[Keith Gordon]

Ed

I'd certainly support any such proposals and want to play a part.

Keith

[Mark Codman]

I also support this proposal and would like to be involved.

[Mark Lowe]

Ed,

Yes, I would also support a District Network and would be willing to help out in getting this up and running if you need any help.

Regards,

Mark Lowe

Adur and Worthing Councils

[Howard Boots]

Ed,

Same old message from me . As you know, I am not from a District Council and after March 2010, I will not be from any Council, but I have been involved with the National Networks Forum from its inception and have seen it grow with the potential to become a serious influence on the direction of the CfPS and therefore, hopefully government policy on local government scrutiny. Because the National Forum comprises representatives from scrutiny networks across the country it encompasses counties, districts and unitary councils from Cumbria to Cornwall.

Although I work in a unitary authority it was only recently that I heard about the unitaries and counties network and upon enquiry was told that it tended to be representative of southern and midland areas. Many people working in district councils may well appreciate and value a district's network and I would fully support representatives from that network being on the National Forum, but we must guard against fragmenting scrutiny officer and elected member representation.

Local government scrutiny must speak with one voice and during my time as a member of the CfPS Advisory Board I stressed the need to support officers in all authorities, but especially districts where scrutiny support officers were often isolated and under resourced and definately overworked. I often felt however, that my message did not have sufficient impact.

Local authorities are going to be under severe pressure in the forseeable future irrespective of government and scrutiny will be vulnerable to cuts. It is vital therefore that scrutiny should provide a united front and single message when it comes to consultation and influence.

Howard Boots

[Aileen Johnson]

I think Ed's idea is great, and would definitely help officers working in districts, bearing in mind the caveats placed on it by Howard

[Ed Hammond]

Thought I'd take the opportunity of this thread coming back up to say that the lack of info recently doesn't mean we're not doing anything about this. I am finalising a bid for funding to support some of this work from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. On that basis we should be able to do something really interesting, but even without funding I'll be able to do something.

[Mark Lowe]

That is good news Ed and I hope that you are successful in getting some funding. It would be good to get something off the ground for Districts in the near future so please let us know how you get on.

Mark Lowe

Adur and Worthing Councils

[Lee O'Brien]

Hi

I'd support any such effort in this direction. In North Yorkshire all the District Councils currently feed into a Scrutiny Network Forum that meets regularly. As such, it would be useful to have a national forum too.

Look forward to any future updates.

[Anita Cunningham]

I like the idea of a National District Forum - and its nice for Districts to get some attention.

The mini conference might work well as I know often my members don't attend meetings because of the distance they have to travel for a meeting that lasts a couple of hours or less, which is a shame as they can miss out on a lot of important sharing and learning.

Also excellent that CfPS are pursuing funding ! Re waiting for a quieter time ..... phrases that come to mind are 'why are we waiting' and 'just do it' (with much thanks and appreciation ofcourse) - always happy to support (if I can given my constraints so accurately described above by Howard).

Anita Cunningham, Scrutiny Officer - Chesterfield Borough Council

[Ed Hammond]

Sadly, we're not going to be able to get funding from the source I'd hoped, but I'm trying other sources at the moment.

More details next week hopefully.