Hillingdon Conservative Leader chooses Conservative Councillor for key scrutiny role

As one of his first acts as the new Council Leader, Conservative Cllr Ian Edwards chose a fellow Conservative Councillor to take on the role of Chair of the Executive Scrutiny Committee.

This committee is key to scrutinising the decisions that Hillingdon’s Cabinet takes, and a judgement whether a question gets queried can come down to the opinion of the Committee Chair – which means that if there is something to hide, the Chair may choose to block the question from being asked.

Speaking after the meeting, Labour Councillor Kerri Prince said:

“Choosing someone from your own pool of supporters to take on a key role which holds you to account will prevent transparency and accountability.

“It already feels like this Council takes decisions behind closed doors with little opportunity for scrutiny. We have seen the Council try to limit the way councillors can ask questions on behalf of their residents, and try to force a debate to come to an end on an important issue – and this is just further proof that this Council does not welcome scrutiny – it runs away from it.”