[Ed Hammond]

Did a session on this in Wales last week.

A very rough way of doing this is obviously to make sure that recommendations themselves are "SMART" although it is obviously a bit more complex than this.

I will see if I can dig out something else on this for you.

[Vanessa Cookson]

Ehammond Wrote:Did a session on this in Wales last week.

A very rough way of doing this is obviously to make sure that recommendations themselves are "SMART" although it is obviously a bit more complex than this.

I will see if I can dig out something else on this for you.

Thanks Ed that would be really useful, look forward to hearing from you.

[Craig Goodall]

When completing working group investigations we always try to test the recommendations we are making with those orgainisations that they are going to affect. We also try to circulate the report too so any inaccuracies can be removed. This is generally successful and helps improve recommendations and increase their chance of being accepted.

[Earl Piggott-Smith]

Craig Goodall Wrote:When completing working group investigations we always try to test the recommendations we are making with those orgainisations that they are going to affect. We also try to circulate the report too so any inaccuracies can be removed. This is generally successful and helps improve recommendations and increase their chance of being accepted.

Hi, I follow the approach above. There is a balance between presenting recommendations which can be implemented easily and those which present a challenge to the Cabinet and Chief Officers of the authority. There are some occasions when the purpose of the report is to get a debate going between members abotut the relative merits of the report , which can lead to changes to the final recommedations which can they can be implemented and deliver better than would be otherwise be the case.

The issue of presenting recommendations with sometimes no budgetary implications has been an ongoing complaint about scrutiny reports.

All the reports recommendations should be supported by the evidence in the report. I drafted a checklist of things to think about when putting together recommendations, which you might be helpful in testing the validity of reports - contact me if you would like me to send you a copy.