Cinderella's set to come of age

摘要

Is it me, or is everybody suddenly talking about the local authority scrutiny function? What was once regarded as a Cinderella function, is now recognised for making an important contribution to the machinery of local government. For those of us who saw its potential, this is not a surprise. The question now is how to develop overview and scrutiny without burying it under this new weight of expectation. There is now, undoubtedly, much activity, good practice and professional expertise to build on. The 1,250 scrutiny reviews in the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) online library is testament to this. The health scrutiny model has also got off to a good start. In the first year report of a three-year research project for CfPS, the University of Manchester indicated that 92% of social services authorities had started a programme of work, and there were early signs that health scrutiny had prompted constructive working relationships between local authorities and NHS bodies.