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Kick Off

Not unlike the sense of excitement building at the start of a new football season, so the kick off is nearly underway to the eagerly anticipated first round of scrutiny committees following the County Council elections in May. The new committee memberships have all been agreed as have the chairs and vice-chairs. With 19 new…

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The deed is done… We have a budget!

Last night, the County Council set its annual budget for 2013/14. More than £521 million will be spent on providing services for people living and working in Devon next year. Scrutiny helped shape the budget proposals and many of the suggestions made by scrutiny committees were taken forward.

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Snow me the money!

The scrutiny of the 2013/14 budget is in full swing – this week all the scrutiny committees had a close look at the proposals for the services they usually review and how they’re going to be funded over the next 14 months or so.

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That time of the year again… Let’s talk money

2012 hasn't been an easy year for local government, with a very difficult financial climate and increasing pressure to deliver more with less, the financial climate will remain unsettled in the medium term. During January, individual scrutiny committees will take a close look at the proposed 2013/14 budgets of the service area(s) they normally review before all scrutiny members get together and agree one collective set of recommendations to the Cabinet. Do get involved!

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A Successful Scrutiny year

My esteemed colleagues have already covered Christmas wishes and festivities as well as the serious business of on-going work at this time of year. So on Christmas Eve as the ending of the year, and the beginning of a new it falls to me to reflect on the successes and to look to the forthcoming…

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Scrutiny at Christmas

As we rapidly approach this most festive of seasons there is little or no let up for People’s Scrutiny…   The External Placements Task Group is due to be published on the 10 January 2013 Committee agenda and so I find myself in one of the trickiest parts of our role, trying to agree on…

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Feliz Navidad +++ Joyeux Noël +++ Frohe Weihnachten

Last week the scrutiny team could be seen in action – mystery shopping and seeking out undercover evidence in and around Exeter for our Christmas do. We made a fair effort in dressing up too... and we would like to say thank you to everyone who supported scrutiny during the year.

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The hidden dangers of falling: Not just for the elderly…

Approximately one in three people aged over 65 will fall in any one year in Devon. This figure rises to one in two in the over 85s. Because the problem of people falling is so sizeable, it is really important that professionals from all walks of life deliver services which provide the best possible outcomes for patients - but also that people make better lifestyle choices for themselves throughout their lives.

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Who does what?

A week ago one of our scrutiny committees held a “spotlight review” looking at the working relationship between the County Council and the community and voluntary sector. A spotlight review is the term we use for a task group squished into one meeting. They are particularly useful for gaining a quick, in-depth view of a…

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To blog, or not to blog…

Having sat down to write my first ever blog, it seems pertinent to consider why I might be doing this??! I can see with my fairly limited understanding of new media that there’s scope through blogging to broaden the word on Scrutiny, which can only be a good thing. Scrutiny needs all the help it…

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