For the municipal year 2010-2011 I have the privilege of chairing the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  The Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s role is in my view to look into the operation the council and other organisations in which the people of Woking are stakeholders, to understand how they operate and to offer suggestions regarding how they could better meet the needs of the people of Woking.  Woking Borough Council’s website has a deeper explanation of the role of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee which can be accessed here.

I have suggested some changes in the way that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee operates to try to have a higher output of suggestions for improvement than has been the case in previous years.  To enable this to happen I will be encouraging members of the committee to table formal questions ahead of the meeting on which we will be able to have more discussion than is possible at Full Council meetings. I hope that these questions will lead to formal motions that the committee can vote on as recommendations to the Executive or other body.  I have also suggested that when a topic is covered as a main theme of a meeting that the committee aims to look at any suggested recommendations for changes at the start of the following meeting.  I have done this as in the past it was my opinion that following very informative presentations from organisations to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, little change was actually affected within the council.  This rendered the meetings very educational, but not necessarily productive for the residents of Woking.

The draft schedule of areas that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will look at this year includes:

·         Off street car parking including charges

·         The Environmental objectives of Woking Borough Council

·         Equalities & Human Rights

·         The work of the Overview and Scrutiny task groups

·         Transport and residential parking

·         Engagement with the elderly

·         Wellbeing of people living and working in Woking Borough

·         The Financial efficiency of Woking Borough Council

As a draft this list is subject to the ongoing agreement of the committee and may change.