Scrutiny

Councillors who are not members of the cabinet contribute to the running of the County Council by scrutinising decisions and reviewing policies. Read more about scrutiny.

Latest scrutiny news

New scrutiny reviews – coming soon

Mansfield Community Hospital and Ashfield Health Village

A select committee will look at changes to NHS services in Mansfield and Ashfield due to the Modernisation of Acute Services Project – a major hospital re-building scheme for central Nottinghamshire.

Early Interventions

Follows on from the recent School Attendance & Support Review and will consider how early interventions within schools to tackle absence can differ between schools so that a single policy reflecting best practice might be adopted across the county.

Critical Infrastructure

After two recent flooding reviews revealed the potential vulnerability of the critical infrastructure – such as energy supply and transport - this review will consider the resilience of our infrastructure in times of crisis.

Other possible reviews:

• Supporting independence for older people in the home
• Educational Underachievement among disadvantaged children
• Public Engagement

Select committees for the new reviews are expected to be confirmed at next month's meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny committee.

Review raises concerns over use of health centres

The final report into LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) buildings has found that altough they provide high quality new facilities for health services in Nottinghamshire, the cost of LIFT buildings has led to space being underused. There were also examples of buildings being constructed with no formal agreement from potential tenants to occupy space.

The review recommends:

• carrying out further work to identify the benefits of providing additional NHS services in the community through LIFT buildings.
• ensuring that future LIFT buildings have commitment from partner organisations to take up tenancy.
• ensuring that NHS services work together to consider joint infection control campaigns and that hand wash gels are fitted where rooms may be used to provide treatment.
• designing the buildings to make them very easy to access, beyond the minimum Disability Discrimination Act requirements.
• developing specific travel plans for each centre in partnership with local transport providers and local authorities.

Councillor Chris Winterton, Chair of the LIFT select committee, said: 'The review was very thorough and we believe that we have come up with a good list of recommendations to improve the way these centres are set up in the future. These are good facilities, but it’s now down to the companies providing them, and local health services, to ensure that they are used in the best possible way to benefit Nottinghamshire people.'

The recommendations will now be passed to Bassetlaw Primary Care Trust, Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust and the Nottinghamshire LIFT companies for them to consider and respond to. The County Council’s Cabinet will also be asked to respond to the scrutiny committee.

Read the final report of the LIFT buildings review [PDF 755KB]  

OSC critical of Police over withdrawal of DARE funding

The Overview & Scrutiny Committee (OSC) has written to the Chief Constable regretting the decision of Notts police to cut funding to the DARE (drug abuse resistance education) programme.

The recent Drugs Education review acknowledged the DARE programme as satisfying a need at Key Stage 2 and the loss of the £180,000 of funding - and the withdrawal of the police delivery option to primary schools - has set back delivery of the programme.

Since 1993, DARE has been delivered to around 200,000 primary school children in Nottinghamshire, aiming to equip 9-11 year olds with the knowledge to resist pressures to use drugs, tobacco, alcohol and solvents by providing them with accurate information. It aims to teach decision making and resistance skills to overcome peer pressure.

The number of schools undertaking the DARE programme led by a police officer, has reduced over the last 4 years due to a lack of funds and funding will need to be secured to ensure that existing provision can be maintained.

Read more about the Drugs Education Review

Edward Llewellyn-Jones speaks at PCT conference

Chair of Overview & Scrutiny, Edward Llewellyn-Jones, gave a speech to the Working together - let's talk conference in which he outlined the role and function of scrutiny in Nottinghamshire.

The conference - organised by Nottinghamshire County teaching Primary Care Trust (tPCT) - brought together health organisations, local authories and the voluntary sector to discuss health issues, including scrutiny of health services, the new Local Involvement Networks (LINks) and public engagement.

Read a copy of the full speech [PDF 83KB]  

Members of Flooding select committee visit North Leverton

County councillors and officers involved in the flooding select committee have visited North Leverton- scene of some of the worst floods in the county during the summer of 2007. The village was swamped by several feet of water following torrential downpours, the force of the water ripping up tarmac on main street and flooding many homes.

Members are keen to find out if the worst effects of the flooding could have been prevented by improvements, or better maintenance, of the drainage infrastructure

Members have also visited Lowdham, where as many as 300 homes were affected by flooding mostly caused from surface water running off land into the village - and the flood protection system on the Cocker Beck becoming overwhelmed.

Unprecedented property damage was caused in large parts of Nottinghamshire by the floods and the review will consider whether better maintenance of drains and watercourses will help to protect properties in future.

Read more about the flooding review.

Councils appoint Carers Federation to help local people have their say

The Carers Federation has been appointed to run Nottinghamshire and Nottingham’s Local Involvement Networks (LINks).

They will now be working hard to encourage local people who want to have their say on health issues - including GP services, hospital food, cancer care, learning disability services, care homes or many other issues - to join their local LINk to give their views and investigate services. Read more about the Carers Federation appointment.

Health inequality across Notts a cause for concern

A significant gap is opening up in terms of health improvement across Nottinghamshire -according to figures for the county which show a definite link between life expectancy and deprivation. Read more about health inequality in the county