Category: Blog
Improving Scrutiny: From the perspective of a new Democratic Services Officer by Charlotte Cameron, Democratic Services Officer, Peterborough City Council
Improving Scrutiny: From the perspective of a new Democratic Services Officer When I started my role as a Democratic Services Officer, in the April of this year, I was starting my first role in a local authority. As a fresh, wide eyed new starter I had little idea of how important my role as a […]
One Coventry Response to Supporting Our Communities with the Cost of Living Crisis – Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee
One Coventry Response to Supporting Our Communities with the Cost of Living Crisis – Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, a blog by Gennie Holmes, Scrutiny Co-ordinator at Coventry City Council Members of Coventry’s Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, as well as numerous other members, had raised concerns about the growing cost of living crisis, particularly on those communities and […]
Improving Scrutiny: working with our Members- by the Scrutiny Team at Essex County Council
As practitioners, we are always keen to develop and improve scrutiny here at Essex County Council, whilst also being mindful to ensure that we remain Member-led. We were, then, really pleased when our Scrutiny Board members asked us to complete a short, focussed review on the effectiveness of the function earlier this year. By way […]
BLOG: Look After Yourselves People, by Helen Mitchell – Interim Manager/Consultant in policy at Oxfordshire County Council
Look After Yourselves People I write this blog a few short weeks after World Mental Health Day – a day to advocate for, and signpost to, a greater understanding and appreciation for mental health and how we can all take active steps to improve it. I’ll share in this blog how colleagues within Scrutiny are […]
Statutorily the same? By Camilla de Bernhardt Lane
It feels like a different world in which the Department formally known as MHCLG published the statutory guidance for councils and combined authorities on the 7th May 2019. For those of us who have inhabited the Scrutiny Sphere for some time there were few surprises. However, the realistic approach with a smattering of helpful suggestions […]
Governance risk and resilience
In March last year (2021) we published the “Governance risk and resilience” framework – a set of material designed to support people working in councils (and in other parts of the public sector too) to understand some of the behaviours and challenges that can lead to weakness in the corporate governance framework. Since then we […]
Into the horizon: scrutiny looking into the future
Horizon scanning is often said to be a key part of the contribution that Scrutiny can make. But how far into the future is far enough? Scrutiny has come a long way since its inception in 2000 where a key feature was safeguarding through transparency. The need for transparency has not diminished, but the focus […]
The cost of living crisis and scrutiny
For the first time on record, temperatures in the UK exceeded 40°C, though this isn’t the only record broken this year; inflation hit a new 40 year high, the energy price cap is the highest it’s ever been and as we head towards the autumn, the cost-of-living crisis is set to have a devastating impact […]
Guest Blog: Terrie Alafat, Chair of the Mears Customer Scrutiny Board
Terrie’s reflections as the Board publishes its second independent annual report As Chair of the Mears Scrutiny Board, I am pleased to report the main findings of our second annual independent report. The Scrutiny Board was established in 2020 as one of three new customer engagement mechanisms forming part of the Mears ‘Your Voice’ strategy, […]
Health and Care Act: implementation update
Next week, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will cease to be, and in their place new statutory Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) will come into being – taking responsibility for the design and delivery of health and care services across a wide geographic footprint. While these changes have been a long time coming it is important not […]