Case Study:

The Challenge

Following significant changes to its governance arrangements, Cheshire East Council wanted to ensure its members had the knowledge, skills and confidence to make its new scrutiny arrangements work effectively.

The Council recently returned to a Cabinet system from May 2026 having taken the decision to make the change in September 2025. This followed the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge, which recommended that improvements should be considered to the Council’s decision-making arrangements. The Cabinet model of governance led to the new requirements for scrutiny.

With a number of members new to scrutiny, and the 2027 elections on the horizon, the council saw an opportunity to go beyond simply meeting statutory requirements. It wanted to embed good practice, clarify members’ roles and help scrutiny become a positive driver for service improvement.

A practical, bespoke approach

Working closely with the council’s Training Lead, North West Employer’s Facilitator developed a series of tailored sessions specifically for members involved in scrutiny.

Rather than relying on theory alone, the sessions were designed around “live learning”, using realistic scenarios to give members an opportunity to explore challenges, discuss different approaches and apply their learning to situations they could encounter in practice.

The concise, two-hour workshops covered areas including:

• the purpose, role and statutory requirements of scrutiny
• identifying the right issues to bring forward when time is limited
• asking effective and constructive questions
• engaging the right stakeholders
• understanding the role of the Chair and what members should expect from them
• conducting scrutiny effectively when meetings may be livestreamed to the public
• following recommendations through and assessing whether decision-makers have responded
• recognising that scrutiny is a cycle, with the opportunity to revisit issues where necessary

Real-world scenarios, including changes to recycling and food waste services and the potential closure and redevelopment of a community facility, helped members explore how they might approach complex and sometimes sensitive issues.

Flexibility was important too. Sessions were arranged around members’ availability, including out-of-hours and twilight sessions, helping make the development accessible to those taking part.

Collaboration at the heart of the programme

A key strength of the programme was the close collaboration between the trainer and the council.

Content was adapted to reflect the council’s own circumstances and challenges, making the sessions immediately relevant rather than providing a generic introduction to scrutiny. Learning and feedback were also captured and used to inform subsequent sessions and the development of a new scrutiny handbook.

As the council’s Training Lead explained:

“These sessions were practical and collaborative. We worked together to collate the responses, build them into the next session and into the handbook, and take them away as lessons learned. We are now putting the learning into practice at our scrutiny sessions, enabling our committee members to feel confident and empowered in their roles.”

Turning learning into practice

With the council still in the early stages of its new arrangements, the longer-term impact will develop as members gain more experience. However, the programme has already created practical learning that can be applied directly in scrutiny meetings.

By working through potential challenges before encountering them in the committee room, members have had the opportunity to consider their approach, test solutions and learn from one another in a supportive environment.

Importantly, the learning will not end with the initial sessions. The experience, feedback and practical lessons will feed into the council’s 2027 member training programme, creating a valuable foundation for both returning and newly elected members.

The result is an approach that does more than explain what scrutiny is. It helps members understand how to make scrutiny work effectively in practice, supporting better conversations, stronger decision-making and, ultimately, improved services.