[Nick Beale]

Could Ed's use of the words "interesting" and "protocols" in the same sentence be a sign that he needs a holiday?

I had to come up with "a protocol for relationships and communications between the executive and overview/scrutiny committees." This is annexed to the scrutiny procedure rules in our constitution and was introduced as a result of some practical difficulties we experienced. Go to:

http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildem..._rules.htm

And scroll down to the end.

[Tracey Tiff]

Hi Ed

At Northampton we have a number of O&S Protocols and guidance notes - all of which are published on the O&S page of the website but if you would like me to email you copies please let me know.

Thanks

Tracy

Tracy Tiff

Scrutiny Officer

Northampton Borough Council

[Craig Goodall]

I'd be interested in this as a recent audit of scrutiny has suggested that a scrutiny/executive protocol is developed.

[Tim Bowers]

Here at Rugby two years ago we had an impasse between O&S and the Executive when Cabinet referred back three reviews for further information, ostensibly for financial appraisal and demonstration of alignment with Council and LAA strategies. An unstated difficulty that Cabinet had with review reports was that they were alleged to have a tendency towards wish-list recommendations with little indication of how they could be implemented in practice.

We drew up a protocol on the manner in which review recommendations should be presented to Cabinet. This is included in the following report, along with a discussion of the issues: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/CORPORATE...eviews.pdf It goes beyond the financial considerations referred to in the title. It succeeded in easing the impasse, and procedural spanners are no longer put in the works. The relationship between O&S and the Executive is generally easier, partly because of this protocol but also because of other initiatives to improve the quality of scrutiny work..

The protocol forms the first part of our O&S handbook: http://www.rugby.gov.uk/downloads/Overvi...ps__2_.pdf

A brief section on the formalities of community engagement appears on page 19 para 6.3.2. This has more recently been augmented by a Community Strategy and Toolkit but this is not specific to O&S, though scrutiny task groups are expected to use it.

[Paul Ansell]

wrote: Here at Rugby two years ago ....

Quote:

The above message was written by me by the way. I think the site logged me out because of a long period of inactivity before I hit the Submit button and that's probably why the "posted by" is blank.

Paul Ansell, Scrutiny & Policy Officer, Rugby BC

[Josh Mynott]

Can anyone supply a protocol for the production of protocols?

[Nick Beale]

jmynott Wrote:Can anyone supply a protocol for the production of protocols?

Only if you submit your request in format prescribed in the Statutory Guidelines (as clarified in the Code of Practice, the Audit Commissions's advice and the Ombudsman's Good Practice Guide).

But seriously, why are the supposedly simple executive arrangements so much more complicated and rule-bound than the old committee system ever was?

[Matthew Garrard]

jmynott Wrote:Can anyone supply a protocol for the production of protocols?

I developed such a protocol but then I realised that it needed approval. Its still working its way through committee