Overview & Scrutiny Committees
Torfaen County Borough Council has 8 Council Overview and Scrutiny Committees:-
i) A Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee;
ii) 7 "working committees" which echo the portfolios of the Executive Members.
Scrutiny Committees are politically balanced to reflect as far as possible the political composition of the Council and to comply with the rules in the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. The Chairs and Vice Chairs of Committees are appointed at the beginning of each municipal year. The Council may appoint, on the recommendation of Scrutiny Committees, other non-voting members to serve on those Committees.
The key challenge for scrutiny is to be able to demonstrate real improvements to services and the performance of the Council.
To assist in the fulfilment of these functions and challenges, each overview and scrutiny committee annually formulates a work programme. These programmes are designed to guide the primary activities of the committees throughout the year. They are determined each July through an analysis of the key issues facing the services from a risk perspective and through consideration of how financial and performance information can be better used, we call this process "Visioning".
Full details of the Authority’s risk assessment for each service area can be found in the Joint Risk Assessment for Torfaen|.
To find out more about each of the individual Overview and Scrutiny Committees, including their forward work programmes click on the name of the relevant Committee.
Meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees are open to the public and are mostly held in the Civic Centre at 2.00pm, however they are sometimes held at other locations depending on the topic of scrutiny. Scrutiny needs the help of local people, service partners and community groups to make sure that Torfaen delivers effective services. Public involvement is a vital part of the Council’s overview and scrutiny function. To find out how you can participate, visit the how to get involved| page.
Outcome of Scrutiny Committees
To improve public accountability, the Chair of each Overview and Scrutiny Committee is required to regularly report the work undertaken by their Committees to meetings of the Full Council. Details of all Council meetings can be obtained by contacting the Democratic Services Team on 01495 762200.
The Policy and Scrutiny Team, overseen by the Assistant Chief Executive is based within the Performance and Engagement Service Area. This team primarily supports councillors in their scrutiny work, but is constantly developing the Overview and Scrutiny function within the Council, ensuring that the process becomes meaningful and significant to all parties involved. For further information about the overview and scrutiny function within Torfaen, please contact the Policy and Scrutiny Unit| or email scrutiny@torfaen.gov.uk|