The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS)

Economic development shapes almost every aspect of a place, from the health of town centres and local businesses to regeneration, infrastructure, skills and access to good jobs. Councils commit substantial resources to this agenda, often through complicated partnerships and long-term projects whose benefits may not be visible for years. That makes it a challenging area to scrutinise, and an important one.

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Every council under pressure to improve has a plan. The harder question is whether the arrangements overseeing it can tell if the plan is working. Improvement boards, assurance panels and scrutiny committees can easily slip into monitoring progress against actions, while the deeper changes in culture, performance and outcomes go untested. This free online session is a chance to learn together and share experiences of getting oversight of improvement right.

Like everyone in the wider local government family, we have been digesting the Government’s pause and review of LGR, announced earlier this month. Inevitably, there is much to discuss about the review and how it will affect every aspect of councils’ work – including CfGS’s areas of focus: governance and scrutiny. But we should also hold on to the fact that this is a human story as well as a local government one.

Commercial ventures can be a real asset for councils – but they also carry financial, governance and reputational risk that needs proper oversight. That oversight isn’t always straightforward: arm’s-length structures and commercial confidentiality can make it harder for scrutiny to see what it needs to see.

Local government covers everything from inner-city high-rises to scattered farming communities – and that variety means the same policy or decision can land very differently depending on where someone lives. This session looks at scrutiny themes that matter most for rural communities: what’s distinctive about the issues they face, and what scrutiny can do to make sure those issues get proper attention. It’s aimed at councillors and officers alike, whatever stage you’re at.

Ranjeev Pathak shares thoughts on how scrutiny in policing compares to the local authority model, the unique challenges of holding police to account, and why nurturing scrutiny skills early – even through something as simple as a shop receipt – matters for the next generation. Ranjeev is Scrutiny Manager at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and a graduate of the CfGS Elevate Leadership Programme.

9:00 pm - 4:30 pm We are excited to announce we are opening early-bird ticket sales for the CfGS Annual Conference 2027: People, Places, Lives.

11:00 am - 12:30 pm Scrutiny reviews (or task and finish groups) often don’t follow one fixed formula – but the strongest ones share common ingredients, inlcuding: Member ownership A well-defined scope The right evidence and witnesses to get beneath the surface of an issue.

Financial strain, political change, and rising public expectations are reshaping what good governance looks like. At this year’s CIPFA Public Finance Live conference, our Chief Executive Mel Stevens joined Hamid Ali, former Leader of Croydon Council, on the panel stage to make the case for what strong governance, scrutiny and organisational culture can do when councils are under this much pressure and what it takes to build genuine resilience rather than just survive the next crisis.

Every council’s constitution sets the framework for effective decision-making, good governance and democratic accountability. This session unpacks what the constitution contains, why it matters, and how it shapes day-to-day council business. Suitable for councillors at any stage – whether new to the role or looking to refresh existing knowledge – the event covers how to use the constitution as a practical, working document rather than a shelf-bound rulebook.