Would you like to play a part in helping to shape council services?
Durham County Council is looking for volunteers to serve on its overview and scrutiny committees as non-voting co-optees and parent governor representatives.
Two non-voting co-optees are needed for each of the council’s five overview and scrutiny committees – adults, wellbeing and health; safer and stronger communities; economy and enterprise; children and young people; and environment and sustainable communities.
Co-optees serve for two years and have the opportunity to help develop new ways of working, review existing policies and challenge the performance of the authority and its key partners.
In the last two years, co-optees have taken part in reviews looking at subjects such as alcohol and the demand on emergency services; free school meals and holiday hunger; the future of the council’s woodland estate; cybercrime; and arson and deliberate fires.
Applicants will need to go through a formal selection process, with interviews due to take place in May.
The council is also looking for two people to serve as parent governor representatives on its Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
During the past year, the committee, which meets about six times a year, has considered a range of issues including the management of exclusions; summaries of serious case reviews; child poverty; neglect in County Durham; school funding and the Stronger Families programme.
In order to serve as a parent governor representative, applicants must have been elected by parents to represent them on a school governing body and must be the parent of a child currently attending a Durham County Council school or being educated outside school with funding from the local authority.
Durham County Council employees and anyone employed at a school maintained by the authority either as teaching or non-teaching staff cannot serve as parent governor representatives. Councillors and anyone already serving as a parent governor representative for another authority are also exempt.
Tom Gorman, Durham County Council’s corporate scrutiny and performance manager, said: “Overview and scrutiny committees play an important part in the decision-making process.
“They challenge decisions so that improvements can be made and ensure that our processes are transparent, accountable and inclusive.
“This is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to use their expertise, personal knowledge and experience to influence how the council and its partners develop and deliver services in the future.”
All overview and scrutiny meetings take place from 9.30am to 11.30am, with most taking place at County Hall, Durham.
For more information, or to apply for a position as either a non-voting co-optee or a parent governor representative, call 03000 268 141 or email scrutiny@durham.gov.uk
