Centre for Public Scrutiny update London Scrutiny Network 6 July 2011 Jessica Crowe Executive Director, CfPS

Contents A new vision for CfPS The Governments transparency and accountability agenda Scrutinys key role in self-regulation Accountability Works for You Our future plans Opportunities to work together

A new vision for CfPS CfPS promotes transparent and accountable government and better public services, involving communities and building public trust. Our vision is encapsulated in our new logo:

Transparency Presumption that the council will put information in the public domain - £500 expenditure info only a start Scrutiny can be a useful tool to analyse this information, highlight points of concern and mediate between the council and local people Scrutiny can use publicly-available data to add extra credibility to its research, enhancing its effectiveness

Accountability Accountability is a good thing. But we believe it should point to the people who actually use and pay for public services. Decentralisation & the Localism Bill: an essential guide DCLG December 2010

audit inspection / regulation the press elections management processes customer insight / complaints competition / choice local scrutiny CfPS Accountability Works for You peer challenge social media redress A web of accountability

Self-regulation and scrutiny LGG Taking the Lead identifies scrutiny as having key role to play (after CfPS representations!) Scrutiny as a way of assuring good performance between 3-yearly peer reviews and between elections Scrutiny as a source of evidence for peer reviews Scrutiny as a method of following up the results of reviews and taking an independent role in encouraging improvement

What do we know about scrutiny – snapshot Increasingly effective: policy review joint scrutiny scrutiny of partners involving service-users Still challenging: executive relationships resourcing & support engaging wider public budget scrutiny Solutions: Learn, network and innovate Invest in member skills Focus and prioritise Develop pro-scrutiny culture

From… To… Were talking about culture change

Accountability Works for You – our new tool A new practical tool developed by CfPS - Available as part of Taking the Lead framework Flexible & free for local councils to use themselves - Tailored support available from CfPS Helps organisations reform governance: - To support transformation & culture change - Focused on accountability, transparency and involvement

Future plans - CfPS Conference 2011 Call to Action 1.Accountability must be built in from the start of all commissioning processes 2.Constructive scrutiny can help organisations ascend not descend in the face of challenges 3.We need a new spirit of openness across all public services 4.Scrutiny enables councillors to act as the voice and conscience of their place 5.Scrutiny should embrace and champion open data 6.Involvement means talking to and asking communities about things that they are interested in 7.Local government is about democracy not just delivering services 8.Transparency must increase understanding of impact and value, not just publish data 9.We need a listening culture not a broadcasting one, including through using new technology 10.Scrutiny and accountability can help improve understanding of risk

Future plans - Our Business Plan Over the next 3 years we will develop our work in the following arenas: 1. Organisations 1.1 Councils (on-going) 1.2 NHS commissioners and providers (on-going) 1.3 Universities (in development , delivery next yr) 2. Individuals 2.1 Local overview and scrutiny functions (on-going) 2.2 Health, care and well-being scrutiny functions (on-going) 2.3 Social housing tenants (in development to launch by end 2011) 2.4 Police and Crime Panels (influencing work , delivery next yr) 3. Communities 3.1 LINks / Healthwatch (influencing work , delivery next yr) 3.2 Voluntary & community sector (in development , delivery next yr) 3.3 Local schools (in development , delivery next yr)

Our core offer remains - e-newsletters, e-digests & scrutiny exchange - reviews library, on-line forum (COP), latest news - New policy briefings and consultancy to provide support Fewer events – but Annual Conference, parliamentary seminars, practical and focused regional events Support for Local Government self-regulation & improvement Health scrutiny, health accountability and health inequalities

Whats new: more influencing Responding to government consultations & Bills: I have some sympathy with the aims of some of the amendments, and, again, I shall draw them into the discussions that we need to have. They seek to bring up to date the scrutiny regime that sits across various Acts of Parliament in light of recent changes, so it is right that we should look at them. Evidence to select committee inquiries: The Centre for Public Scrutiny argued in evidence to [our] inquiry that as an accountability mechanism, the scrutiny function is credible, legitimate and proven to have genuine impact on services. We recommend … that the Government address the contribution to accountability that can be made by robust and if necessary enhanced local authority scrutiny functions.

Opportunities to work together With less local support, regional networking is vital: - Share experiences of where things have gone well - Talk about areas of mutual interest - Plan joint work, regional or sub-regional, to share resources - Training & development for officers and members - Speak up on behalf of scrutiny and influence policy-makers CfPS has developed a regional support offer - training, policy / practice updates, facilitation, action-learning - based on minimal subscriptions per authority (£75-200) - complementing regionally provided support - to add value & share learning from national developments - suggested it to CX of London Councils – open to idea

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