Sustaining outcomes in changing times

Session Summaries

Day One – Wednesday 30th June: CfPS Annual Conference 2010

09.40hrs: Keynote opening session - Accountability Works (Porter Tun)
A combination of more demanding public attitudes and the expectations of greater availability of public data means that the demands of public accountability will grow, whether public agencies like it or not. The question is whether the public sector is a grudging victim of these expectations and opportunities, or whether it grasps them and seeks to develop new, more creative forms of accountability. In his speech, Matthew will explore the changing context of accountability and offer ways for public agencies to see accountability as an opportunity, rather than a burden.
Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, RSA

10.00hrs: Accountability for people and places – what does it mean in practice? (Porter Tun)
This session will bring accountability through scrutiny to life with real examples of impact at a local level. Darren will draw on his experiences as Chair of Assembly Committees and share his views on how accountability through scrutiny can reconnect people to those with power. There will also be time to discuss how accountability can connect strategic priorities with local needs to deliver better services.
Darren Johnson, Former Chair, London Assembly, Chair, London Assembly Environment Committee

11.35hrs – 12.35hrs & 14.00hrs – 15.00hrs
Workshop 1: Scrutiny in a cold climate: influencing tough choices about efficiency savings and shared services (Porter Tun)
We are entering a period of significant change, driven partly by the new political environment and partly a major cut in resources for local government. These changes will see a radical shift from the current reality, in which councils are mainly providers delivering a wide range of services to one in which they are have two key roles; as community leaders and as commissioners of services.

This workshop will explore how scrutiny can respond to these changes. What are the questions you need to ask? Looking outwards, how can partnerships help deliver efficiency? Looking inward, what can councils do to re-shape themselves to be fit for purpose for the future? What will be driving change and what will get in the way?
Catherine Staite, Director, Organisational Development, Office for Public Management

Workshop 2: Winning back public trust: contributing to local democratic renewal (Upper Sugar)
This session will focus on lessons learned from a two year investigation into the factors affecting trust in local councils. Our research shows that devolving power to local governments, creating more elected mayors and introducing more referendums will not alone be enough to restore trust. These structural reforms, along with conventional accountability measures, miss the nuance of behavioural values and personal interactions that are crucial to trust.

This session will explore a new 'truster typology' developed by Demos that goes beyond traditional marketing segmentation to help local councils improve public trust by understanding the values and concerns of different residents.
Jonathan Birdwell, Researcher, Demos

Workshop 3: National pledges, local outcomes: making the NHS Constitution a reality (James Watt)
The workshop will be an opportunity to explore what the NHS Constitution really means for organisations and how NHS non-executives and other ‘scrutineers’ can support the implementation of the principles, values, rights and pledges contained in the Constitution and obtain assurance that they are being translated into real outcomes on the front line.
Gareth Hadley, East of England and East Midlands Appointments Commissioner James Doughty, Policy Manager, Appointments Commission

Workshop 4: Citizen Power: what enhanced public transparency means for formal accountability (King Vault)
The citizen - government relationship has changed profoundly in the last 20 years as citizens have come to expect a greater say in what is done in their name. This change has accelerated over the last 3-5 years as technological changes put increasing amounts of government data directly into citizen’s hands. At the same time, citizens have ever increasing ways to meet and talk together.

This session will explore the implications for local government of the new connections that citizens are making between both datasets and each other. It will explore ways that these connections can be harnessed to strengthen accountability and citizen involvement, rather than pushing government and citizens into greater conflict and disagreement.
Simon Burall - Director, Involve

Workshop 5: Scrutiny – where professional evidence and public opinion collide? (Queen Vault)
The aim of this workshop is to explore the role that scrutiny committees play as a public forum for gathering evidence, which can take the form of expert, professional advice or views, opinions and experiences from the public and service users. Emma and Richard will debate whether the media provides effective accountability by reporting public opinion, how professional judgement and the use of expert witnesses works best to get the most out of scrutiny and if evidence is conflicting, how is an independent judgement reached?
Emma Maier, Editor, Local Government Chronicle Richard Jeavons, Chief Executive, Independent Reconfiguration Panel

13.35hrs – 14.00hrs
Getting to the heart of the matter: tackling social inequality (Porter Tun)
Social inequality is exacerbated by the inverse care law. This means that those who are in most need of support are the least likely to get it. There have been many attempts to address the needs of disadvantaged communities, however these have been focused on top-down interventions rather than asking the community what they need, the experience of the community is the greatest resource we have to tackle inequality. This session will consider how services can be restructured so they are effective and easily accessible for those most in need of them.
Lord Victor Adebowale CBE, Chief Executive, Turning Point

15.40hrs: ‘Total Place Total Accountability’ Panel (Porter Tun)
The programme formerly known as Total Place was the former government’s initiative to seek to “deliver better services at less cost, through effective collaboration between local organisations and leadership”. How will decision-makers be held to account for the shared decisions they make, particularly around service change and efficiencies? What role do elected councillors have in setting the strategic direction and scrutinising the outcomes of Total Place programmes? Our expert panel, chaired by Nick Raynsford MP, Chair of CfPS, will give their perspective and answer the questions that delegates identified during their discussions in the morning keynote session.
Chair: Nick Raynsford MP
Maurice Frankel, Director, Campaign for Freedom of Information
Professor George Jones, Emeritus Professor of Government, LSE
Lord Michael Bichard, Executive Director, Institute for Government

16.40hrs: Minister’s Speech (Porter Tun)
The Minister will discuss the Coalition Government’s plans for public scrutiny, accountability and transparency.
Bob Neill MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government

