Topic: Finance
The material in this section relates to councillors’ duties around the scrutiny of finances – the way that a council’s budget is delivered “in year”, and the way that budgets for future years are designed.
There is crossover between this material and other material that we have published under the “assurance” heading.
Turn and face the changes
Key messages from Mel Stevens on the governance of public services, as featured in the Municipal Journal.
Not waving, but drowning – Council budgets and inflationary pressures
Camilla de Bernhardt Lane explores ways to navigate Council budgets and pressures associated with finance.
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.
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 Fireside Chat
Arrangements for Health Scrutiny explored by Camilla de Bernhardt Lane and Ed Hammond, with practical tips on how to administer them.
Financial scrutiny – a guide for members
A guide to financial scrutiny, 2023.
CfGS 2023 annual survey of overview and scrutiny in local government
Headline findings of the 2023 CfGS annual survey of overview and scrutiny in local government.
Briefing Note: Financial Scrutiny Webinar with CfGS and Guy Clifton
A summary briefing of a Financial Scrutiny Webinar held in 2022.
Scrutiny and the cost of living
Although the cost of living crisis is dominating political conversation this week – especially in light of the rise of the energy price cap – for us in local government this is a crisis that has been going on for years now. For more than a decade councils have had to grapple with the challenges […]
Our annual survey
We have now published our annual survey of overview and scrutiny in local government – the definitive picture of scrutiny’s effectiveness in the first year post-pandemic. You can read a summary of the key findings here – https://www.cfgs.org.uk/resource/what-makes-for-effective-scrutiny-excerpt-from-the-cfgs-annual-survey-2021 . The full report can be read here – https://www.cfgs.org.uk/resource/cfgs-annual-survey-2021-22. The findings are perhaps unsurprising – reflecting […]