Once upon a time, dear scrutineer, there was a senior officer called Ralph who worked as a director at three different councils. Here is his scrutiny story. I wonder what you’ll make of it? At the first, Strawbridge District Council, Ralph’s relationship to scrutiny was as a witness, appearing before the scrutiny committee to present reports and answer questions. At this council, it was generally the officers who did this, cabinet members, when they did attend, sat with the committee members...
7 days ago • 2 min read
Kostas, a scrutiny officer I know, was telling me about what he thought was a funny moment before a meeting the other week. He said it was ok to share, so, as long as you keep it to yourself, here it is. The chair of the committee that Kostas supports was talking to him about how to get the committee members out of their obvious cliques. Every meeting they all sit together in their political groups, which means that, for one thing, scrutiny doesn’t feel as cross-party as it should. For...
14 days ago • 1 min read
Vice Chair Jo was telling me the other day about one of the members on her scrutiny committee. “I mean, he’s very polite, I think he enjoys the sessions and asks good questions sometimes but…” (and I knew there was a ’but’ coming) “… he just doesn’t believe in it, he just doesn’t think there is any actual point to scrutiny”. I’ve heard this before, of course. Even after all these years I hear people talking about the ‘good old committee system’ and how scrutiny was an afterthought when they...
21 days ago • 1 min read
Have you been thinking about AI in the context of your scrutiny work at all? Conversations are certainly starting to happen - so here are a couple of things that it might be useful to reflect on. I see that as councils are beginning to form policies, so some scrutiny committees are starting to receive reports on AI. And I wonder if the first in-depth inquiries are just around the corner - perhaps they are happening already? And, from a scrutiny perspective, there are so many dimensions of...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Did you ever use poetry to help you reflect on your scrutiny work? Either reading or writing? Well, here are eleven scrutiny haiku from me for you to try. Each has the same format - three lines of five, seven and five syllables. #1 Scrutiny is this: Both Devil’s advocate and Guardian angel #2 The horseshoe table Reminds us about the nail That lost the battle #3 The executive Raises their eyebrows to say I am thinking now #4 We have invited The concerns of citizens As our honoured guests #5...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
On the topic of in-person vs virtual committee meetings, here are the views of four scrutiny chairs. Who do you think is correct? Councillor Ali - ‘In-person only’ “In-person is so much better for democracy. The discussion is of a much higher quality and the people know they are being properly represented, in the room. You can see body language and feel the mood in the room and know that people are engaged in a way you just can’t with virtual meetings. Don’t forget the side meetings are so...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
How might you describe the role of the scrutiny chair? Could you do it in a word or two for Councillor Davies who, along with many others will be starting as a chair for the first time about now? After all, it’s about much more than simply managing the agenda’ no? I was reflecting on this after listening to the Governance Matters podcast, hosted by Kirsty Hunt. She was talking to Councillor Neil Knowles at Windsor and Maidenhead Council and he said, about being a chair: “You should be the...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
When the invitation to attend the scrutiny committee dropped into Jeff’s inbox it was already feeling like one of those days. He had just seen the update on the hospital inspection, and it wasn’t good news. To make things worse, the disciplinary hearing he was chairing this afternoon was looking like a nightmare for the ages. “The Chair, Councillor Rogers, would like to invite you to meet with the committee to discuss recent concerns raised by residents about health services in the area”, he...
2 months ago • 2 min read
I’ve sometimes been asked to give advice about scrutiny best practice. What I’ll say is sorry, I’m not sure there is any. Even good practice might be a bit of a stretch. Let me explain in case this sounds strange. The key thing here is context. I’ve seen enough scrutiny to know that everywhere is different. The places are different, the councils are different, the committees are different, the people are different, the rules are different and perhaps most important of all, the cultures are...
3 months ago • 2 min read
I know it’s hard to make time, but now it’s spring, are you giving any thought to how your committee will get started in the next municipal year? And have you considered having a conversation about how everyone might work together?Maybe it’s not a priority and I can understand that. You might have elections and inductions and then there is committee memberships, setting dates and work planning. A lot to do!And maybe there’s no obvious need to think about team development for the committee....
3 months ago • 2 min read