Why did scrutiny councillors fail to pick up on problems at Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust?

Hull Daily Mail columnist Angus Young says big questions still need to be answered by the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust.

If the late Edwin Starr has been a local councillor he might well have asked what scrutiny was good for. Absolutely nothing?

Well, not quite, but the question raised its head again this week over the latest developments at the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust.

The scrutiny process in local government is in some ways similar to the select committee system at Westminster.

Scrutiny councillors can not only review the inner workings of their own authorities but also hold other public bodies to account on behalf of the taxpayer. That's the theory, anyway.

In my experience, the effectiveness of scrutiny often depends on the abilities of those doing the scrutinising. For those being scrutinised, the opportunity also exists to be economical with the truth if the need arises.

Take the example of the hospital trust, which manages Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill. It is currently nursing a sore head after being clobbered by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission.

They recently identified no fewer than 17 issues which required immediate action, from tackling chronic staffing shortages to addressing a culture of bullying in some departments.

So had the respective health scrutiny committees in Hull and the East Riding picked up any of this beforehand or were they the recipients of a load of flannel from the trust?

As the East Riding's deputy leader Jonathan Owen admitted this week, the wool might well have been pulled over scrutiny's eyes for some time.

"I feel there has been a lack of engagement," he said. "I would not say it has been a whitewash but I do think a rosy picture was painted by the trust when the reality was somewhat different."

Some big questions still need to be answered about the recent running of the trust. The sudden resignation of former chief executive Phil Morley, the departure of several senior consultants and the conclusions of two as-yet-unpublished reports on governance and financial management issues at the trust remain largely unexplained.