Overview and scrutiny

Overview and scrutiny plays an important role in the successful functioning of local democracy.

Effective overview and scrutiny should:

provide constructive “critical friend” challenge
amplify the voices and concerns of the public
be led by independent people who take responsibility for their role
drive improvement in public services

How scrutiny works in Hounslow

Overview and scrutiny in Hounslow consists of:

an overview and scrutiny committee
a call-in subcommittee
three scrutiny panels:
- Children and young people scrutiny panel
- Health and adult social care scrutiny panel
- Housing and environment scrutiny panel

Hounslow is also a member of the North West London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Get involved in scrutiny

There are many ways you can get involved in scrutiny. You can:

1. Come to a meeting

Scrutiny committee meetings are open to the public to attend.

2. Participate in a call for evidence or views

From time to time, scrutiny panels or the committee call for the views of residents or experts. We will share these calls for evidence on:

this webpage
our Facebook page
our Instagram

3. Submit a scrutiny topic

Members of the public and community groups can also suggest topics for possible scrutiny review. You can suggest a topic for inclusion on the scrutiny work programme:

by email: scrutiny@hounslow.gov.uk

We are more likely to consider an issue if you:

can show that it affects a significant number of people in Hounslow
provide evidence supporting your concern

We will not consider individual service complaints, planning issues and/or issues dealt considered within the last 12 months or dealt with by another council committee (except where relating to process).