Who serves on the different commissions?
Who serves on the different commissions?
All councillors except the Mayor and councillors who are part of Cabinet may be members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and its commissions.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee can also appoint co-opted members to the committee and/or the scrutiny commissions. Co-opted members are not allowed to vote with the exception of parent or diocesan representatives who can vote on education matters.
Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Commissions in Newham
Scrutiny arrangements differ from council to council.
The committee receives reports by the executive on progress against priorities, organisational restructures, budget and performance monitoring, and leads on commissions which cross-cut multi-service areas (such as homelessness), along with updates and engagement from various statutory partners as required.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) Membership for 2025/26 is as follows:
- Chair: Cllr Lester Hudson
- Cllr Liz Cronin
- Cllr Joshua Garfield
- Cllr Carleene Lee-Phakoe
- Cllr Susan Masters
- Cllr Mehmood Mirza
- Cllr Terence Paul
- Cllr Rohima Rahman
- Cllr Lakmini Shah
The OSC Membership also includes co-opted members.
In addition to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, there are four subsidiary commissions reporting into the OSC, with each commission meeting separately to progress its own work programme. These commissions have the following Chairs:
- Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission: Cllr Joshua Garfield
- Education, Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission: Cllr Lakmini Shah
- Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission: Cllr Susan Masters
- Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission: Cllr Lester Hudson
Find out more details about the membership, meetings and agendas of the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee.
Each Commission scrutinises subjects at quarterly meetings and may also instigate ‘Task and Finish’ commissions. These culminate in focused research reports on a given scrutiny topic chosen by Members. Recommendations from the work of scrutiny are presented at Cabinet, or to the relevant Individual portfolio lead in the Executive - for their respective consideration.
