Spelthorne is the only one of West Surrey's seven councils with no scrutiny committee. Officers want three to five when the new council starts in 2027.

Spelthorne has no overview and scrutiny committee. The council that replaces it in 2027 is being advised to have between three and five.

That is the recommendation in a report going to the West Surrey Shadow Authority’s Constitution Sub-Committee this evening, Future Scrutiny Arrangements, written by interim Deputy Monitoring Officer Vicky Hibbert. It asks members for an early steer rather than a decision, and it sets out plainly how little scrutiny machinery Spelthorne currently brings to the merger.

Scrutiny is the part of a council that is meant to hold decision-makers to account. Committees of backbench councillors question the leadership, review decisions before and after they are made, call in things they disagree with, and report back with recommendations.

Why Spelthorne has none

Spelthorne’s nil return is not an oversight, and the report says why in brackets: committee model of governance.

Spelthorne does not have a leader and cabinet. Its decisions are taken by committees made up of councillors from all parties, so there is no separate executive for a scrutiny committee to hold to account. Councils that run this way are not legally required to have one.

West Surrey Shadow Authority does not work that way. It uses a strong leader model, which under the Local Government Act 2000 means it must have scrutiny arrangements. It currently has a single overview and scrutiny committee.

That is the change coming for residents here: from a council where every councillor sits on the committees that decide things, to a much larger council where a cabinet decides and a separate set of committees is supposed to check it.

What the seven councils bring to the merger

The report tabulates the scrutiny models of the seven predecessor authorities.

Overview and scrutiny committees at the seven West Surrey predecessor councils Bar chart. Surrey County Council has four overview and scrutiny committees, Woking three, Guildford two including one joint committee with Waverley, Surrey Heath two, Waverley two including the joint committee with Guildford, Runnymede one, and Spelthorne none because it uses a committee model of governance. Spelthorne is the only West Surrey council with no scrutiny committee Overview and scrutiny committees at the seven predecessor councils, as recorded by the Shadow Authority. Surrey County Council 4 Woking 3 Guildford 2 (one joint with Waverley) Surrey Heath 2 Waverley 2 (one joint with Guildford) Runnymede 1 Spelthorne 0 committee model of governance Surrey County Council also has a joint health scrutiny committee and an informal chairman's group. Source: West Surrey Shadow Authority, Future Scrutiny Arrangements report, 27 August 2026. Graphic by Staines Online.
Six of the seven bring a scrutiny function into the merger. Spelthorne brings none.

Surrey County Council’s four are Adults and Health; Children, Families and Lifelong Learning; Communities, Environment and Highways; and Resources and Performance. Woking’s three are Communities and Housing; Resources and Finance; and Environment and Place. Surrey Heath’s two are External Partnerships, and Performance and Finance.

What happened at the councils that merged before

Officers researched six unitary authorities created by earlier reorganisations. The pattern was consistent: a single committee during the shadow year, then a jump after vesting day.

Authority Shadow year Inaugural year
North Northamptonshire 1 2
West Northamptonshire 1 3
Cumberland 1 4
Westmorland and Furness 1 4
Somerset 4 thematic plus an LGR joint committee 5 thematic
North Yorkshire 6 6

The report draws four further conclusions from that research:

  • Every one of those authorities needed a way to coordinate across committees. North Yorkshire set up a Scrutiny Board of committee chairs, West Northamptonshire a Coordinating Overview and Scrutiny Group, Somerset an informal chairs and vice-chairs group, Cumberland regular meetings of chairs and vice-chairs.
  • Budget and financial scrutiny was almost always given its own committee, called Corporate, Resources or Business and Resources depending on the authority.
  • Health, adult social care and children’s services were usually separated out into dedicated committees.
  • Most did not adopt a formal protocol between the executive and scrutiny during their first years, leaving it until the structures had bedded in.

The risk the report names

Under the heading “Key Risks”, the report is direct about what happens if West Surrey keeps a single committee after 1 April 2027:

A large unitary authority is accountable to its residents and has a duty to ensure that there are adequate checks and balances in place with regards to decision making. There is a risk that retaining one overview and scrutiny committee post-vesting day will mean that not all service areas and functions can be adequately scrutinised.

It flags a second risk too. Scrutiny has to be resourced to work, and the research found authorities split on whether to fund specialist scrutiny officers or rely on democratic services staff.

More committees also cost money. The report notes that extra committees create resourcing pressure, and that additional budget may be needed for members’ allowances because each new committee brings another chair.

Two things still to settle

The report singles out two requirements that any final model has to absorb.

Health scrutiny is a legal duty. Councils must discharge it under the Local Authority (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013. The report says the new arrangements will also need to pick up existing joint arrangements, naming the Frimley Park Hospital Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Co-opted members. The new council will take on functions, such as education, where outside representatives have to be appointed onto scrutiny committees. That has to be built into the design.

What it means for you

Nothing changes today. Spelthorne Borough Council continues to run its committee system until it is abolished, and this evening’s meeting takes no decision on scrutiny at all: members are being asked for a steer, not a vote on a structure.

What it tells you is how the accountability will work after 1 April 2027. From that date, Staines, Ashford, Sunbury, Shepperton, Stanwell and Laleham will be governed by a council with a leader and cabinet covering seven former authorities. The number of scrutiny committees, and whether health and children’s services get their own, decides how much of that is examined in public.

The timetable for deciding it is short:

  • 29 October 2026: a detailed proposal returns to the Constitution Sub-Committee.
  • 2 November 2026: the Standards Committee considers it for endorsement.
  • Then to the Shadow Authority for approval, for implementation from 1 April 2027.

Before that, officers will seek input from the political groups and from the current shadow Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Whether any of this is discussed in public is itself in question. A separate report on the same agenda tonight asks members to disband the sub-committee and replace it with a working group, which would remove the duty to meet in public, publish reports or keep minutes.

Sources

Checked 27 August 2026, before the meeting. This report seeks feedback rather than a decision, so nothing here is settled.