall within the remit of more than one Scrutiny
Committee or Sub-Committee to determine which of them will assume
responsibility for any particular issue, and to resolve any issues
of dispute between Scrutiny Committees.
3.
To receive requests from the Cabinet and/or the full Council for
reports from Scrutiny Committees and to allocate them, if
appropriate, to one or more Scrutiny Committees.
4.
To put in place and maintain a system to ensure that referrals from
overview and scrutiny to the Cabinet, either by way of report or
for reconsideration are managed efficiently and do not exceed the
limits set out in this Constitution.
5.
At the request of the Cabinet, to make decisions about the priority
of referrals made in the event of reports to the Cabinet exceeding
limits in this Constitution, or if the volume of such reports
creates difficulty for the management of Cabinet business or
jeopardises the efficient running of Council business.
6.
To have the powers of a Scrutiny Committee in relation to Cabinet
decisions made but not implemented as set out in section 21(3) of
the Local Government Act 2000, as do all other Scrutiny Committees.
See Procedure Rule 206 (Call-In of decisions).