The Centre for Public Scrutiny’s annual survey takes a comprehensive look at the operation of overview and scrutiny in local government. Since 2004, CfPS has tracked some of the significant trends in the operation of the function in councils up and down the country. This is not just of academic interest – the information recorded has helped practitioners to explore how they can improve their own scrutiny arrangements, and to understand how others have tackled some of scrutiny’s biggest challenges. See past surveys here.
This year’s survey will be particularly important. Whichever party, or parties, is in government post-2015, some of the big trends (commissioning and outsourcing, more partnership working, and financial constraints) will undoubtedly continue. Labour have claimed that their programme for local government will entail significant devolution of power to councils – accompanied by equally significant structural reform. It will be important for us to represent the views of the practitioner community to feed into this debate. The survey results will ensure that discussions are based on accurate and timely information about local government decision-making and scrutiny structures.
To participate in the survey, please follow this link.
