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 officers and one councillor from West Sussex, Redbridge, Devon and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole councils. The main learning points from …
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 to the 20 participants from across the country who took part 👏 Help to gather feedback on peoples experience of …
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 of course) opportunity to network and share some ideas and good practice around using video calls for scrutiny. Aimed at scrutiny officers …
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 good feedback from those who have used it, so I thought I would share in case you might find it …
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 the same council. Not that this is a bad thing of course. For me what matters is that any process …
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 helpful to share what I think are the seven characteristics of the most effective ones. Seven characteristics of a good scrutiny work …
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 with integrity and performs effectively. Ultimately scrutineers can see themselves as ‘safeguarding services’ – spotting the warning signs of poor …
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 some ideas to improve the scrutiny power of challenge that others have found helpful. Already do them all? Have an …
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 policy problems and make recommendations that improve the services that matter to people. And, by putting backbenchers to work on …
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 and, through scrutiny councillors, already well connected to the public. If you are thinking about improving how scrutiny involves the …