Scrutiny Committees
Be vocal and help make a difference...
Become a Co-opted Member on one of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council's Scrutiny Committees
- Public sector representatives - individual members of the public who can demonstrate their ability to add value to the discussion and debate through skills and knowledge of fundamental issues relating to the Council
- Voluntary sector representatives - will require agreement from the voluntary organisation to which they belong to act as their representative.
Email: scrutiny@merthyr.gov.uk with any queries
Scrutiny is an umbrella term covering a wide range of roles with key legislative responsibility for:
- Holding the Cabinet to account
- Policy Review and Development
- Reviewing and scrutinising the performance of the Council and help drive improvements in services;
- External scrutiny
Overview and Scrutiny Committees help ensure local public services are delivered effectively and efficiently, and have wide ranging powers to investigate areas of local interest.
Scrutiny can question decision takers, call in expert witnesses or hear evidence from other local stakeholders. Investigations are not restricted to Council run services, any area of interest to the local community may be investigated by scrutiny.
The Council's Scrutiny Committees
The Council has five scrutiny committees:
- Corporate Support and Resources
- Neighbourhood Services, Countryside and Planning Scrutiny Committee
- Learning and LGES (Local Government Education Service) Scrutiny Committee
- Social Services Scrutiny Committee
- Regeneration and Public Protection Scrutiny Committee
Getting involved at Scrutiny Committee meetings
Scrutiny Committees have arrangements to allow people who live or work in the local authority area to get involved in the work of scrutiny:
- Suggesting a topic for scrutiny to investigate
- Attending a meeting
- Attending a meeting to speak
- Providing information and evidence as a witness
You could apply to become a co-opted member on one of the council's Scrutiny Committees.As a co-opted member you will participate on one of the Council's Scrutiny Committees with elected Councillors and other co-opted members. You will use your skills and knowledge of issues and services within the county borough to add to the discussion and debate.
There is no salary or allowance for the role, but reimbursements are made for reasonable travel expenses.
Scrutiny committees cannot:
- Make decisions on behalf of the Council
- Scrutinise specific decisions of the Planning Committee, Licensing Committee and Rights of Way Committee that have quasi-judicial decision-making responsibilities
- Deal with individual queries, concerns, or complaints. If you are not satisfied with a service or have a complaint, please contact the relevant officer responsible for that service area. However, if you are not able to resolve the query please use the council's corporate complaints procedure or raise the matter with your local Councillor.