DECISIONS taken by council chiefs on three contentious issues have been ‘called in’ to be examined by the authority’s scrutiny committee.

Wycombe District Council’s Improvement and Review Commission will meet next week to run the rule over decisions made by Cabinet members.

Cabinet’s decisions to close Bassetsbury Lane Allotments and proposals to revamp the Castlefield Star Blocks for temporary accommodation under a new WDC housing plan have been questioned by other councillors.

Councillors have also asked the I&R Commission to look at Cabinet’s ruling to omit Wycombe Sports Centre and RAF Daws Hill from the area the soon-to-be formed Daws Hill Neighbourhood Forum would serve.

Members of the I&R Commission will consider whether to proceed with the call in process during a meeting at WDC’s HQ at 7pm on Tuesday.

They will have three options for each item – request the respective Cabinet member for more time to investigate the matter before the Commission expresses its position to the Cabinet.

Or I&R Commission members can elect to draw up their response on the night and refer it to the designated Cabinet chief for consideration.

The Cabinet member will then decide whether to stick with their original decision, amend it or, with the Leader’s permission, put it before Full Council for discussion.

Or the scrutiny committee can throw out the call-in request altogether and the original Cabinet member’s decision will take effect at the end of Tuesday night’s meeting.

A decision can be ‘called in’ providing it meets strict requirements and is requested by a select number and mix of councillors.

The Bucks Free Press reported earlier this year that eight ‘call-ins’ cost the district’s taxpayers £20,000 between the local elections in May 2011 and February this year.

A further call-in was made in May regarding the Buckinghamshire Tenancy Strategy – with the latest batch taking the total tally up to 12 since the local elections. Each call-in costs about £2,500.