Dear scrutineer, here’s a question for you. Can you describe the difference between assurance and reassurance? Imagine that one day you are being interviewed by an inspector and they ask ‘how do you seek assurance? Or ’what gives you confidence that things are running as they should be?’ What might you reply?

And my view? Well I’d start with this:

Reassurance means that someone told me something and I trusted they were right. It’s a feeling.

Assurance, on the other hand, means I’ve got good reasons for believing that things are as they should be. It’s a judgement backed by evidence.

And what evidence might you draw on?

I think there are three types.

First you can draw assurance from reporting.

Yes, those performance reports that are presented to scrutiny meetings with all their tables and graphs.

By the way, I know two things that scrutiny folk find helpful when trying to make sure they get the most from these reports. The first is spending time with the team that produce them - this might be a training or briefing session, for example - a chance to make sure they understand all the terms and nuances. The second thing is engaging with the report itself. These reports aren’t cast in stone, and it may be possible to ask for changes that make them easier to read and make the key things stand out more.

The second type of assurance is from questioning.

By asking the executive to give an account of whatever is in question, you have, on the record, information to consider and judge. And we know, of course, that it is the probing of these accounts through careful questions, that can add to the level of confidence. So, it’s always good to start broad, listen carefully to the answer and follow up on those things that stand out.

You might start with questions like: “What would be your summary of what’s going well and what’s going not so well?” or “What, in your opinion, should concern us most as a committee right now?” or “What would you focus on if you knew there was an inspection talking place in six months time?”

The third type of assurance is from research.

This means going out and finding evidence outside of what’s provided by the executive or the organisation. This might include, comparative data, inspection and regulation reports, surveys and focus groups or just finding ways to keep in touch with citizens and service users.

And, of course, to get more confidence you can employ triangulation - putting together evidence of more than one type. Maybe test reporting through questioning or enrich questioning by using the results of your research. The more types of evidence you have pointing in the same direction, the more confident you can be.

And the more you will have to tell that inspector.

Thank you to TPAS Cymru for inviting me to speak on this topic at a recent webinar - providing the inspiration for this post.

If you would like to add/see comments on this reflection, you can find it on Linkedin here.