Current projects

CfPS are working on a number of projects at the moment. The delivery of the usual annual programme of training, seminars and the annual conference are elements of this.

Accountability Works

Accountability Works is our continuing campaign to promote meaningful and effective accountability in the public sector, with democratically-elected representatives at its heart. Our work began with detailed research on accountability early in 2010, which demonstrated that accountability is exerted in different ways in different organisations and sectors - potentially leading to complicated and opaque governance. Rather than proposing wholesale structural reform, we instead suggest that decision-makers and scrutineers alike should recognise the presence of a "web of accountability" - a network both locally and nationally made up of local people, the media, the market (through choice), inspectors, public sector managers and lay scrutineers - all of whom have an interest in holding services to account. By working together, those with an interest in these different forms of accountability can enhance their work and deliver real improvements to public services.

We think that the principles behind the "web of accountability" will put the public sector in a position to be able to meet the demands of increased partnership working and the significant financial cutbacks that can be expected in coming years. 

As part of AW, we are organising a series of regional events in late 2010, which will take our findings to senior politicians and senior managers in the public sector, and seek to persuade them that accountability is a force for improvement and that it provides a way to help them to make some of the tough decisions that can be expected in the coming months and years. We're also planning to launch an Accountability Charter, which will provide organisations with the opportunity to make a public commitment to the principles in AW. Our Charter is still under development and we welcome any ideas and comments on its operation.

Total Place / place-based budgeting

In September we are publishing a piece of research on Total Place (soon to be renamed "place-based budgeting" or something similar) which will examine how non-executives have been involved in the development of designs and plans for service change in the 13 TP pilot areas. Total Place has the potential, through allowing more freedom for organisations to work together, to make significant changes to the public sector locally. We think it is important that non-executives have an opportunity to influence how this happens, and our report will be making recommendations which we hope will have an influence on the rollout of place-based budgeting nationwide.

Health Inequalities Programme

We are currently providing support to 9 areas who are carrying out work into health inequalities, in a project funded by the Department of Health. More information can be found via the menu bar on your left.

Other research

Later this year we are planning to produce research on:

• work programming for scrutiny practitioners (Jan 2011);
• the way in which the public can and should become further involved in local accountability (Jan 2011);
• how scrutiny practitioners can use different methodologies, such as cost/benefit analyses and value for money assessments, to render their work more relevant and robust (September 2010);
• research on the links between local scrutiny and academic research (a project being funded by LARCI) (February / March 2011);
• our annual survey of overview and scrutiny in local government (January / February 2011).

Campaigning and lobbying

Throughout this year we are continuing to campaign and lobby to highlight the importance of accountability to good decision making.

(last updated: 14/7/10)