4.36 At the moment there is no general power for local authorities to set up Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committees.15 As a result, the actions of the Joint Committee can be scrutinised in each of the constituent authorities. This can be unhelpful, where different overview and scrutiny committees call-in the same decision for reconsideration, make conflicting recommendations on review, or make requests for the attendance of key members at their meetings. Each constituent authority should ensure that the Joint Committee and its functions are specifically within the remit of a specified Scrutiny Committee. It would then be possible for each authority to appoint a small sub-committee for the purpose of scrutinising joint waste issues, and to arrange that the sub-committees of each constituent authority meet at the same place, time and date, but this is as near as can currently be achieved to joint scrutiny, except in the specific fields of health and joint working between Counties and Districts.
4.37 It is useful to arrange for regular progress reports on the work of the Joint Committee to go to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees, and also to consult them in advance of critical decisions, so that they have the confidence that the Joint Committee is discharging its functions properly and do not feel the need to intervene so frequently.
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15 Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 s.123 provided a new power for the Secretary of State to make regulations enabling authorities to establish Joint Scrutiny Committees to cover Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets. Such Joint Scrutiny Committees would be able to require information and scrutinise the actions of Partner Authorities, which would include a Joint Waste Authority. But this new power is proposed to be limited to the attainment of LAA targets, and so may not be available for wider scrutiny of such joint arrangements.