In the Local Government Act 2000 (c. 22), after section 21 insert—
(1)Subject as follows, a local authority in England must designate one of their officers to discharge the functions in subsection (2).
(2)Those functions are—
(a)to promote the role of the authority’s overview and scrutiny committee or committees;
(b)to provide support to the authority’s overview and scrutiny committee or committees and the members of that committee or those committees;
(c)to provide support and guidance to—
(i)members of the authority,
(ii)members of the executive of the authority, and
(iii)officers of the authority,
in relation to the functions of the authority’s overview and scrutiny committee or committees.
(3)An officer designated by a local authority under this section is to be known as the authority’s “scrutiny officer”.
(4)A local authority may not designate any of the following under this section—
(a)the head of the authority’s paid service designated under section 4 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989;
(b)the authority’s monitoring officer designated under section 5 of that Act;
(c)the authority’s chief finance officer, within the meaning of that section.
(5)The duty in subsection (1) does not apply to a district council for an area for which there is a county council.
(6)In this section, references to an overview and scrutiny committee include any sub-committee of that committee.”