Scrutiny boards provide challenge and support to decision makers. The boards are made up of elected councillors, and on some boards, co-optees.
The boards may require the attendance of senior councillors, council staff or NHS staff at their meetings and whilst they do not make decisions, they aim to influence those who do by making public recommendations based on the evidence they have gathered, about how services can be improved for local residents.
Follow us on Twitter
@ScrutinyLeeds for regular updates.
How they work
Scrutiny boards meet regularly during the year to discuss a range of issues relating to their specialised areas and public attendance is welcomed.
In advance of a formal meeting, the boards may gather information in other ways to ensure they are fully informed on an issue. For example, through working groups, one-to-one discussions, site visits, community meetings or questionnaires.
Following a formal inquiry, the boards will often produce a report or statement with recommendations for consideration by council decision makers or external partners.
The boards
There are five scrutiny boards, each specialising in different subjects. There is the Adults, Health & Active Lifestyles board, Children and Families board, Environment, Housing and Communities board, Infrastructure, Investment & Inclusive Growth board and Strategy and Resources board. Each of their pages has more information including agendas and minutes.
While most decisions are reviewed by just one board, occasionally they may come together to look at a decision or policy collectively.
Call-in
Most of the time scrutiny boards examine existing policy decisions and how they are being implemented, however, occasionally non-executive councillors can also call-in an upcoming decision to scrutiny before it is implemented.
This temporarily suspends implementation of the decision for up to seven working days whilst it is publicly reviewed in more detail.
A call-in request can be made by either:
- five non-executive councillors from a single political party
- two non-executive councillors from different political parties
Call-in only applies to decisions made within the council. Decisions made by external organisations are not subject to this.
Tenant scrutiny board
The tenant scrutiny board provides independent, customer focused scrutiny which challenges policy practice and performance to ensure that we provide a high quality housing service that retains tenants at the heart of the organisation.
Find more information including meeting dates and minutes on our Tenant Scrutiny Board page.
