Category: News
COVID-19 helpdesk support
The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny provides a helpdesk service on matters relating to governance and scrutiny. We are available on the phone, by e-mail and on Twitter to answer any governance-related question from councillors or officers, in confidence. This is part of our standard support to the sector. However, given the current crisis, we […]
Blog: COVID-19: webinars, workshops and other events
Our training and development offer is changing in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. You can find out more about our overall offer here. From now until September we will be offering a programme of short webinars on the key skills that councillors are likely to need in order to understand and oversee their councils’ response to the crisis, […]
Remote working regulations published
The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) (Regulations) 2020 have now been published. They come into force on 4 April. A full breakdown of the Regulations, their contents and implications will shortly be available in material produced by LGA, ADSO and the LLG, which we will link to when it […]
What will scrutiny look like?
UPDATE: since this post was published, Regulations on remote meetings have been published, and we have published a more detailed guide on scrutiny during the COVID-19 which you can find here. With arrangements for remote meetings expected to be in place within days what are the kinds of approaches to scrutiny that will make sense […]
Social care, COVID-19 and scrutiny
One of the aspects of the Coronavirus Act which has caused most concern has been the loosening of local authorities’ legal obligations in the Care Act. Powers exist for local authorities to derogate from these obligations temporarily at the peak of the crisis – when that arrives. Government has said, “it is crucial that local […]
This immediate crisis
(A shorter version of this piece appeared in the Local Government Chronicle on 18/03/20) In a time of crisis, accountability, transparency and good governance are even more important. There will be a temptation for councils, in the initial stages and as this crisis deepens, to cut back on “traditional” approaches to governance. Some of this […]
Council governance and the coronavirus
UPDATE: This post, first published on 13/03/20, was updated on 17/03/20 to reflect changed Government policy and advice. Plenty of people across local government will be thinking seriously at the moment about business continuity as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak becomes more severe. It is likely that we are talking disruption for a […]
Blog: Political culture: managing party politics
This is the third in a series of blogs about political culture in local governance and scrutiny. You can find the first and second ones here. You can’t talk about politics without talking about political parties. Recent local elections have made us even more aware of this. More councils are under no overall control, or […]
Blog: Political culture: understanding the mutual motivations of scrutineers and the executive
In my last blog I talked in general terms about the attitude and approach of the executive, and what makes for good political leadership. In this blog, the second in a series of five on political culture, I will go into more detail on the mutual motivations of scrutineers and the executive. What makes people […]
News: CfGS welcomes appointment of new independent customer scrutiny board by Mears
6.2.20 Centre for Governance and Scrutiny welcomes appointment of new independent customer scrutiny board by Mears The Centre of Public Scrutiny has welcomed the announcement from housing and care company Mears today that it is launching an independent customer scrutiny board. The national centre of expertise in governance and scrutiny has supported Mears in developing, […]