Dear scrutineer,

So, I just wanted to drop you a line to say how valuable your work is. I hope people around you appreciate the contribution you make and the time you put in. I hope they know it’s not easy.

And, if you do have a moment to reflect, I hope you can give yourself a big pat on the back for the difference that you make.

Some people think you just turn up to meetings and make speeches! But we both know it's not that at all.

They don't appreciate the time you take reading through those piles of papers and the time you spend carefully listening to all those different voices. It’s that understanding and that listening that helps you to ask those important questions. And it’s those questions, and the conversations that follow, that help keep the system on the rails. You get things in the open, you keep decision makers’ feet on the ground and sometimes you even find some room for improvement.

And yes, I know, sometimes this all goes unnoticed.

As we both know, scrutiny work can fly under the radar and it’s perhaps hardest to see when it’s working well. Good scrutiny has a preventative effect so folks might not notice it at all, but decision makers know it’s there and it gives them food for thought. It helps makes things better just by being there.

Also, scrutiny doesn’t always get the credit it deserves.

After all, scrutiny is not in the front of people’s minds as other public services might be. I mean, people don’t really know what it is, do they? When people ask what you do do and you say “I’m on a scrutiny committee” or “I support scrutiny” there’s that blank look that we all know so well. You might say “err, do you know what an select committee is?”, but that doesn’t really help either.

But scrutiny IS a public service and a vitally important one.

And it’s not easy.

From my role supporting scrutiny over the years, if I know anything it’s that no one gets it right all of the time. There’s no single set of instructions for scrutiny. It’s a constant process of learning and developing, of trial and error. And yet, for all the frustration, I know there have been successes, moments you’ve been pleased about, work you’ve been proud of and differences you’ve made.

Please take a moment to reflect on those positives if you can.

So, despite all the challenges, and despite the occasional indifference, I hope you can keep plugging away, keep trying new things and keep reflecting. After all, we can’t have good governance without the work you do.

I hope it was useful to hear this 🙏