Category: News
Jacqui McKinlay is to step down as Chief Executive of CfGS
Jacqui McKinlay is set to step down as Chief Executive of the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny after six years leading the organisation. She is taking up a new role as Chief Operating Officer with Liverpool City Council starting in January 2022. In announcing the move, Lord Kerslake Chair of CfGS said: “Jacqui has […]
HCLG Committee publishes report on progress on English devolution
On 1 October, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee of the House of Commons published its long-awaited report on the progress of English devolution (long-awaited because the inquiry began in July 2019, and was then delayed first by the General Election and then by the pandemic). The report is generally positive about the […]
Annual Review of Adult Social Care complaints 2020/21
The recently published ‘Annual Review of Adult Social Care complaints 2020/21’ by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman pulls together the national picture of complaints about adult social care providers, arranged and funded privately, or by local authorities. The review outlines critical themes from across the country, and some of the issues raised are […]
Health and Care Bill update
The Health and Care Bill is now making its way through Parliament. We are at the stage in the Commons where the real meat of scrutiny – committee stage. At a Public Bill Committee, MPs go through the Bill line by line, with the Minister present. Opposition MPs, and the Government, can suggest amendments. This […]
Now is the perfect time to check your governance
Please note: this article was originally published on the Local Government Chronicle website here. Most councils are in a good place for reviewing and implementing improvements that will help improve governance resilience. September and the start of autumn always brings with it an air of change and renewal, particularly this year as people return, […]
Governance and accountability: ICSs and LGR
In this guest blog, Mark Sandford, a senior research analyst at the House of Commons Library, delves into the implications for local accountability through reorganisation and the Health and Care Bill. When institutional reforms take effect in the UK, governance, accountability and scrutiny are accustomed to being the afterthought. Often, accountability is thought of in […]
Constructive scrutiny: What does it look like in practice?
In this guest blog, Dr Dave McKenna, a CfGS associate and local government practitioner, draws together his insights on how to get the balance right in providing effective challenge. I’ve observed a few scrutiny committees in my time, for fun, obviously, but also for the occasional governance review. For these formal observations I’m looking for […]
Performative aspects of scrutiny
In this guest blog Cllr Bryony Rudkin, deputy leader at Ipswich Borough Council, reflects on the importance of behaviours in how local councillors enact democracy and scrutiny. “Read the standing orders, read them and understand them!” At bit like the moon landings, Berlin Wall or England beating Colombia in that penalty shoot out, take your […]
Local and national scrutiny: challenges in common
In this guest blog Mark Sandford, senior research analyst at the House of Commons Library, takes a comparative look at scrutiny on a national and local level. The Municipal Journal published an article on 1 July 2021, from a former head of communications of the London Assembly, calling for its abolition. This was advocated on […]
Lessons from scrutiny improvement reviews
In 2018, CfGS carried out its first evaluations of local authority scrutiny functions using a new method, and under a new title. We brought together our wealth of research, policy and practical experience and developed the “scrutiny improvement review” (SIR) as a consistent and comprehensive way to evaluate scrutiny arrangements, to diagnose problems and to […]