Category: Blog
STPs – how sustainable or transformative are they?
Tim Gilling, discusses how scrutiny should approach Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs). Last year the BBC called STPs ‘secret plans to cut services’. At the time, the Guardian was slightly more charitable describing them as ‘either radical local modernization plans or the end of the NHS as we know it’ – on reflection, maybe they […]
Take part in an LGA peer review!
The LGA is currently inviting volunteers to take part in peer reviews. Part of the package from which LGA member councils benefit is the offer to have a “corporate peer challenge” carried out to review the health and direction of the authority and its work. This is not an inspection, but a process by which […]
Scrutinising scrutiny
Jaqui McKinlay on why now is the time to shout about scrutiny successes The Communities and Local Government Committee (CLG) inquiry into local government overview and scrutiny (O&S) is certainly overdue. A model which was first introduced nearly two decades ago has so far avoided much scrutiny itself, with most broadly accepting that it was […]
Studying scrutiny: what’s its impact?
The CfGS is continuing to look into various issues relating to scrutiny. We have recently done a survey of scrutiny perceptions, and are currently working on estimating the impact of scrutiny across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Whether you have filled the previous survey or not, we would to like to invite all scrutiny practitioners to share their […]
The focus of our submission to the CLG committee inquiry into overview and scrutiny
Initial thinking on the inquiry and how you can get involved We’re delighted that the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Select Committee has decided to conduct an inquiry into overview and scrutiny (O&S). A national inquiry of this kind can be perceived negatively, it’s not! It represents a unique opportunity to bring to a wider audience some […]
What 2017 holds for local government…. and scrutiny
We hope that 2017 proves less interesting than 2016. Particularly in the weeks following the referendum, I seemed to get very little work done, as about eight years’ worth of news seemed to have been compressed into only a few days. Not only was there a huge amount happening on the international and national stages; […]
Major inquiry into local government scrutiny function
The Communities and Local Government Select Committee has launched a national inquiry into the powers, functions, and effectiveness of local authority scrutiny arrangements and is inviting anyone with an opinion to write a submission before 10th March, 2017. We would strongly urge those working in overview and scrutiny to take some time to submit evidence to […]
Deteriorating trust in government
Edelman, a global communication firm which measures trust levels across the world, stated that in 2017 trust is in crisis. Data from 28 countries suggests that people trust less in all four key institutions: government, media, business, and non-government sector. While this is a global phenomenon, the distrust trends among the UK institutions are significantly more pronounced. On average, in […]
Survey: evaluating scrutiny
The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny is interested in understanding the views of local politicians, council employees and other local people on scrutiny of local government. We have created a short survey and would like to invite anyone with an opinion on the issue to fill it. You can find the survey here – Scrutiny […]
Reflecting on the Public Account Committee’s view of Devolution
The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), before Christmas, put out the latest in a series of reports which have been generally unconvinced of the Government’s approach on devolution. There are in my view three main elements to the PAC’s views as they have been expressed so far. Government needs to be much clearer about its […]