Topic: Subject-specific scrutiny best practice
Over the years CfGS has been the source of a significant amount of practical guidance for councils in how their scrutiny functions can understand, address and make recommendations on specific policy issues. Ranging from the cost of living crisis to cybersecurity, this best practice guidance (and a number of associated case studies) provides advice on a broad range of common topics.
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.
The Good Scrutiny Guide
This guide is intended to provide advice to councils, councillors and officers on the operation of overview and scrutiny; we also hope and expect that it will be of use to other stakeholders, including the public. It is written to complement the Government’s statutory scrutiny guidance for councils and combined authorities (published May 2019). Councils […]
Delivering effective governance and accountability for integrated health and care
A new explainer for the NHS and local authorities outlines possible solutions for the governance and accountability challenges brought by the move to integrated health and care. NHS organisations and local authorities are already working closely together to join up approaches to delivery and this will become even more important as the journey towards more […]
Risk and commercialisation: a guide for scrutiny councillors
This report by APSE (the Association for Public Service Excellence) and the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny discusses the ways in which scrutiny can engage with issues arising from commercial activity. The report explores the current landscape around commercialisation, and provides a toolkit and guide for councils to help build their own bespoke, locally-relevant governance […]
10 Questions for Effective Scrutiny of Local Council Strategies to Prevent or Reduce Suicide
Providing a lifeline: Effective scrutiny of local strategies to prevent or reduce suicide. This publication looks at effective scrutiny of local strategies to prevent or reduce suicide, focusing on context and relevance for scrutiny, quality improvement and the role of scrutiny and provides 10 questions for scrutiny committees to ask.
Peeling the Onion
This comprehensive support programme formed the first phase of a longer term piece of work to help local authorities tackle health inequalities through their scrutiny function. 13.5% of councils in England were involved. This document sets out the lessons learned from this support exercise, and offers practical advice. Local Government has a significant role in […]