Purpose
The purpose of the Scrutiny Committee is:
·
To investigate, take evidence and consult upon issues within their
remit.
·
To carry out the Council’s responsibilities for scrutiny as
stated in the Police and Justice Act 2006, the Health and Social
Care Act 2006* as amended, the Local Government Act 2000 as
amended, the Localism Act 2011 and the subsequent Local Authority
(Committee System) (England) Regulations 2012.
*Where the
Committee has concerns over the merit of proposals for substantial
variations in health services or believes that the process of
consultation on any such proposals has been inadequate, it has the
power of referral to the Secretary of State.
Attendance
The Scrutiny Committee may require members of
standing committees to attend their meetings as reasonably
required.
Functions
The functions of the Scrutiny Committee
are:
·
To investigate major health issues identified by, or of concern to,
the local population.
·
To consult, be consulted on and respond to substantial changes to
local health service provision, including assessing the impact on
the local community and health service users.
·
To scrutinise the impact of interventions on the health of local
inhabitants, particularly socially excluded and other minority
groups, with the aim of reducing health inequalities.
·
To maintain an overview of health service delivery against national
and local targets, particularly those that improve the
public’s health.
·
To receive and consider referrals from local Healthwatch on health matters.
The Health and
Social Care Act 2001 (subsequently amended by the 2006, 2007 and
2012 Acts) first introduced a statutory power for councils to:
“Review and scrutinise, in accordance with regulations,
matters relating to the health service in the authority’s
area and to make reports and recommendations on such matters in
accordance with the regulations.”
In the context of
Sutton, this means that the Council has the power to scrutinise,
among others, the activities of the following:
·
NHS Sutton Clinical Commissioning Group
·
Epsom and St Helier NHS University Trust
·
South West London and St George’s NHS Mental
Health Trust
·
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
·
To carry out the crime and disorder function contained in the
Police and Justice Act 2006:
o
to review or scrutinise decisions made or other action taken, in
connection with the discharge by the responsible authorities of
their crime and disorder functions; and
o
to make reports or recommendations to the local authority with
respect to the discharge of those functions
This means that the
Council has the power to scrutinise the activities of those
responsible for crime and disorder strategies – which is the
Council and the police, as embodied in the Safer Sutton
Partnership.
·
To review and scrutinise the exercise by risk management
authorities of flood risk management functions which may affect the
local authority’s area.
·
To carry out scrutiny reviews on behalf of Standing and Local
Committees, the priorities for review to be agreed by the Scrutiny
Committee following an annual meeting between the Scrutiny
Committee, Standing and Local Committee Chairs and other key
partners. Committees will also be able to refer matters for review
and investigation to the Scrutiny Committee during the year, which
will be considered as resources allow.
·
To fulfil its role of holding other Committees to account through
an agreed programme of Chairs’ Question and Answer sessions
or such other mechanism as shall be determined by the Scrutiny
Committee each year.
