On 4th December, the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny will host its annual local government scrutiny conference in London where around 150 scrutiny practitioners will gather to focus on this year’s theme of ‘Strategies for Success’. At the event we would like to showcase examples of scrutiny work that you are most proud of. To do this we’d like you to send us examples that we can share. To make it easy and hopefully interesting for others, they can come in any format that suits you – with a few guidance notes: The audience is your fellow local government scrutiny ...
What are the big issues of the day? Europe, for sure. The economy for another. The scourge of ISIS. What can local government scrutiny say to these? Very little, you would think – after all, the crucial levers that determine economic and foreign policy are not in the hands of any ordinary member in a Council. But, as the Foreword in Sunderland’s review on child poverty from July last year made clear there are some issues which, though clearly requiring national solutions, is “everybody’s business”, including local authorities'.Child poverty: small steps towards a big impactChild poverty is one of ...
Why is scrutiny a good thing? I ask because it seems to me that there are a number of different justifications for scrutiny which apply differently in different areas at different times. Here are a few:In terms of governance, scrutiny can be viewed as a democratic buffer, providing a check against over-powerful local government. It uses principled opposition and questioning powers to make sure cabinet cannot do whatever it wants;In terms of efficiency, scrutiny can also be modelled as a sort of insurance scheme – every year the council pays a small premium for scrutiny councillors and officers in order ...
As you know, CfGS has decided to raise the profile of governance and scrutiny this year by introducing an Excellence in Governance and Scrutiny category in The MJ Awards 2016.This new category provides an great opportunity to highlight the value that effective decision-making, supported by scrutiny and accountability, can bring as well as featuring the skills, knowledge and expertise of those doing the work.We’re delighted that Jane Robinson (Gateshead Council and SOLACE), Brian Roberts (Leicestershire and CIPFA) and Peter Fleming (Sevenoaks and LGA) have joined our own Jacqui McKinlay as judges. They will be looking for entries that ...
CfGS will not be organising a 2016 run of its Good Scrutiny Awards. Instead, we are highlighting excellent scrutiny in two ways – by sponsoring an award for excellent scrutiny at the MJ Awards (details on how to apply can be found here) and by starting a blog series highlighting examples of excellent, innovative or otherwise noteworthy work.We start things off with this post on Buckinghamshire CC’s review of child sexual exploitation. If you would like to see your work featured in this space in due course (we hope to put up one of these blogs around every fortnight) ...
December saw some of the worst floods ever recorded in the north of England. For the first time, a major city, York, was seriously inundated. Images of floods seem to have now become a grim tradition at this time of year - floodwater cascading over breached defences, disintegrating bridges over swollen rivers, cars window-deep in water, quickly and suddenly abandoned with their hazard lights on.Pictures of the aftermath, too, are familiar. Pavements stacked high with ruined furniture and carpet, crowned with a sodden Christmas tree. Front rooms bare except for a solitary dehumidifer. Contrite and concerned politicians. Interviews with ...
It's an exciting time for us here at CfGS. Not just because we've opened our secret Santa presents, but because we’re moving our recognition of good scrutiny on to the national stage through our sponsorship of the ‘Excellence in governance and scrutiny’ category as part of next year’s Municipal Journal Achievement Awards. We are putting together the judging panel that will pick the winner to receive the award at the London Hilton next June (by the way, the venue is not the reason we decided to become a sponsor…)Over the last eight years, our own Good Scrutiny Awards have attracted ...
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