centre for public scrutiny

Self Evaluation of Overview and Scrutiny 2012 »

1.2 It was agreed that the self-evaluation of the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) function at Northampton be repeated in 2012, the aim of which is to produce an Excellence Plan for O&S building upon the good practice that has been previously recognised.

Birmingham City Council: Retention and Development of Staff in the City Council »

One of the current challenges the City Council faces, resulting from the economic climate, is to manage change in the City Council’s workforce. This includes moving towards different ways of working as well as making reductions in headcount.

Birmingham City Council: Customer Services »

Investigation into Customer Services

Customer Services Review »

1. Purpose/Objectives of the Review • To evaluate all customer services with a review of the customer contact centre, customer satisfaction and the refurbished and extended one stop shop.

Neath Port Talbot: Performance Management Review »

A review of the arrangements the Council has in place to secure the continuous improvement if its functions

Customer Services »

This report details the findings and recommendations from the scrutiny review of Customer Service. This review presented an opportunity to find out what

Digital Divide »

This report details the findings and recommendations from the scrutiny review of Digital Divide. The digital divide refers to the gap between those who have effective access to phones, computers and broadband and those who don't. There is also a strong correlation between what is known as digital exclusion and poverty. We sought to examine in this review how the council (and everybody else) might, unwittingly, be exacerbating this digital divide as more and more services are being delivered online.

Absence Management »

The purpose of the Scrutiny Panel was:

• To evaluate the impact that staff absence has upon service delivery
• To review the effectiveness of the Council’s Health and Well Being Policies in reducing sickness absence
• To ensure absence management systems are robust and applied consistently in all departments

Birmingham City Council: Reducing Sickness Absence »

This report reflects on the current position on sickness absence, in which a new managing attendance policy has been introduced to tackle sickness absence rates. We chose to undertake a short review, building and expanding on work undertaken elsewhere in order to examine how managers are responding to the changes, what effect it is having on sickness levels and to consider what can be further enhanced.

Census 2011 »

We undertook this review in order to improve and understand better the role that the London Borough of Hillingdon could play in working with the Office for National Statistics (ONS), helping to improve the Borough’s returned 2011 Census questionnaires.

There is a close relationship between the population data which is gathered from a Census, and in the long term, the level of funding that the Council receives from Central Government.

Customer Contact »

SCDC set up a task and finish group to look at how customer contact services could be provided following the end of the contract with Cambridgeshire County Council in December 2012.

I Can't Get In! - A Corporate Scrutiny Committee Report on reported difficulties accessing the Council ICT system »

In response to anecdotal evidence of difficulties encountered by members in accessing the council’s computer system, the ICT working party held a special examination.

Mutualism »

The aim of this review was to start the process for considering whether any assets or services currently owned or run by Lewisham Council were suitable mutualisation; whether the Council should be promoting this; and, if so, how it could do this and what practical assistance it could offer.

Smarter Working »

The aim of the review was to investigate smarter working initiatives across the council and the impact of these measures on efficiency savings.

Smoking Cessation Scrutiny »

From July 2010 to January 2011 the Select Committee investigated the issue of smoking. The review covered tobacco education in schools, young people’s access to tobacco, the role of local businesses to support employees who wish to quit smoking, and how the Council can set a positive example for other local employers to follow.

Sunderland 'The Place' »

The overall aim of the Policy Review was to understand the concept of ‘the Place’ and the associated issues around its identity and image, as well as the perceptions people have of Sunderland.

Age Proofing Mainstream Public Services and Engaging with Older People »

This dual review was completed by the HCC Safe and Healthy People Select Committee and prompted by an awareness of the changing demographics of an ageing population in Hampshire. The initial review considered the issue of age-proofing services, which led to a second review focused on engaging with older people.

Communications and New Media »

The review was conducted in response to a report received by the Transformation and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Communications, where the Committee requested that the matter be looked at in more detail.

Cost of Consultants »

The objective of this Task and Finish Group was: -

· To investigate the reasons for the use of consultants at Northampton Borough Council
· To investigate the reasons for the use of agency labour at Northampton Borough Council
· To consider the alternatives to using consultants
· To consider the alternatives to using agency labour
· To assess the risks involved in implementing these alternatives
· To evaluate the effectiveness of the work undertaken by consultants within the authority and determine the impact on the existing staff base
· To consider the costs involved by the Council in using consultants and to compare these costs to other similar local authorities, department by department, for the years 2005/06 and 2007/08
· To consider the costs involved by the Council in using agency labour and to compare these costs to other similar local authorities, department by department, for the years 2005/06 and 2007/08
· To examine the procurement arrangements associated with consultants department by department, for the years 2005/06 and 2007/08
· To examine the procurement arrangements associated with agency labour department by department, for the years 2005/06 and 2007/08
· To examine the procedure for the procurement arrangements associated with consultants and how this is budgeted for and financed
· To examine whether the use of consultants is a skilling or de-skilling process

DDA 2005 - Access to Council Facilities (Review) »

Short review looking at whether the publicly accessible areas of the Main Council Offices meet the necessary DDA access requirements.

Dignity at Work »

This scrutiny review was established to provide a mechanism for strong
Member input into the development of a Dignity at Work strategy for Brighton
and Hove City Council.

Hays Recruitment Review »

The review understands the objectives set out in the New Ways of Recruiting contract, the tender document, to examine the risk associated with outsourcing the Council's recruitment service and to identify good practice in recruitment from other organisations. Due to the commercial sensitivities surrounding the contract, only a summary report can be provided.

Hertfordshire Pathfinder Programme Topic Group »

This is the report of the Pathfinder Topic Group.   The report assesses how effective the Pathfinder initiative has been to date, in helping to achieve the aims for Hertfordshire as set out in the bid:

• Enable customer focussed services
• Improve sustainable service provision
• Improve effective and efficient local government in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board Topic Group »

This is the report of the HSCB (Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board) Topic Group which looked at the progress and performance of HSCB in 2009/10.

Improving Residents Satisfaction »

Following the results of the Place Survey 2008-9, 80% of respondents thought that the district of Bromsgrove was a great place to live but only 34% were satisfied with the way the Council ran things.

The aim of the Task Group was to explore these perceptions with the ultimate goal of improving residents satisfaction with services provided by the Council.