Day Two – Thursday 1st July: Officer Development Day

09.45hrs: The roles that scrutineers can play in challenging the culture of targets (Porter Tun)
John will discuss how scrutiny practitioners can push forward real improvement by challenging the prevailing culture of “working to targets” in the public sector. How can those with a formal role in accountability provide challenge to public bodies in local areas and change thinking to actual improvement rather than just targets and process? John has been a long-term critic of the public-sector reform regime; he is vociferous in arguing there is a better way. John will illustrate the damage wrought by targets and how better measures used in a better way lead to improvements beyond imagination.
John Seddon, Managing Director, Vanguard Consulting

11.30hrs – 12.30hrs
Workshop 1: Scrutiny and academia: a case for further participation (Upper Sugar)
On the face of it scrutiny and academia have a lot in common. Gathering evidence, drawing conclusions and producing reports are familiar activities in both worlds. In practice, however, ‘academic’ is something of a dirty word for those working in local government and research can often have a low status. The aims of this interactive workshop are to explore the reasons for this tricky relationship, to identify the benefits of bringing the two worlds closer together and to highlight practical ways that scrutiny can be improved through a more academic approach.
Dave Mckenna, Overview and Scrutiny Manager, City and County of Swansea / Mark Ewbank, INGLOGOV

Workshop 2: Selling yourself: how to “market” accountability (King Vault)
This session will explore:

• Relationships with the local press and how the local media perceive the business of local government, and scrutiny;
• How the position of the scrutiny function within the authority affects the ability of scrutiny to raise its profile;
• Understanding how, when and why to carry out scrutiny work in order to ensure that it is relevant and of interest to local people;
• Good examples of scrutiny raising its profile (notable practice)

The session will provide officers with the opportunity to develop their thinking of the practical steps they can take to raise the profile of their work.
James Morrison, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, University of Kingston / Hannah Pearce, Select Committee Media Officer, House of Commons

Workshop 3: Community engagement through social networking (Queen Vault)
This session will explore:

• The background to social networking and some of the key technologies and terminology;
• Innovative ways to use new technologies to engage with local people;
• Potential drawbacks and pitfalls to this approach.

Dave Briggs, Community Evangelist, Learning Pool

13.30hrs: Sharing good work: collaborative session aimed at drawing out excellent practice from audience members (featuring Award winners)
This interactive session will allow delegates to hear about some examples of successful scrutiny, and to talk in small groups about what makes scrutiny work well. It will provide an opportunity for delegates to discuss some of their own work which might have led to positive outcomes, sharing best practice, experiences and tips on making local accountability work.
Ed Hammond, Research and Information Manager, Centre for Public Scrutiny

15.00hrs – 16.00hrs
Workshop 4: Enhancing the role that scrutiny plays in the improvement process – practical tips (Upper Sugar)
The session will explore:

• What the “improvement process” in local government looks like, and how different authorities plan to improve;
• The potential impact that the abolition of CAA and lessening of other forms of central government inspection will have on improvement;
• What this may mean for scrutiny, in the context of an increased role for local accountability and locally-led improvement, across an entire local area.

The session will allow delegates to develop arguments to deploy in their authorities to ensure that scrutiny plays a central role in improvement in the future.
Sara Williams, Strategic Adviser, IDeA / Gareth Davies, Managing Director, Audit Commission

Workshop 5: Death by a thousand cuts: how can local scrutiny save itself in an increasingly cold climate (King Vault)
"As the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury said "I'm afraid there's no money left". And there's even less in local government.

In these circumstances, Scrutiny will be facing increased – well, scrutiny. The session looks at how scrutineers can respond to that challenge to protect and promote the principles of good local accountability. In particular, the session will explore how the value of good scrutiny can be assessed and communicated, as well as what to do if the worst happens and the axe falls.

Don't panic. We're here to help"
Josh Mynott – Scrutiny Officer, Lancashire County Council

Workshop 6: How can scrutiny hear the voices of young people? (Queen Vault)
This session will:

• Discuss when working with young people will improve your review’s outcomes (and when it won’t),
• Focus on some of the practical ways to seek their opinions.
• Conclude by agreeing some constructive approaches to implementing these proposals

Matt Clack, Scrutiny Officer, London Borough of Hackney / Peter Marrington, Head of Scrutiny and Member Development, Leeds City Council

Day Two – Thursday 1st July: Member Development Day

11.30hrs: Coming challenges for scrutiny: the next year
This session will set the scene for members’ discussions during the day, highlighting the challenges that scrutiny will face in the next year, and suggesting some opportunities for scrutineers to influence the agenda locally. Jessica will focus on issues around funding pressures and the need to find efficiency savings and how scrutiny can help in this process by ensuring the public’s voice is heard and new solutions investigated. She will also examine new initiatives such as the programme formerly known as Total Place and how scrutiny members need to understand the work of local partners as well as their own council.
Jessica Crowe, Executive Director, Centre for Public Scrutiny

13.30hrs: Scrutiny Café – Knowledge and Skills Sessions

Knowledge:	Joint scrutiny: your powers Crime and disorder: what are CDRPs and how do they operate? The local accountability picture - who else does scrutiny at a local level? Health scrutiny: working more closely with your LINk
Skills:	Performance management and improvement Working with officers to get the outcomes you’re looking for Negotiating, questioning and leadership skills for scrutineers Taking control of your scrutiny reviews: understanding planning

 

If you have any queries about the CfPS Annual Conference please contact the CfPS 2010 Conference Office on:   Tel: 01323 637707   Fax: 01323 644904 Email: cfps2010@confpeople.co.uk