Welcome to Overview and Scrutiny at Torbay

Welcome to the overview and scrutiny webpages of Torbay Council. Here you can find out what overview and scrutiny is, how it works and what it can achieve.

Overview and Scrutiny Explained

The main purpose of overview and scrutiny is to hold the Council’s decision-makers to account and help improve services for the people of Torbay. Overview and scrutiny is not an inspection process but is a positive way of looking at an issue from an independent and non-political point of view, highlighting areas that work well and suggesting where improvements can be made.

The overview and scrutiny function was established by the Local Government Act 2000 as one of the elements of modernising local government. The key principle of the Act was to create clear and separate structures within councils for decision making (the executive) and for holding decision-makers to account (overview and scrutiny).

Overview and scrutiny acts as the Council’s “watchdog” and enables decisions taken by the Mayor to be challenged or looked at in more detail. Overview and scrutiny also reviews existing policies and issues of concern. These issues can be things that the Council is responsible for, but can also include wider issues that members of the public are concerned about.

Overview and scrutiny is responsible for looking at the broader issues of the Council and does not investigate individual complaints. If you would like further information about the Council's complaints system, please use the link under 'Related Pages' (using the navigation to the right of this page).

Have Your Say

If you have any comments about the overview and scrutiny webpages, or would like to suggest areas for improvement please provide feedback using the link under the heading 'Do It Online' (to the right of this page).