www.wiltshire.gov.uk
Overview & Scrutiny
Overview and Scrutiny is an important part of how the County Council makes its decisions. It is the process by which the County Council's Executive (Cabinet and Chief Officers) is held to public account. It acts as a check and balance on the Executive's plans and activities.
It does this by:
- Initiating public inquiries into matters of local concern. These lead to reports and recommendations which advise the Cabinet and the Council as a whole on its policies, budget and service delivery.
- Monitoring the decisions of Cabinet. It can ‘call-in' a decision that has been made by Cabinet but not yet implemented. This enables it to consider whether the decision is appropriate. The Overview and Scrutiny Committees may recommend that Cabinet reconsider the decision.
- Being consulted by the Cabinet or the Council on forthcoming decisions and the development of policy.
The full detail of its responsibilities is set out in the Overview & Scrutiny Procedure rules in the Council's Constitution.
Overview & Scrutiny has limited resources at its disposal and therefore has to focus its efforts in specific areas. Its current priorities include monitoring the performance of its major contractors who provide various services on the Council's behalf, monitoring the Council's own performance against the targets set by central government and those in its corporate plan, monitoring the effective use of the Council's budget and contributing to the development and review of policy and service delivery.
In order to make maximum impact, overview and scrutiny has organised itself as follows including specific committees for childrens services and health:
Scrutiny Bodies in Wiltshire
Agendas, reports, minutes and supporting documents can be viewed via the following links depending on the subject of interest:
- Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee
- Children's Services Scrutiny Committee
- Heath Scrutiny Committee
- Various Task Groups
Annual Reports
The Annual Reports provide a helpful summary to the development and activity of overview and scrutiny (pdf 1478Kb) 
within the Council.
Press Releases
Press releases on public interest scrutiny issues. For more information, please see the press releases.
Contact Details
By Post
Democratic & Members’ Services
Department of Resources
Wiltshire County Council
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
By Email
By Telephone
01225 713018
By Fax
01225 713099
By Hand
County Hall, Trowbridge
