Changes to West Berkshire Council's Scrutiny

The Health Scrutiny Committee's remit has been extended to encompass Adult Social Care. This reflects the close links between the two services and will allow cross-cutting issues to be considered more holistically. The Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee is to be chaired by Councillor Martha Vickers.

The Scrutiny Commission has also been disbanded and replaced by two new Scrutiny Committees, the Resources and Place Scrutiny Committee and the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee.

The Resources and Place Scrutiny Committee will retain responsibility for reviewing corporate performance and the annual budget. It will also be the Council's Crime and Disorder Committee, which scrutinises the performance of West Berkshire's Community Safety Partnership. In addition, it will be responsible for reviewing external partners' activities that affect residents. It will be chaired by Councillor Carolyne Culver.

The Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee will have responsibility for all matters related to Children's Social Care and Education, including SEND. This will be chaired by Councillor Dominic Boeck.

Another key change agreed at the Annual Meeting of Council is in relation to Co-opted Members. Committees with responsibility for scrutinising Education matters are required to have certain Co-opted Members as set out in legislation, including parent governors and church representatives. However, West Berkshire Council is aiming to go beyond the statutory requirements and appoint two young people as Co-opted Members.

Councillor Jeff Brooks, Leader of West Berkshire Council, is enthusiastic about the changes to scrutiny. Of the creation of the new committees, he said:

"Scrutiny plays an important role in reviewing the performance of council services, providing appropriate checks and balances for local decision making, and allowing back-bench members to hold the Executive to account. The move to three scrutiny committees will deliver a step-change in capacity. It will also allow committee members to develop greater expertise in their particular areas of work, and to dig into issues in more detail".

Councillor Brooks also welcomed the creation of the Young Person Co-optee roles, saying:

"There are only a handful of local authorities that have done this, but we feel it is important to hear about the lived experience of service users, and to ensure that young people have the opportunity to shape the services that affect them".