The Council has adopted procedures to allow for any Councillor to raise certain matters for consideration by the Committee under the CCfA powers of Section 119 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. These can be found below. A flow-chart which summarises the procedures also accompanies this document.
Use of the CCfA power should be seen as longstop and used only when other attempts to deal with an issue or solve a problem have failed.
Matters which can be the subject of a CCfA include those for which the Council has a responsibility or which directly affect the Borough of Eastbourne and for which the Council can reasonably be expected to exercise some degree of influence. Certain matters should normally be excluded from being a CCfA in line with the provisions of The Overview and Scrutiny (Reference by Councillors) (Excluded Matters) England) Order 2008. These are:
(a) Matters relating to a planning or licensing decision.
(b) A matter relating to an individual or entity in respect of which that individual or entity has recourse to a right of appeal conferred by legislation.
(c) Any matter which is vexatious, discriminatory or unreasonable.
However, an allegation that a function for which the council is responsible has not been discharged at all or that its discharge has failed on a systematic basis may still be the subject of a valid CCfA notwithstanding (a) and (b) above.
The Scrutiny Committee has issued guidance to Councillors on how issues subject to a potential CCfA should be handled in order to reflect best practice and ensure that issues are dealt with effectively and in a timely fashion. A copy of the guidance and the notification form to be used when a Councillor wishes to submit a CCfA accompanies this document.
The CCfA procedures require that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Committee are notified of CCfAs and sets out their responsibilities for agreeing the appropriate course of action to be taken in respect of a CCfA once received.
