Category: News
Why your council needs a scrutiny health check
Weak scrutiny can lead to failure, strong scrutiny supports success. “I think that where scrutiny is done properly in local authorities that have the right culture, and where scrutiny is taken seriously, it can perform an excellent function in relation to how the executive works by holding them to account and putting them in a […]
Good scrutiny begins with excellent work programming
Get expert advice, support and resources An effective work programme is central to effective scrutiny. But it’s no simple task. Consultation, prioritisation, challenging conversations, seeking agreement and then piecing it all together. And then there’s the amount of resource available to support both the design and delivery of the work streams and making sure members […]
Council business opportunities
Governance assurance for successful commercial growth Many councils are being more assertive, and business focused in the way they operate, becoming more commercial and seeking new income to balance their books. Council operated businesses are not new, they have been around for many decades. However, in recent years, numerous new models are being adopted. These […]
The art of scrutiny politics
A series of workshops for council officers “We are concerned that in too many councils, supporting the executive is the over-riding priority, with little regard for the scrutiny function.” Parliamentary Select Committee on Scrutiny in Local Government, 2017 Member-led scrutiny is fundamental to how councils work. Officers at executive and manager level need to […]
Scrutiny and council readiness for emergencies – guest blog
Councillor Ketan Sheth, from Brent Council, shares his experience of how scrutiny can support council emergency preparedness. Over the spring and summer of 2017, terrorist incidents in Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge, and then the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in Kensington, rightly put emergency response at the forefront of minds across the UK; communities, politicians […]
The how and why of government interventions in councils
Ed Hammond, CfGS Director of Research, reflects on the powers central government has to intervene in local authorities and risks that the approach can bring. Here we are again – another Government intervention. Although firm action has yet to be taken to deal with the dire situation that Northamptonshire have found themselves in, the likelihood […]
Why trust in government matters
Elena Konopelko, CfGS Reseach and Policy Coordinator, explains why government should take action on building trust with the public. Edelman has published its annual trust barometer report for 2018, and the results indicate that the overall levels of trust continue to be stable but quite low for most of British institutions. The reported trust levels […]
Local Public Accounts Committees
Why is it needed? What will it deliver? How will it work? The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny believes that current accountability arrangements are not strong enough for the increasingly complex landscape that characterises public service delivery in many localities. CfGS believes that local Public Accounts Committees (PACs) should be created which would help secure […]
Local scrutiny arrangements for children’s services are under the spotlight
Local scrutiny arrangements for children’s services are under the spotlight following the Children and Social Work Act 2017. The Act sets out provisions which will: Replace Local Safeguarding Children Boards with new flexible local safeguarding arrangements led by three safeguarding partners (local authorities, chief officers of police, and clinical commissioning groups), and place a duty on […]
Governing complexity – survey results analysed
Last year we held our national annual scrutiny conference which looked at the governance of complexity. Prior to the conference we ran a short survey to get views from councillors and officers about their practical experiences on managing scrutiny and governance in increasingly complex environment. The responses were illuminating, if not entirely surprising. Over half […]