SCRUTINY: I WOULD like to correct some of the misleading statements made by Councillor Garry Huntington in his letter about scrutiny committees (HAS, Page 4, Dec 14).

He has never seemed to be able to accept the system since it was introduced many years ago.

No member has been prevented from speaking. There is no party whip. The meetings are open. Anyone can attend.

He complains about the "call-in" system. Is he aware that we have reduced the number of members required for call in from five to three?

He complains about scrutiny chairs and vice-chairs being selected from the Labour ranks. Has he forgotten that when the system was introduced, he was elected to be chairman of scrutiny 2 committee by the controlling Labour group? Unfortunately, he was a very poor attender. Consequently, he was dropped the following year.

The future of local government will depend more on scrutiny with new powers including the right to require local service providers, such as social services, to provide evidence when requested and for committees to recommend an independent inspection if it feels the relevant service has failed to address local concerns. - Councillor Jim Higgin, chairman, Overview Scrutiny Committee 2, Sedgefield Borough Council.