Searching scrutiny?

Last week saw Stockton Borough Council's Annual Meeting which agreed, amongst other things, appointments to the various council scrutiny / select committees.

Scrutiny is a vital principle of democracy.  It is the process by which the council's decisions, policies and performance are examined closely to ensure the services provided are done so as efficiently and effectively as possible.  The importance of the searching scrutiny of decisions before they come into effect cannot be understated.

In recent years (whilst Conservative led) the council strived to ensure that the chair of each select committee was appointed from a different political group to that of the cabinet member holding the corresponding portfolio.  This resulted in an highly robust and effective scrutiny process, with material improvements to policies recommended (and accepted) across all areas of council business.  It was therefore with great trepidation that I sat and watched the Labour group, in one of its first actions since forming a coalition administration with IBIS, move away from this successful model of corporate governance in favour of appointing the vast majority of the chairs and vice-chairs from within its own ranks.

Why Labour decided to do this, with no ostensible benefit other than to the Labour & IBIS members now pocketing the special allowances that come with their appointments, is genuinely puzzling.  It's all the more puzzling to see a number of important posts handed to individuals newly elected to the council just two weeks earlier who have no prior experience of sitting on a scrutiny committee, let alone chairing one, whatsoever.  I for one would love to hear the rationale behind these appointments, but I doubt I ever will.