Wandsworth Council has increased the size of its Overview and Scrutiny Committees and reintroduced oral questions to Cabinet members as part of a wider overhaul of its constitutional arrangements. The General Purposes Committee met on Monday, July 20, 2026, to approve a series of changes aimed at making council procedures more open, transparent, and effective. The meeting's agenda and associated reports can be found in the Public reports pack 20 July 2026.

One of the key decisions was to increase the membership of Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs) from five to seven members. This move is intended to strengthen the council's scrutiny function and ensure more comprehensive oversight of executive decisions.

The committee also agreed to reintroduce oral questions to Cabinet members in full council meetings, a move that had been removed previously. This change is expected to add 20 minutes to the agenda of full council meetings, allowing for more direct engagement between councillors and the cabinet. The previous removal of this practice was to accommodate an orderly timetable in light of the fact that the guillotine is now being removed from full council, with concerns that the agenda couldn't be too burdensome or turgid, otherwise members would be detained in the chamber way past the old guillotine time .

Other amendments to the council's Standing Orders included the removal of a 150-word limit for group motions and a related 200-word limit for amended motions. The committee also agreed to restore the practice of handing in petitions at the start of a meeting, rather than at the end.

The constitutional review, prompted by the council operating without overall political control following the May 2026 local elections, also addressed debate procedures. While a proposal to remove certain restrictive paragraphs that prevented councillors from speaking on specific types of items for two subsequent meetings was lost, an amendment was agreed to allow the opposition speaker to speak on items for decision. The restrictive paragraphs that were the subject of this debate applied to referred-up items and items of business , specifically Standing Order 29D relating to items for decision and Standing Order 30G relating to referred matters . The proposal to delete these paragraphs was lost, but an amendment was agreed to insert and opposition speaker into paragraph 29D.

The revised Standing Orders and constitutional amendments are designed to enhance democratic participation, strengthen scrutiny, and improve transparency in decision-making, reflecting the council's current political composition and aiming for a more balanced and effective governance framework. The full agenda for the General Purposes Committee meeting on July 20, 2026, is available here.