The switch to cabinet-style government in our local councils a number of years ago was a welcome one. It was accompanied by a new scrutiny system under which committees of councillors are meant to hold the decision-makers to account.

In our experience, many councils have struggled to make this system work. It is, however, potentially a powerful tool similar to the House of Commons committees that do detailed work on legislation and scrutinise the workings of government.

We are very pleased to see that the county council's environment and economy scrutiny committee is to carry out an investigation into this year's flooding that affected so many parts of Oxfordshire.

It is an opportunity to show that this system can really work, that it can get under the skin of the decision-makers and root out what can and should be done to ensure we avoid the scenes of flooding we had this summer.

While the scrutiny committee does not have the same power to call witnesses as that of a Commons committee - it will be inviting representatives from the likes of the Environment Agency and Thames Water - we trust that most authorities and groups will willingly take part.

One of the biggest obstacles to the successful alleviation of flooding is the plethora of different bodies with different responsibilities. Building one picture of what did happen and what is needed to put it right is an important job and we wish the scrutiny committee well in its difficult task.