centre for public scrutiny

The Centre for Public Scrutiny is a small charity dedicated to promoting the theory and practice of good governance, and the principles of accountability, transparency and involvement.

The bulk of our work is in local government, providing support to people who sit on, and support, overview and scrutiny committees. You can find out more about us as an organisation by clicking on the "About Us" tab, above.

The bar on your left will take you to parts of the site where you can access work we've done recently, and work we're planning in the future.

Events - browse forthcoming events. Our events tend to be designed for a professional audience, and explore practical issues relating to accountability.

Publications - since 2003 we have built up a comprehensive library of publications studying many different aspects of accountability and good governance, combining theoretical and academic work with highly practical guidance.

Training and development - we provide direct consultancy to organisations seeking to enhance their governance arrangements, both through our Accountability Works For You framework and by providing one-off support - this involves drawing on our significant body of research to help people to explore practical issues around the practice of effective accountability. We have a team of Expert Advisers - practitioners especially selected by us who have the skills and knowledge necessary to provide a high quality service to our clients.

Supporting health, care and well-being scrutiny - since 2004, the Centre for Public Scrutiny has been running a Department of Health funded support programme for the 150 health overview and scrutiny committees of social services authorities as they have developed their powers to promote the well-being of local authorities through effective scrutiny of health, care and well-being issues.

Tackling health inequalities - our major programme examining health inequalities involves us working with a number of local agencies, including councils, to explore how overview and scrutiny can make a positive contribution to tackling difficult problems centred on equality and deprivation. You can download our "Peeling The Onion" guide which outlines the successes of this project so far.

National Overview and Scrutiny Forum - we manage a national practitioners' forum for overview and scrutiny in England and Wales - you can find the agendas and minutes of meetings here.

Accountability Works - this major project, kicked off by research published in April 2010, has focused on identifying the links between different forms of accountability operating in the delivery of public services.

Current projects - this page provides short summaries of other major projects on which we're currently engaged.

Policy and Skills Briefings - these popular publications, added to regularly, provide national background and best practice on a number of current issues. Written to meet the needs of those involved in local government scrutiny, we try to publish roughly one every month and a half.

Ageing Well programme - this new programme, funded by Age UK, is exploring how backbench councillors in local authorities can help to tackle issues affecting the elderly.