Category: News
Blog: Political culture: the central role of the executive
This is the first in a series of five blogs on political culture and scrutiny. Over the course of the next couple of months we will explore what political culture is, what its practical implications are and how members and officers at a local level can work together to identify deficiencies in how people act […]
News release: New guidance will help council’s CEOs address scrutiny’s ‘Cinderella’ perception
News release 1.2.2020 New guidance will help council CEOs address perception of scrutiny’s ‘Cinderella’ status New guidance, published today, from the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) will help council leaders and senior managers address scrutiny’s ‘Cinderella status’ and ensure that their council’s scrutiny function is effective in holding local decision-makers to account. Taking Scrutiny […]
News release: Reducing Gambling Harms – Call for Evidence by CfGS
28.1.2020 CALL FOR EVIDENCE AND EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST: Reducing Gambling Harms Is your Council working in partnership to understand and tackle gambling harms? Is your scrutiny function supporting this work in anyway – through oversight or policy development? Would your scrutiny function like to do more to review partnership activity and access CfGS expert support […]
Resilience in local government – what do we mean? Blog by Katie Grigg, CfGS Research Officer
Resilience in Local Government As the new decade unfolds and we reflect on the past 10 years in local government, it is timely to review the current position of local government and its ability to respond to austerity, uncertainty and how well it is prepared for future threats and opportunities. Whilst there have been some […]
Blog: Culture, maternity failures and the Ockenden review: case study by Ed Hammond
Culture, maternity failures and the Ockenden review: a case study Those with an interest in health scrutiny will have been keeping a watchful eye on the developing independent review of maternity services provided at Shropshire and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust. Donna Ockenden was commissioned to undertake this review two years ago following a number of […]
Blog: How is digital democracy shaping the role of local government scrutiny? by Dr Catherine Howe, Vice-Chair of CfGS
Where does scrutiny sit in today’s democratic world? How is digital democracy shaping the role of local government scrutiny? The conversation about digital in local government has moved leaps and bounds compared to the comparable conversation about democracy and its time to put some serious thought to how we catch up. In leading councils digital […]
News: Survey reveals local government scrutiny is the ‘poor Cinderella’ compared to executive function
News release SURVEY REVEALS LOCAL GOVERNMENT SCRUTINY IS THE POOR ‘CINDERELLA’ COMPARED TO THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTION Local Government scrutiny has never been more important in restoring the public’s trust in democracy, however scrutiny is still the poor ‘Cinderella’ compared to the executive function in local authorities, according to the national charity responsible for championing […]
The pre-election period (“purdah”) and scrutiny
In the past few days we have received a number of queries from councils asking about how they manage the “pre-election period” in the context of their ongoing scrutiny meetings. This period (commonly called “purdah”, although we don’t use that word because of its connotations) is also sometimes described as the “period of heightened sensitivity”. During […]
Centre for Governance and Scrutiny strengthens Board with new appointments
The national charity responsible for championing excellence in governance and scrutiny in the private, public and voluntary sector, has welcomed three new Trustees to its Board. The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) announced three new appointments including Caraline Jackson, Head of Education at legal firm Bates and Wells and Helen Bailey, Chief Executive of […]
Leading sector bodies working together to provide practical advice to councils to assist in the strengthening of local governance
A range of national bodies are working together to enhance councils’ understanding of how they can diagnose and reduce the risk of failure in corporate governance, and what success factors can point the way to greater strength in this area. Research is being led by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny and Localis, and funded […]