The purpose of overview & scrutiny is to protect and improve local services and to hold to account the local authority Cabinet and other local decision makers.  Working in a similar way to parliamentary select committees, overview & scrutiny involves local councillors who are not in the cabinet. 

In Swansea the aim of overview & scrutiny is:

To provide ‘critical friend’ challenge to the executive (and decision makers) by undertaking a range of overview and scrutiny activities to ensure that improvement is delivered, sustained and embedded

In practical terms the work of overview & scrutiny follows four stages:

•       Work planning to identify issues and to decide how to address them
•       Gathering evidence through consultation and research
•       Making recommendations to the Cabinet, to Council and to other decision making bodies
•       Following up to check that agreed actions have been taken and an impact made

 Legally speaking, the overview & scrutiny function was set up under Section 21 of the Local Government Act 2000.  This means that every local council needs to have at least one overview & scrutiny committee. 

            In Swansea there are 5 overview & scrutiny boards:

• Child & Family Services Overview & Scrutiny Board
• Children, Young People & Learning Overview & Scrutiny Board
• Environment & Communities Overview & Scrutiny Board
• Health, Social Care & Well Being Overview & Scrutiny Board
• Performance and Finance Overview & Scrutiny Board

             There are also 2 overview & scrutiny committees

• Partnership Overview & Scrutiny Committee
• Overview & Scrutiny Business Committee

Overview & scrutiny is intended to involve local people in the work of the Council.   Meetings are held in public and anyone is welcome to come and watch.  The Council website provides details of the meetings, including online agendas, minutes and reports.  More general information about overview and scrutiny can be found on our web pages on the same site.

You can find more general information about overview & scrutiny from the Centre for Public Scrutiny who are an independent national organisation promoting good scrutiny at all levels of government.