The Centre for Public Scrutiny promotes the value of scrutiny and accountability in modern and effective government and supports non-executives in their scrutiny role
The Centre for Public Scrutiny has been created to help those who look at the effectiveness of public services. We are an independent charity (registration number 1136243) set up originally by the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government, and incorporated as a separate not-for-profit company in 2003 by the Local Government Association, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Democratic Health Network of the Local Government Information Unit. We became a registered charity in 2010 with the following mission and purposes:
To promote better scrutiny for better government and the public benefit. This will achieved by:
1. Advancing education in the principles and practice of public scrutiny and accountability, maintaining a national centre of expertise and promoting national debate and networks; and
2. Promoting the development of and improving the practice of public scrutiny and accountability within government and public services, including promoting standards of professional practice.
CfPS is governed by a Board of Trustees and supported by an Advisory Board. The Board is comprised of Trustees from our three incorporating bodies (LGA, CIPFA and LGiU) and four independent Trustees, including the Chair, the Rt Hon Nick Raynsford MP.
Beginnings
Since its creation in 2003 the Centre for Public Scrutiny has cemented its position as the leading national voice of public scrutiny and scrutineers.
The Centre for Public Scrutiny was established in response to Section 21, part II of the Local Government Act 2000 which established a requirement for local authorities operating under executive arrangements (councils with a leader and cabinet structure) to create overview and scrutiny committees (OSCs) consisting of non-executive (non-cabinet) members.
This step towards a more publicly accessible scrutiny of local government made the need for an organisation that could highlight the role that scrutiny plays in governing all public services even more pressing. The Centre for Public Scrutiny has grown to be able to provide a range of services designed to ensure that the governance of services remains open to the influence of the public.
You can find out more about public scrutiny by visiting the Introduction to Scrutiny section of our website
The Centre for Public Scrutiny aims to:
Four principles
We have established four core principles to help people understand the most important activities of scrutiny:
Find out more about these four principles in our Good Scrutiny Guide.
June 2010 e-newsletter and e-digest available now.
- Pulling it all together
- 2009 CfPS Annual Survey of Overview and Scrutiny
- Cannot find server: reconnecting public accountability