Scrutiny

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 to observe them working to suggesting topics to be considered for scrutiny.

Observing Scrutiny Meetings

The meetings of the Council’s scrutiny committees are usually open to the public to observe unless considering confidential 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.

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.

Scrutiny Topic Suggestions

Dover District Council welcomes public involvement in scrutiny and values your suggestions for things that the Overview and Scrutiny Committees might examine. It could be related to a decision taken by the Council, the plans of the Council or any other local body, or a general issue of local concern.

There is, of course, a limit to the amount of work the Committees can undertake at any one time and some matters suggested may be outside the remit of the scrutiny function at Dover District Council. As a guide, the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees generally look into issues that affect the whole district, particular localities, groups of people or a range of services. If it is an issue of widespread local concern then you may wish to suggest the matter through the petition process instead.

It will be a matter for each Chairman, or Committee, to decide whether it can investigate any issues you suggest. However, they are always interested in hearing what concerns local residents and businesses the most.

If you have a very detailed concern and are seeking advice on the matter then you should contact your Ward Councillor in the first instance rather than a scrutiny committee.

If the issue is a complaint about how the Council has dealt with you, then you should use the Council’s complaints procedure. Alternatively, if you have a complaint about the activities of a District Councillor then you should contact the Standards Board for England.

If you wish to suggest a topic for a scrutiny committee to consider, please e-mail Rebecca Brough with the details. In your suggestion you should include the following points:

Describe the nature of the matter you would like scrutiny to investigate and state what has given rise to yours concerns.
Scrutiny often considers contributions from external or expert witnesses and if you would like to be such a witness or know of an institution that may fulfil that role (such as a community group or public body) you should indicate how this might be able to assist the scrutiny investigation.
Are there any particular aspects of, or possible solutions to, the issue that you have raised that you would like the committee to consider in the course of its investigations?
Provide us with your contact details so that we may provide feedback on your suggestion. Any contact details you supply will only be used to provide you with a response to your suggestion.

Telephone: 01304 872304
E-mail: scrutiny@dover.gov.uk