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When I was a councillor I was once burnt in effigy and one night I had to face an extremely unpleasant mob opposing a local care-leavers' hostel. But more upsetting than both of these incidents was the fact that – despite all our efforts – most residents didn't know that I and my fellow councillors even existed, never mind what we could do for them. On the Councillors Commission we have faced this lack of awareness writ large. The message from our evidence-gathering is that most people don't know what councillors do. Consequently, they are suspicious about the role, full of misconceptions – and unlikely to consider standing for election. The tragedy of this is that there are thousands of hard-working local councillors, taking up and solving residents' problems, challenging service-providers on behalf of their local communities, grappling with the big issues affecting us all. At the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) we have gathered abundant evidence of councillors fulfilling their scrutiny responsibilities in challenging, imaginative and inspiring ways to change local services and policies for the better. Nottingham A scrutiny review of climate change resulted in recommendations that were adopted by the council and its partners and the inclusion of specific targets on tackling climate change in Nottingham's Local Area Agreement and a re-launch of the Nottingham Declaration. Cumbria and Lancashire A joint health scrutiny committee successfully influenced the PCT's proposals to close three mental health facilities, resulting in a compromise which retained two facilities in the area. Cornwall The scrutiny committee worked with a theatre group, using drama and humour to gather the views of dementia sufferers on the services the council provided, resulting in recommendations based firmly on service users' needs and, in the case of one carer, commenting that it was the first time her husband had laughed in years. I still hear scrutiny-sceptics lamenting scrutineers' lack of teeth and status. It has to be acknowledged that scrutiny does not always offer opportunities for influence and change taken up by the members of the authorities highlighted. It is still patchy and there are councils where overview and scrutiny is run on a wing and a prayer. While the average number of scrutiny support officers has been steadily rising, it is only just more than three per authority. This also masks a huge variation, from a team of 25 in a major city, to smaller councils where supporting scrutiny is just one of many responsibilities held by a single overworked policy officer. With patchy effectiveness and support, there is cause for concern about scrutiny's capacity to respond to the Government's bold proposals for holding Local Area Agreement partners to account. CfPS's 2006 Survey found that scrutineers were enthusiastic about the opportunities offered by the Local Government White Paper. However, it revealed significant concerns about the potential overload scrutiny could face and issues of capacity in terms of resources, support and member engagement. Similar issues about levels of general councillor support have emerged from the Commission's evidence, which I hope we will raise in our report. But with the right support and development, there is huge potential for overview and scrutiny to be a valued and valuable role for councillors. Scrutiny offers new ways for people to engage with elected representatives and to raise their awareness of what councillors actually do. CfPS's recent publication, Scrutiny Frontiers, captures in their own words councillors' views about scrutiny. To quote one: ‘I think that the most satisfying thing about the overview and scrutiny role is the opportunity to get involved in depth. We are not just responding to officers' reports – we are driving the agenda, involving outside agencies and working in a completely different way. In comparison to the old committee system, the new scrutiny function is far more satisfying as a role.' If all councillors could feel like this about their role, and if there was a concerted effort to promote and celebrate their achievements in the role, we might go some way towards closing the fatal gap in knowledge and understanding about what local councillors are really for. Finding ways of making this happen is the challenge that is faced by the Commission, but it is also a responsibility for the Government and the local government as a whole. Jessica Crowe is director of the Centre for Public Scrutiny and a member of the Local Councillors Commission

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WHITEHALL

Mutiny over scrutiny

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