Ealing Council’s scrutiny team is asking for ideas as it decides which important local topics should be put under the microscope in the year ahead.

The chosen topics will then be assigned to ‘scrutiny panels’ of councillors and also give you the chance to air your views and get involved. The panels will hear evidence on key subjects and examine how local services are performing.

In spring, a programme for these panels will be agreed for the year 2020/21 and anyone who lives or works in the borough is urged to submit ideas for them by Tuesday, 31 March.

Scrutiny panels seek to improve services for the local community by examining decisions of the council’s cabinet and the performance of council departments. They also look into the work of health bodies, contractors and external agencies that provide services within the borough.

Topics suggested must affect a group or community of people (not issues that only affect one person or household) and not have been considered by a scrutiny panel during the last 12 months.

You can see what topics the panels looked into last year in this article. There were four new panels that looked into: Education (reviewing the provision, quality and funding of education in the borough); active citizenship (considering the council’s active citizenship programme); the local effects of national issues in the borough; and leisure (considering the current leisure provision in the borough, including its sports facilities, arts and parks).

Send in your ideas

Ideas for topics should be emailed to scrutiny@ealing.gov.uk or sent to Scrutiny Unit, Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing, W5 2HL. You can also ring 020 8825 7497 to submit your scrutiny topic.

More information about scrutiny in Ealing including meeting dates, work programmes, agendas and reports is available on the council’s website.