Sector: Local Gov

Committee system amendments – an explainer

The government’s amendments to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will allow a small number of councils to keep the committee system for a limited time


Scrutiny and local government reorganisation – a practice guide

Explore how scrutiny functions can navigate and retain their role effectively during Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), including key principles and considerations for maintaining oversight through the transition.


Relational Constitutions: A provocation for rethinking local governance

How we can recast council constitutions as a living document that doesn’t just describe power, but shapes how it is held, shared and made accountable


Structures, resources and formal powers – a practice guide

An outline of the powers and structures that underpin overview and scrutiny in England, covering key areas such as committee resourcing, membership, chairing, and statutory powers.


Regional Public Accounts Committees

This is the fourth edition of a technical paper first published in 2013.


Annual Survey of Overview and Scrutiny – Results Report 2023-24

Access our annual scrutiny survey results and discover key findings from 2023-24.


Audit, scrutiny and risk

Our latest publication summarising research on how audit and scrutiny can work together to tackle the management and oversight of risk.


Annual Survey of Overview and Scrutiny – Results Report 2022-23

Read the results from our annual scrutiny survey in 2022-23.


Treasure Your Assets

The latest in our Treasure Your Assets series, designed to advise and guide councils in how to manage and control their financial assets.


Health scrutiny and the new reconfiguration arrangements

Guidance material to support practitioners to better understand how they can act on new arrangements for the scrutiny of local NHS reconfigurations.