Blog - Dave Mckenna Solutions

How can we best support public engagement in scrutiny at the time of Covid-19? Scrutiny zoom notes #4

22nd May 2020 Dr Dave Mckenna Participation, zoom meet ups

At this zoom meet up 30 participants worked on the question How can we best support public engagement in scrutiny at the time of Covid-19? using ‘appreciative interviews’. Thank you so much to everyone for their

What can we usefully learn from Virtual scrutiny meetings so far? Scrutiny zoom notes #3

7th May 2020 Dr Dave Mckenna Scrutiny, zoom meet ups

We had 30 people attending this scrutiny zoom meet up (thanks everyone) and the main activity was a Users Experience Fishbowl looking at early experiences of virtual scrutiny meetings. In the fishbowl we had four

How might scrutiny add value and support frontline services right now? Scrutiny zoom notes #2

21st April 2020 Dr Dave Mckenna Capacity, Scrutiny, zoom meet ups

How might scrutiny add value and support frontline services right now? At the scrutiny officers zoom meet up on 21st April we worked on this question and made the following list. Thank you so much

How might we best use video calls to support scrutiny? Scrutiny zoom notes #1

20th April 2020 Dr Dave Mckenna Participation, Scrutiny, zoom meet ups

Along with Matt Clack [@m_ttclack] I facilitated a zoom meet up for scrutiny officers on 7th April 2020 – week three of the lockdown. We described it like this: This is an informal (and free

The Scrutiny Planning Canvas

3rd February 2020 Dr Dave Mckenna Frameworks, Scrutiny

The scrutiny planning canvas is something that I invite people to work on in groups during courses. I think it could also be useful for scrutineers more generally as part of their practice. I’ve had

Identifying scrutiny topics – 14 helpful questions

12th June 2019 Dr Dave Mckenna Frameworks, Scrutiny

Like many other aspects of scrutiny, there is no one size fits all when it comes to identifying topics. Every council will have a different approach and there may even be differences between committees at

What does a good scrutiny work plan look like?

6th June 2019 Dr Dave Mckenna Scrutiny

What makes for a wonderful scrutiny work plan? It’s that time of year when scrutiny committees are forming their work plans. While everyone has their own way of doing this I thought it would be

Getting assurance that services are performing as they should – seven scrutiny ideas

25th April 2019 Dr Dave Mckenna Assurance

Assurance is one of the seven scrutiny superpowers. By acting as a watchdog and by ensuring that services are delivered as they should be, scrutiny can give the public confidence that the local council operates

Seven ideas for improving scrutiny’s ability to challenge constructively

12th March 2019 Dr Dave Mckenna Challenge, Scrutiny

The power of challenge is one of the seven scrutiny super powers. Scrutiny acts as an important and constructive check on the decision making process, helping to ensure that final decisions are better. Here are

Seven ways to improve the problem solving power of scrutiny

7th February 2019 Dr Dave Mckenna Capacity, Scrutiny

Scrutiny has seven superpowers and one of them is the power of solutions. By taking time to explore difficult and challenging issues in depth, scrutiny has the ability to find solutions to the most difficult