Civic Scrutiny

The documents your council publishes, actually read. Every claim on this site cites a primary document you can open, and the corrections log is public.

STILL WATCHING THE WIRE

No major sovereignty development has crossed the wire yet on 8 September 2026.

We read the daily briefing every morning and publish as stories break, so this space updates as the day goes on. The latest analysis is below.

ANALYSIS | 6 September 2026 at 11:20

Every Council in England

A working register of the 335 principal local authorities in England: unitaries, London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, counties, districts and combined authorities. Built from the official registers, cross-checked against each other, and every website opened to confirm it answers.

Read full article

ANALYSIS | 6 September 2026 at 09:30

How To Read This Site

Every claim here carries a number that leads to the document it came from. This is what those numbers mean, what the tags mean, how to open the same documents we did, and what to do when you think we have got something wrong.

Read full article

CORRECTION | 5 September 2026 at 10:53

The Corrections Log

Every substantive error published on this site is recorded here permanently: what was wrong, when it was fixed, and how it got through. An empty log means no errors found yet, not no errors made.

Read full article

SPENDING | 5 September 2026 at 10:52

Thirty Days to Open the Books

Every year English councils must open their books, contracts, bills and receipts to any local elector for a thirty working day window. The right is in statute, the window is published on every council website, and it goes almost entirely unused. Here is how it works.

Read full article

ANALYSIS | 5 September 2026 at 10:50

Your Council Publishes Its Secrets

Accounts, minutes, registers of interests, contract awards, FOI responses: local government produces a public paper trail that would take a full-time reader to follow. This site is that reader. Every claim here cites a primary document you can open yourself.

Read full article

Showing the 5 most recent articles

View all articles →