Topic: Devolution
This section contains material about the process of devolution in England. It contains material from pre-2024 discussing the previous Government’s approach to the establishment and operation of combined authorities, and post-2024 material which sets out the new Government’s shifting approach, including their ambition to use devolution as an enabler for wider public service reform.
This section sets out our thoughts on Mayoral and combined authority accountability as well as our commentary on the establishment and operation of local Public Accounts Committees.
It connects closely to material that we have published that relates to local government reorganisation, a process being taken forward in parallel to Government’s wider devolution agenda.
Management of freedom of information by combined authorities
This is a short research report commissioned by the Combined Authorities Governance Network (CAGN) to explore the management of freedom of information (FOI) requests and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). CAGN is a network of combined authority governance professionals, chaired and supported by CfGS with LGA funding.
Discussion paper: local Public Accounts Committees
This is an update to a discussion paper produced in early 2018, expanding further on our proposals for local Public Accounts Committees (“local PACs”) and for the first time setting out practical experiments to test some of the key ways that we expect local PACs will operate. CfGS intends to work with a small group […]
Local Public Accounts Committees
Why is it needed? What will it deliver? How will it work? The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny believes that current accountability arrangements are not strong enough for the increasingly complex landscape that characterises public service delivery in many localities. CfGS believes that local Public Accounts Committees (PACs) should be created which would help secure […]
Combined authority scrutiny: six months on
CfGS reviews the first few months in operation of the new scrutiny arrangements for Mayoral combined authorities. Since 2015, the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny has been carrying out sustained research on devolution –into howlocal governance can be an integral part of the dealmaking process,and into the mechanics of the how overview and scrutiny systems […]
Devolution scrutiny: eight months on – free event
In March 2017, CfGS convened an event bringing together scrutiny practitioners from around the country to talk about the establishment of scrutiny arrangements for combined authorities. Nearly a year on, a lot has changed. Government’s commitment to the devolution agenda may have wavered, but Mayors have been in place in six areas for a few […]
Overview and scrutiny in combined authorities – a plain English guide
[UPDATE: this document was published in 2017, and scrutiny practice in combined authorities has evolved significantly since then. The Scrutiny Protocol (supported by Government’s statutory scrutiny guidance, updated in 2024) now provides the most reliable advice on scrutiny practice in CAs. CfGS is preparing to update its own guidance material to support those councils on […]
Reflecting on the Public Account Committee’s view of Devolution
The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), before Christmas, put out the latest in a series of reports which have been generally unconvinced of the Government’s approach on devolution. There are in my view three main elements to the PAC’s views as they have been expressed so far. Government needs to be much clearer about its […]
Devolving accountability – a riposte to the Public Accounts Committee
Jacqui comments and Ed blogs on the new Public Accounts Committee report. Jacqui McKinlay, Chief Executive of CfGS, commenting on the release of the Public Accounts Committee’s report, Accountability to Parliament for taxpayers’ money, said: “The Public Account Committee must accept devolution of scrutiny is part of the package. Parliament will need to share accountability […]
Devo why, devo how?
Kicking off our 2015/16 campaign on devolution and governance, this report highlights the key steps that we think areas pursuing deals need to consider – including the involvement of the public and the involvement of non-executive councillors. Devolution presents a huge opportunity to local areas. A vista of new powers is opening up – powers […]