Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

Hertfordshire residents are being asked to put forward areas of county council spending or services they would like to be put under the microscope, as part of the council’s scrutiny process.

In the past 12 months, councillors have scrutinised areas of the authority’s work, that have included domestic abuse and dementia, women’s safety and young people, with barriers to improvement.

And they have stepped in to review controversial decisions that have been ‘called-in’, such as the sale of the former Radlett Aerodrome site.

Hertfordshire County Council is asking to public to have its say on services and decisions to be scrutinised.

But all of those topics have been put forward by elected members of the county council.

And now chair of the council’s overview and scrutiny committee Cllr David Andrews is appealing for members of the public to have their say on areas they would like to be scrutinised.

He stresses that any member of the public can suggest areas of the council’s work, spending or decision making that they believe should face council scrutiny, by filling out a simple form.

And at a recent meeting of the council’s overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday (April 23) he highlighted the process.

He pointed to the ‘scrutiny topic suggestion form’, which is available on the council’s website.

And he said: “There is the form which any of us can complete – any member of the public can get involved in if they’ve suggestions to come forward.

“We traditionally don’t get them – and it would be nice of some came in.”

Following the meeting, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he was proud of the outcomes achieved by the scrutiny function of the county council.

But he said county councillors were just 78 people out of a county-wide population of some 1.3million.

And pointing to council spending, he highlighted the role of residents in saying what was or wasn’t working for them, as individuals or groups.

The ‘scrutiny topic suggestion form’ can be found on the Hertfordshire county council website, at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk.

Hertfordshire residents urged to suggest areas that should face council scrutiny