Scrutiny Forums and Committees

Conducting Reviews

The Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee is responsible for conducting reviews that fall under the remit of more than one of the five Standing Scrutiny Forums.

Please click here for meeting dates of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee.

Commenting on Budget Proposals and Corporate Priorities

Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee is consulted annually on the Council's corporate priorities and then shortly afterwards on the actual budget proposals relevant to their remits, as part of the process of setting the council's budget for the coming year.

Scrutinising key decisions

Scrutinising decisions is one of the ways in which Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee is able to hold the Executive to account. Therefore Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee regularly reviews the Executive's Forward Plan in order to decide if there are any key decisions coming up that they would like to examine or comment on.

Call-In

Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee can also exercise their right to 'Call In' a decision that has been made by the Executive. The Call In procedure can be used to prevent decisions being implemented until they have been discussed by Members of Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee or, in some cases full Council, who can make recommendations and refer the decision back for reconsideration if there is evidence to argue that a decision is flawed in some way.

This process can lead to an improved decision making process. Please see our Call-In Guide for more details.

Scrutiny Work Programme

Each year a Work Programme of issues that the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee will be exploring is determined by consulting with Hartlepool residents, the Council's Chief Officers, private, voluntary and community sector organisations, interested stakeholders and Elected Members.