The decision by Cabinet Members at a meeting on Tuesday 18 July to agree to the introduction of a garden waste subscription service that will come into effect in April 2024 has been called-in. A meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel will now consider this call-in on Thursday 10 August.
What is a call-in?
A '"call-in" is a statutory (legal) process which enables a prescribed number of members of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Panel request that a decision that has been made, but not yet implemented, be reconsidered by the person or body making the decision.
What decisions can be called-in?
Any decisions made by the following are subject to the call-in procedure:
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Cabinet
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a Cabinet Member
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a committee of the Cabinet
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an Officer taking a key decision acting on delegated authority from the Cabinet
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a body under joint arrangements.
Accepting a call-in
In the event that three or more councillors of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Panel feel that an executive decision made by the Cabinet should receive further consideration they can, within a set timescale, "call-in" the decision for scrutiny by submitting a formal notice with reasons and a supporting statement.
If the request for call-in is approved, the item is referred to a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel. The Panel considers the matter with the relevant Executive Councillor and Officer in attendance.
A called-in decision can only be referred back to the decision maker once. The decision maker should take into account the views of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel in re-considering the decision, but will be within its rights to reaffirm the original decision.