Evaluations of scrutiny arrangements
For some, reviewing a council’s scrutiny arrangements means rejigging the structure and names of committees. We recognise that it is more complicated than this. With a proven track record of success in helping dozens of councils to review and revise the way they plan and manage scrutiny, we can help in two main ways.
Firstly, we can provide desktop support to your review. With our advice, and the help of our Accountability Works for You framework, you can carry out a more proportionate and worthwhile review exercise, in the confidence that you will end up with practical, implementable actions.
Secondly, we can take more of an active role – acting as an honest broker, mediating between competing political interests and developing solutions with acknowledge both the role of scrutiny, and the likelihood of diminishing resources for its support. We can help members to understand how they prioritise and manage their workload – given what the fundamental role is for scrutiny in your authority – and to consider what that mean for processes, systems and structures. We can also help to engage with senior officers and Cabinet members, to review their perceptions of scrutiny and feed that into the planning and improvement process for the function.
Call Ed Hammond on 020 7187 7369 to learn more about what we can offer, and how we can help.
About the Author: Ed Hammond
Ed leads CfGS's work on devolution, transformation and on support to councils and other public bodies on governance and accountability.
