The Scrutiny Management Board of North Northamptonshire Council is scheduled to meet on Monday 16 March 2026. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on tools for assessing and prioritising scrutiny work, as well as the council's work programme for 2025-26.

Scrutiny Assessment and Prioritisation Tool

A key item for discussion is the proposed Scrutiny Assessment and Prioritisation Tool . This tool is designed to help manage the allocation of business to the council's four Scrutiny Committees. The report pack indicates that the tool aims to ensure that scrutiny activity focuses on topics of strategic importance, adding value and influencing outcomes. It will assess potential scrutiny items against a framework to determine if they should be included in the Work Programme and, if so, their priority and method of scrutiny. The tool has three sections: an assessment to determine if scrutiny will add value, criteria for rejecting requests, and a prioritisation matrix. The Scrutiny Management Board is being asked to consider and approve this tool.

Scrutiny Work Programme 2025-26

The Board will also review the latest iteration of the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2025-26. This programme guides the work of the Scrutiny Committees throughout the year. The report pack highlights that the Work Programme is built from various inputs, including community concerns, member suggestions, the Council's Corporate Plan, and the Executive Forward Plan. The Board will consider whether any items from the Executive Forward Plan, covering March to June 2026, should be added for pre-scrutiny. The report also notes that there are no additional items currently generated by Scrutiny that are not already part of the 2025-26 Work Programme. The Board is being asked to comment on the items within the Work Programme and approve its latest version.

The Scrutiny Management Board is composed of Councillor Trevor Conway (Chair), Councillor Vinnie Whitrow (Vice-Chair), Councillor Gavin Beales, Councillor Leon Gibbs, Councillor Helen Howell, and Councillor Ben Williams. The meeting is scheduled to be held at the Corby Cube and will be available to view live on the Democratic Services' YouTube channel.