Category: Blog
2020/21 Annual survey: initial findings
To say that 2020/21 has been a significant year for local government is an understatement. The changes in ways of working brought about by the pandemic can be seen across all areas of the council, and this is also true for overview and scrutiny. This blog shares some initial findings from our latest annual survey, […]
Health scrutiny and the forthcoming Bill
The health white paper was published a few weeks ago – you can read our full response, and position, here. We do have concerns about the White Paper – in particular, what it means for health scrutiny. In setting these out, it’s worth bearing in mind that legislation never tells the whole story. There’s a […]
Pandemic recovery: scrutiny’s role in looking back and looking forward
It feels premature to admit it but it feels as though we are moving towards the end of the pandemic. We have a “roadmap” which we are told is “irreversible”, spring is coming, the local elections are on. As the crisis recedes, it’s time to begin talking about reflection and recovery. In truth we almost […]
Our governance risk and resilience framework
Last week we, along with our colleagues at Localis, published the governance risk and resilience framework – a set of material designed to assist councillors and officers to understand and act on risks to governance in local areas. You can find the framework and a range of supporting material at www.cfgs.org.uk/governancerisk. When we talk about […]
The governance risk and resilience framework
Introduction What is the governance risk and resilience framework? This material is designed to support individual council officers and councillors to play their part in identifying, understanding, and acting on, risks to good governance. The basics of our framework is based on three stages – The seven characteristics which will help you to anticipate governance […]
An update on changes in the NHS
With the effects of the pandemic still acute, it’s easy to forget that the NHS is in the middle of a change programme. For the last few years NHS England has been putting efforts into the design of healthcare using a larger footprint – originally framed around sustainability and transformation plans (STP) and now integrated […]
The challenges of scrutiny at a distance
In this guest blog, Rebecca Atherton from Leeds City Council considers the experience of remote scrutiny and its practical challenges. “Can you hear me – I can hear you? Are you muted? The webcast is now live.” If 2020 had a catch phrase any of the above would seem fitting. As we begin Lockdown 3.0 […]
Conducting remote scrutiny reviews
In our first guest blog of the year, Catherine Buckley from Knowsley Council explains how one scrutiny committee organised and undertook its first entirely remote task and finish review. Knowsley Council’s Children Scrutiny Committee kick-started their scrutiny year with a virtual workplanning session in June 2020 and voted for ‘Early Help and Parental Support’ as […]
Remote meetings: planning for permanence
We have spoken extensively to scrutiny and democratic services practitioners in recent months about how action to make the Regulations on remote meetings permanent would help to ensure that governance could be supported in a way that is more dynamic and flexible in future. Once the pandemic is over, being able to convene formal meetings […]
Reflections on the publication of the Ockenden report
The final report of the review carried out by Donna Ockenden into maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital (SaTH) has just been published. It can be found here – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ockenden-review-of-maternity-services-at-shrewsbury-and-telford-hospital-nhs-trust. The report makes for grim reading. There are implications here for maternity services across England – and for health and care services more […]