Category: Blog
Scrutiny as a mindset
I had an interesting conversation on Twitter (inevitably) recently which got me to thinking about how we conceive of scrutiny – what it’s for and how we think about it. Forgive me for the navel-gazing, but we are engaged in helping the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as they draft the new […]
Taking on The Housing Challenge: A Scrutiny Councillor’s Guide (Blog)
This week we are publishing a guide for councillors on the scrutiny of issues relating to housing, supported and funded by the LGA. The pressures on housing represents one of the major challenges faced by councils. It’s axiomatic that having a safe and secure place to live is fundamental to people’s ability to live […]
Managing performance and the “thermocline of truth”
Fellow train nerds will have been watching with interest the ongoing debacle that is the year-long delay to the £15 billion Crossrail project in London. This new east-west railway should be opening this December, but the announcement came a few days ago that this would be delayed by a full year. Those working in local […]
Local Government financial governance and scrutiny – passing the robustness test?
This week will see even more talk of the financial challenges facing councils, if that’s actually possible. Looking at CfGS activities for the week, we’re talking financial resilience at the LGC Summit, it’s the inaugural CIPFA CfGS Councillor Conference and at our national health scrutiny and assurance conference on Friday we expect finance talk to […]
Devon Scrutiny Symposium – 7 September
On 7th September Devon County Council are hosting a scrutiny symposium for members and officers to share ideas and experiences of scrutiny. The event will be one of the first to mark twenty years of scrutiny – Devon having been one of the piloting authorities of the new arrangements in 1998/99. Devon are bringing together […]
#scrutinysuccess
On 4th December, the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny will host its annual local government scrutiny conference in London where around 150 scrutiny practitioners will gather to focus on this year’s theme of ‘Strategies for Success’. At the event we would like to showcase examples of scrutiny work that you are most proud of. To […]
Brexit and local government
Are you bold enough to conduct a scrutiny review into your council’s preparations for Brexit? I ask because the shape and complexion of our relationship with the EU beyond the end of March 2019 still looks unclear. There is, it seems, the real prospect of the Government not being able to negotiate a “transition deal” […]
Government guidance on overview and scrutiny to be published in December
(EDIT, September 2018: We have now published more information about the overview and scrutiny guidance, which you can find here) We are working with MHCLG to produce guidance on the operation of local authority overview and scrutiny, which we expect will be published during December. This guidance follows the Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s […]
Quoracy issues in combined authority scrutiny
What do you do if not enough councillors turn up to a meeting for it to be quorate? Until recently this was perhaps a rather arcane point of procedure. Inquoracy in ordinary council meetings is really very unusual. But the advent of scrutiny at combined authority level has thrown the issue into the spotlight. This […]
Thinking about elected chairs
One of the recommendations made by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee when they investigated overview and scrutiny was that councils experiment with the idea of directly elected chairs of overview and scrutiny committees. Of course, in a strict sense, this already happens. Councillors vote on appointments to scrutiny committees, including chair positions, at […]