Devon's "Scrutiny Tool" was drawn up at a training and development workshop for members of Overview/Scrutiny Committees conducted by the charity, Forum for the Future.

Download a copy of the Scrutiny Tool (179KB - pdf help) in printable PDF format (180KB).

It acts as a checklist of questions whose answers can be used by an Overview/Scrutiny investigation to:

• evaluate a particular activity's contribution to the goals of the Council's Strategic Plan;
• demonstrate good practice;
• identify possible areas of conflict and any overlaps or gaps in service;
• stimulate dialogue and debate;
• prompt new ideas and help the development of improvements;
• give an overview of the impact of the activities being scrutinised;
• encourage a systematic approach to overview and scrutiny.

Using the "Scrutiny Tool"

Points to consider:

• what significant contribution does the activity make?
• can any negative contributions be addressed so that they are positive?  
• justify your choice of contribution in one sentence (including those where no impact has been identified);
• make relative not absolute judgements.