Overview and Scrutiny

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Purpose of Overview and Scrutiny

Overview and scrutiny exists to ensure the Council's Executive is publicly held to account for its decisions and actions.

It promotes open and transparent decision-making and democratic accountability. It has a wide remit to explore how the Council and its partner organisations could improve services for the people of Nottingham. When evidence shows there could be a better way of doing things, overview and scrutiny can make recommendations for change.

Overview and scrutiny cannot make decisions or overturn the decisions of others.  Instead, it aims to support improvement.

Overview and scrutiny have specific powers and duties in relation to:

  • Organisations commissioning or providing NHS or public health funded services received by local people
  • Organisations involved in work to reduce crime and disorder in the City
  • Organisations with responsibility for managing flood risk affecting the City.
"The Council has established the following overview and scrutiny committees:
Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee - focused on matters affecting children and young people
Communities and Environment Scrutiny Committee - focused on matters affecting local communities and the environment including community protection, environmental health, community safety, sport, culture, tourism, waste and cleansing, energy and the environment. 
Corporate Scrutiny Committee - focused on matters relating to the Council’s finances and resources such as IT, customer services, commercial strategy, procurement and financial management; and corporate and cross-cutting matters that affect each directorate such as development of and delivery of the Strategic Council Plan, budget, transformation and improvement. 
Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee - focused on matters relating to adult social care and public health and carries out the statutory health scrutiny functions relating to scrutiny of the commissioning and provision of NHS and public health funded services. 
Housing and City Development Scrutiny Committee - focused on matters such as economic development, employment and skills, business growth and inward investment, property and asset management, housing, transport, traffic and parking." 

The agendas and minutes for all scrutiny meetings can be accessed online. Please click here to view details of the Council's meetings and decisions.

How to Get Involved with Overview and Scrutiny

There are many different ways to get involved with the work of overview and scrutiny, including:

  • Suggesting a topic for scrutiny
  • Providing information and evidence to inform a particular piece of review work - either written or in person
  • Attending a meeting to listen to the discussion.

The overview and scrutiny committee cannot investigate individual complaints about services. However, information from local people about their needs, experiences and concerns in relation to services can be useful in helping scrutiny councillors to get an impression of services overall.

If you have an experience that you would like to share, particularly in relation to forthcoming agenda items (see above), we would like to hear from you.  Please contact us via the contact details below to discuss further. 

Contact Information

For more information about overview and scrutiny, contact the Overview and Scrutiny Team:

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