The latest views and opinions from members of the CfGS teams and occasional guest blogs.
By Camilla de Bernhardt Lane and Ed Hammond Each local authority has a triumvirate of senior officers occupying statutory roles who together form the backbone of the Council. Alongside them, ...
By Camilla de Bernhardt Lane Water-based analogies are often applied to all things finance; cash flow, same storm, but different boats; keeping your head above water, liquidating assets, and so ...
The 2022-23 results of our annual of overview and survey in local government continue to demonstrate that effective scrutiny – as we have noted in previous publications and research – ...
Our latest publication to advise and guide councils in the management and control their financial assets. Click here Check out the latest relevant legislation and unravel this complex landscape, using our ...
It is a bit of a cliché to describe contemporary politics as “febrile”, but it is a convenient way in to a discussion about how positive – and negative – ...
All councils in England are entitled – and, in fact, expected – to take advantage of the offer from the Local Government Association to undergo an external review, led by ...
We have long recommended that councils’ scrutiny functions have their ear to the ground with regard to complaints made about council services (we published a blog about it in 2019, ...
Last month (November 2023) saw the long-awaited publication of the “scrutiny protocol” – Government guidance for combined authorities on how their overview and scrutiny arrangements are meant to operate. It ...
Councils are responsible for their own performance and improvement. At a local level scrutiny provides an important contribution to this work – holding to account, challenging and supporting councils to ...
This week (w/c 11 December 2023) we’re publishing a piece of guidance for councillors on their rights to access information. These vital rights are important for councillors to understand (and ...
On 31 October 2023, the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny convened an online roundtable for governance professionals to talk about their experiences (and expectations) relating to Government "Best Value" interventions. ...
Earlier this year, we published guidance to support councils to engage with Ofsted inspections of local authority children’s services under the “inspecting local authority children’s services” (ILACS) framework. This blog ...
At the recent North East Scrutiny Joint Officer/Member Network, Scrutiny and Democracy Support Officer, Jonathan Lunness from South Tyneside, presented a report on the 'Commission on Tackling Poverty in South ...
If you are a councillor on a health overview and scrutiny committee, or an officer supporting one, you will want and need to know about the forthcoming introduction of the ...
To empower or intimidate? When I started my secondment with CfGS I didn’t anticipate the fascination I would develop with council chambers. They really are the most enchanting spaces, each ...
Recently our colleague Camilla de Bernhardt-Lane wrote to scrutiny practitioners asking how Council invite public participation in formal committees, to support some thinking she was doing to support a review ...
Working in local government is unlike any other organisation and working in democratic services and scrutiny is unlike any part of local government! It’s a balancing act between providing support ...
Hot off the heels of our own Annual Conference in mid-June, CfGS then attended the LGA Conference 2023 in early July, joined by our colleagues the Association of Democratic Service ...
With the local elections having recently taken place, many council officers are thinking about putting together a structured training and development programme for their newly or returning elected members and ...
Next year we celebrate our 50th anniversary. That’s nearly half a century investigating complaints about councils. Each year we investigate thousands of cases, many shining a valuable light on people’s ...