Councillors are set to review changes made to how decisions are scrutinised.
Lichfield District Council moved to a single overview and scrutiny committee instead of four separate groups after a recommendation in 2020.
Instead, task groups were introduced to focus on specific issues in greater depth. So far these have included areas such as the new leisure centre, the Lichfield City masterplan, climate change and the dual waste recycling system.
The effectiveness of the changes will be debated at a meeting of the local authority’s overview and scrutiny committee tomorrow (2nd August).
A report from Cllr Doug Pullen, leader of Lichfield District Council, said:
“There has been no overlap of work on overview and scrutiny since moving to the one committee structure.
“The advantage of having one overview and scrutiny chair also ensures that the work programme of both the committee and any task group is monitored and efficient use of member time is a priority.
“Although the cost of the overview and scrutiny function should be considered, best value for residents should be a greater priority and the better use of committee time key.
“In the final year of the old structure, 55 reports were considered in total with 20 that were purely noted or endorsed. In the first year of the new one Ccmmittee structure, a total of 19 items were considered with no reports purely for noting or endorsement.
“There were two recommendations requesting noting but these were in with others for those reports that did require outcomes from members.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
The current committee will be asked to discuss whether the changes have created “better questioning” and produced “less speech making”.
