Overall, we found that: Scrutiny in Caerphilly has limited impact, which raises questions about its value for money. We reached this conclusion because:

• the role of scrutiny is understood by officers and members, but in practice responsibilities are not always applied;
• training and support are offered to members, but our findings raise questions about the impact of that training;
• limited member involvement in planning scrutiny activity impacts on members’ ownership of their work;
• scrutiny committee meetings can lack impact;
• the Council does not proactively engage the public in scrutiny, who do not always understand its purpose; and
• the Council does not fully evaluate scrutiny’s impact or its value for money.