Scrutiny at the councils

Are you concerned about local issues? If so then you can ask the Adur and Worthing Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee to investigate - click for details ...

Scrutiny plays a vital role in the councils' decision-making and policy development processes. It ensures public accountability is exercised at every level and that decisions relating to place, communities, resources and finance are thoroughly reviewed.

Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council have set up a Joint Overview & Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) to undertake this role as part of the joint working arrangements. The JOSC is made up of eight members from Adur and eight members from Worthing. The committee is politically balanced.

What does the Joint Overview & Scrutiny Committee do?

The Joint Overview & Scrutiny Committee is responsible for holding the executives and Joint Strategic Committee to account, as well as helping to develop new policies.

The committee scrutinises decisions, reviews and advises on existing policies and public services, monitors the councils' performance and carries out policy development functions. Its aim is to secure continuous positive improvement in the way the councils' functions are exercised; taking economy, efficiency and effectiveness all into account.

The councils have recently undertaken a review of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny process to help improve the outcomes and the level of impact from the Committee and agreed a number of recommendations:

JOSC Working Group - Review of the effectiveness of Overview and Scrutiny, Report by the Director for Sustainability & Resources - Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee - 15th July 2024 (PDF)

The committee has set a new work programme which will be reviewed on a regular basis. The new work programme has prioritised matters which require detailed scrutiny and are relevant to the work of the councils and align more closely with the councils' strategic priorities and can help make a difference:

Adur & Worthing Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme - 2024/2025 (PDF)

The committee is set to hold a number of themed meetings throughout the year covering the following issues and welcomes public engagement in these meetings:

The committee will also sometimes set up various smaller working groups, which are established to conduct work on behalf of the committee. Usually made up of a minimum of four committee members, a working group undertakes a specific piece of scrutiny work, and reports back to the committee with their findings and recommendations. This year the committee has agreed to set up two working groups to review the following issues:

Budget Scrutiny Working Group: to take the lead in budget scrutiny and take a much broader and deeper approach to budget scrutiny which will inquire into and influence budgetary matters; and
Workforce Development Strategy Review Working Group: to help inform the development of a workforce development strategy for the councils

Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council also each have their own Overview & Scrutiny Committees. Adur's committee is made up of eight members and Worthing's has 15 members.

You can find committee agendas, reports and minutes, as well as details of committee members via the links below:

To find out more about how the councils' political management is structured, please see:

Political management structure

If you're concerned about a local issue

If there is a local issue that is having an impact on you, your community or business, you can ask the Adur and Worthing Joint Overview & Scrutiny Committee to investigate it by completing the form below.

If you are a local resident you can ask your councillor to help you complete the form. If you are unsure who your councillors are then please see:

The work programme for the committee is under constant review and you can ask the committee to review issues relating to council services throughout the year and if you are concerned about any issues you should submit the scrutiny request form using the link set out below:

Scrutiny Review Request Form