I've blogged before about the work I do as Chair of one of Southwark's Scrutiny Sub-Committees. In the past we've produced recommend-ations for changes relating to housing repairs, leaseholder charging and the large scale security works on the Four Squares Estate. Local government scrutiny is not, I admit, a process which prompts great excitement in most people, but I think my committee has done a solid job of focussing in on people's concerns and finding real solutions. This has been helped by the fact that Southwark's Labour Cabinet has been prepared to engage with the scrutiny process and actually implement new policies where we could show that they were needed. We've recently completed another report on the important issue of domestic violence and abuse. This is a difficult issue to investigate, not least because the often hidden nature of this crime. However, the sub-committee has now produced a report which we hope will improve how the council r...