DECISIONS made at the June 15 meeting of Fife Council have raised questions over the scrutiny arrangements for the new SNP-Labour Council Administration, said the leader of the Opposition this week.
Conservative Cllr Dave Dempsey said: “It’s a well-established practice that scrutiny committees should be chaired by opposition councillors. That’s recommended by the various independent bodies who offer guidance on such things and it had been the case till now. Now we have five policymaking committees that are going to scrutinise their own decisions. That’s the equivalent of allowing a learner driver to mark his or her own driving test.
“We expected such a move from the SNP, a party whose own rule book bans criticism, but it’s disappointing to see Labour, whose scrutiny arrangements were far superior, acquiescing."
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