Speaking at CIPFA’s national Local Government Deputy CFO Summit 2026, read Ian Parry’s insights on building more resilient, transparent and effective councils.
CfGS Director of Governance Services, Ian Parry, joined a panel of governance, audit and finance specialists to explore how councils can strengthen transparency, accountability and effective decision-making in an increasingly challenging environment.
Alongside Nicholas Harvey (CIPFA) and Sarah Ironmonger (Grant Thornton), Ian discussed the governance pressures facing local government as councils continue to respond to financial uncertainty, organisational transformation and rising public expectations.
Drawing on CfGS’ work with councils nationally, Ian focused on the importance of governance maturity – moving beyond procedural compliance towards clearer accountability, stronger organisational transparency and more effective democratic oversight.
A key theme of the discussion was the relationship between governance culture and formal governance structures. Ian reflected on the importance of ensuring that scrutiny, audit and decision-making arrangements support constructive challenge, organisational learning and better decision-making, rather than becoming overly process-driven.
The panel also explored how councils can strengthen trust internally and externally through clearer accountability, stronger member engagement and more visible governance leadership. Ian highlighted the opportunity many councils now have to reposition scrutiny and governance arrangements as active drivers of improvement and organisational resilience.
The session reflected many of the themes emerging through CfGS’ current governance improvement work, including scrutiny effectiveness, accountability, governance culture and the importance of embedding sustainable governance behaviours across organisations.
The CIPFA Local Government Deputy Chief Finance Officer Summit is a premier two-day leadership event tailored exclusively for deputy CFOs and senior finance professionals in councils.
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