Following Nigel's recent resignation to turn his attention to campaigning to become the new Police & Crime Commissioner for Sussex, Councillor Colin Belsey has taken over as Chairman of Scrutiny for the following Civic year. Colin is someone I have known for many years and I am sure he will build upon the progress made by Nigel.
I too am a former Chairman of Scrutiny, having held the role when it was first created during my first term of office on Eastbourne Borough Council between 2002 and 2007. I am pleased to add my experience to the committee and I look forward to working with my colleagues from both parties.
My first Scrutiny Committee meeting of the new Civic year was held at the Town Hall earlier this evening. As we read through a very detailed report reflecting on the 2011/2012 Civic year, I couldn't help feeling that whilst there was a huge amount of detail, a mixture of progress made and items requiring further effort - it was all a bit historic and missed the opportunity in many areas to act earlier and bring more progress sooner.
This is why I will be calling for more 'Real Time' Scrutiny this year, where we take some of the most important issues affecting the council, look at historic results alongside current performance and against future plans. Additionally, we currently recieve reports at Scrutiny Committee meetings by the Departmental Lead Officers and whilst they have valuable input, I'd like to see the Cabinet Portflio holders account for work done in their name more often and I believe that this could lead to action being taken to improve Council performance sooner, giving residents more confidence that they are getting value for money from their local Town Hall.
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