Roles and principles
Every four years, Ealing voters elect 69 councillors. The 69 councillors form the Council.
At its annual meeting, the council appoints a leader and no more than nine other councillors to a Cabinet.
Cabinet is the main decision-making body for the Ealing Council. Each Cabinet member has a portfolio of responsibilities.
Councillors who are not on Cabinet can be appointed by Council to one or more of the scrutiny committees. This is normally done at the annual Council meeting in May.
The scrutiny committees are independent of Cabinet and answer
only to Council.
There are four roles for scrutiny:
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holding the executive (ie Cabinet and senior officers) to account
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policy review and development
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performance management
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external scrutiny
Principles for effective scrutiny:
The Centre for Public Scrutiny has identified four principles for effective scrutiny.
Effective scrutineers:
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provide ‘critical friend’ challenge to executives as well as external authorities and agencies
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reflect the voice of concerns of the public and its communities
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should take the lead and own the scrutiny process on behalf of the public
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should make an impact on the delivery of public services
Scrutiny has equal status with Cabinet:
