Harrow Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee has published its annual report for the 2025-2026 municipal year, detailing its work in overseeing council performance, policy development, and strategic oversight.
The report highlights the committee's focus on key areas including financial sustainability, safeguarding, workforce stability, and strategic direction. It notes that scrutiny played a role in reviewing the final Revenue Budget for 2026/27 and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2028/29. This process involved councillors challenging financial assumptions and scrutinising long-term sustainability. The committee's comments were fed through to the Cabinet for final decisions on budget priorities.
Significant attention was also given to improved safeguarding oversight, with the committee examining the Harrow Safeguarding Children Partnership Report. This report included challenges around multi-agency cooperation and data-sharing.
Workforce stability and service capacity were addressed through scrutiny of the Workforce Development Programme and the reliance on agency staff, particularly in high-risk areas like Children's Services. The committee members scrutinised the long-term reliance on agency staff, with a particular focus on Children's Services, and the steps being taken to address these concerns.
The committee reviewed the new Corporate Plan 2026-27 to ensure it aligned with Harrow's overarching priorities: putting residents first, making the borough clean and safe, and supporting those in need. General oversight of performance, service improvement, and policy development across the council and its partners was also maintained.
The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee monitored the performance of NHS partners, reviewed access to primary care, and examined pressures on adult social care services. Progress on the relocation of cancer care services from Mount Vernon to Watford and improvements to care leaver services following an Ofsted inspection were key areas of focus. Following the Ofsted inspection, improvements have been made to care leaver services, with staff proactively re-engaging young people after support had previously been withdrawn too early. The Scrutiny Committee has focused on monitoring these service changes and ensuring residents' needs remain central to decision-making.
The Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee maintained a strong focus on ensuring efficient, value-for-money services. It reviewed key areas including Capital Monitoring, Strategic Performance, and the Council Budget. The subcommittee noted Harrow's comparatively strong financial position relative to other London boroughs, while also identifying areas for improvement, such as the timeliness of performance data. Delays of several quarters in performance data make it difficult for members to track progress and assess the impact of recommendations in real time. Officers have acknowledged this and are working to improve reporting timescales.
The Scrutiny Leads for Community, People, and Resources focused on strengthening the effectiveness, quality, and responsiveness of council services. The Community Scrutiny Leads concentrated on resident engagement, neighbourhood resilience, and collaboration with partners. The People's Scrutiny Leads oversaw services for children, families, and adults with care needs. A major focus was the ILACS review, which required ongoing scrutiny of the Council's improvement actions. Their challenge strengthened oversight of the ILACS improvement plan and led to improvements in performance reporting. They also highlighted gaps in support for care leavers and encouraged a renewed focus on preventative services. The Resources Scrutiny Leads oversaw internal operations, workforce, digital services, and organisational resilience.
The report concludes that scrutiny has played a vital role in strengthening accountability, improving transparency, and driving service improvement throughout the 2025-2026 municipal year. Looking ahead, scrutiny will continue to focus on long-term financial sustainability, regeneration, children's social care improvement, digital transformation, customer service performance, and the reduction of health inequalities. The reduction of health inequalities is identified as a key area of focus for the upcoming scrutiny work programme. The Scrutiny function will work closely with residents and partners to shape a refreshed work programme that reflects the needs and aspirations of the borough, which will include addressing health inequalities.
