Does Enfield Council Avoid Robust & Proper Scrutiny

In this Podcast we discuss with Cllr Derek Levy ( a former Labour Party member) if the scrutiny and overview of Enfield Council is working properly and whether it is independent and robust.

 

Derek is in a strong position to discuss this as he is a previous chair of the Overview and Scrutiny committee. In 2018 the Leader of Enfield Council Nesil Caliskan was found to have breached the Council code of conduct after suggesting that Cllr Levy. should meet with her regularly to ensure he was “more closely aligned to key decisions” on Labour Group priorities.

 

The overview and scrutiny committee’s role is to hold the council’s decision-makers to account. It is supposed to remain independent of the cabinet and it was felt that this was an attempt to compromise that independence

 

Derek will discuss with us whether that situation has improved or whether Enfield Council is lacking in the proper scrutiny of its affairs - a scrutiny especially needed in times of crisis.

 

When we see nationally that Select Committees and Prime Minister’s Questions can be held online digitally then we need to ask what is happening in Enfield and to our local democracy