The structure of scrutiny in Westminster

Westminster City Council has six Policy & Scrutiny Committees and the Scrutiny Commission  , which looks at major cross-cutting issues and provides oversight of the process. Each committee is made up of a politically-balanced group of councillors that hold council Cabinet Members, senior offices and other partners to account on specific policy areas. Westminster's six current committees are:

• Adult Services and Health 
• Built Environment, Enterprise and Volunteering
• Children, Young People and Community Protection
• City Management and Transportation
• Finance and Transformation
• Housing, Property and Community Services 

By clicking on the links to the left, you can navigate to the relevant page for each committee to find more information. You can also take a look at what Policy and Scrutiny has been doing recently and what is coming up by reading our regular newsletter P&S Quarterly, and find out more about our innovative project to involve young people in the work of the council through the Young People’s Scrutiny Panel.

In Westminster the six committees and the commission not only examine the work of the council and monitor performance, they also actively contribute to developing policy by conducting research and making recommendations on how services can be improved. This is why in Westminster it is called Policy and Scrutiny instead of overview and scrutiny, which is what you may hear it called in other boroughs.

Scrutiny is vital in promoting local accountability as it allows local backbench councillors (non-executive) to hold the council’s Cabinet Members (executive) to account. In many ways the process is similar to how national Parliamentary select committees scrutinise government departments and ministers. Importantly, other partners that provide services within the borough, such as the NHS and CityWest Homes in Westminster, can also be subject to scrutiny, so the process acts as an important tool for councillors to champion the views of their constituents.

To develop policy and examine specific issues in more depth, committees typically establish councillor-led task groups. Over the last year, examples of task groups include investigations into overcrowding and health inequality, the Westminster Wardens service and parking policy. As part of this work, councillors will often hear from expert witnesses, question key officers and Cabinet Members, consult with relevant stakeholders and conduct site visits. Findings are then fed back committee which established it and presented to the Cabinet Member or partner for consideration.

The work programmes for the Policy and Scrutiny Committees are typically developed at the start of the municipal year in April but items can be added at any time if important issues arise. To find out more, please visit the page for the relevant committee to find upcoming meeting dates and agendas or look at the latest P&S Quarterly newsletter.

If you have a suggestion for a topic that you think could benefit from being scrutinised, please complete our online contact form.

Attending policy and scrutiny meetings

Members of the public are always welcome to attend Policy and Scrutiny Committee meetings. Meetings are usually held in City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, London SW1, 17th Floor, unless otherwise stated. Task Group meetings are often open to the public, but this is at the discretion of the Chairman.

If you would like to attend a Policy and Scrutiny meeting, or you have any questions please feel free to contact Dr Mark Ewbank on mewbank@westminster.gov.uk or telephone 020 7641 2636