The Communities and Local Government Committee inquiry into local government overview and scrutiny (O&S) is certainly overdue. A model which was first introduced nearly two decades ago has so far avoided much scrutiny itself, with most broadly accepting it was preferable to the committee system it replaced.  

At CfPS, unsurprisingly, we strongly believe that the current approach is still the right one – grounded in the principles of democracy and giving a strong role to backbenchers in relation to policy development and holding to account. But it’s certainly not perfect and there could be no better time to have a national conversation about where scrutiny gets it right and where it could be improved.