Public Involvement in Overview and Scrutiny
How do I get involved?
There are several
ways in which the people of Dover District may involve themselves
in the Council’s scrutiny process. These range from attending the
meetings of the scrutiny committees, contributing evidence to a
scrutiny review or suggesting topics to be considered for
scrutiny as part of the work programme.
Suggesting Topics For Overview and Scrutiny
The
Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee's have
work programmes that set out the work that each committee intends
to undertake each year. The Work Programmes are set via a
process that commences at the start of each calendar year and ends
with the first meeting of the new municipal year in May. The
committees take into consideration the content of the Forward
Plan, Corporate Service Plans and suggestions from councillors
to identify topics for scrutiny.
For the first time,
the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committees are formally
inviting suggestions from people who live or work in the district,
local businesses, schools, colleges, and voluntary or community
groups for topics of inquiry that could be considered as part of
the scrutiny work programmes for the municipal year 2009/10.
Any topics proposed
for inclusion in the work programmes must meet the following
criteria:
- It must directly affect a group of
people living or working within the Dover District.
- It must relate to a service, event
or issue in which the Council has a significant stake or over which
the Council has an influence.
- It must have a
clearly defined outcome.
The Council's
Overview and Scrutiny Committee's cannot accept topic suggestions
that relate to the following matters:
- Any issue that one of the Council’s
Overview and Scrutiny Committees, Sub-Committees or Working Groups
has considered during the last twelve months.
- Any issue that relates to an individual
service complaint or a specific individual.
- Any issue that is incompatible with
the principles of the Council’s Equality Policy.
- Any issue that relates to a petition
submitted to the
Council.
- Any issue that
relates to matters dealt with by another committee of the Council,
unless the issue deals with policy or procedure.
Once
a suggestion has been received it will be assessed
by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee responsible for
that particular topic area and you will be notified
of its decision.
If you are interested in submitting
a suggestion, please contact Ms Rebecca Brough, Democratic Support
Officer on the telephone and e-mail
address below for further details. All
suggestions should be submitted in accordance with the
protocol using the suggestion form
contained within the information pack.
Petitions
The Council’s
Overview and Scrutiny Rules (Section 20), as set out in the
Constitution, provide for the consideration of petitions from local
government electors within the district. A local government elector
is classified as someone registered and eligible to vote at the
District Council’s elections. The procedure for submitting a
Petition is set out under the Access to Information rules on this
website.
Observing Scrutiny Meetings
The meetings of the
Council’s overview and scrutiny committees are usually open to the
public to observe unless considering confidential or exempt
information and copies of the agendas and minutes are available on
this website, local libraries or from the Council’s Offices in the
district. The procedure for attending meetings of the Council and
its Committees are contained under the Access to Information rules
on this website.
Contact Scrutiny
Telephone: 01304 872304
E-mail: scrutiny@dover.gov.uk
