Blog - Dave Mckenna Solutions

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

Promoting public participation: Seven scrutiny power-ups

31st January 2019 Dr Dave Mckenna Participation

Participation is one of the seven scrutiny super powers because scrutiny can act as a doorway for the public to get involved in council business. Scrutiny is flexible, one step removed from the decision makers

Seven scrutiny power-ups to boost accountability

16th January 2019 Dr Dave Mckenna Accountability

Accountability is one the seven scrutiny superpowers. By requiring cabinet members and other decision makers to give an account of themselves in public and by asking the questions that citizens want answers to, scrutiny is

Seven scrutiny power-ups for making the council more transparent

8th January 2019 Dr Dave Mckenna Transparency

Transparency is one of the seven scrutiny superpowers. By asking questions and publishing the answers, by asking for reports and putting them in the public domain, scrutiny has the special ability to make local government more

Six frameworks to help demonstrate the impact of scrutiny

7th December 2018 Dr Dave Mckenna Accountability, Capacity, Frameworks, Integrity, Participation, Scrutiny, Transparency

Thinking about how you demonstrate the impact of your scrutiny work? Wondering how you might improve? Well, there are frameworks that can help. This post highlights six. No doubt there are things you are already

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