The Child & Family Services Overview & Scrutiny Board has picked up on concerns in the community about the proposed closure of the ChildLine telephone counselling service that is based in Swansea. The NSPCC wants to relocate the centre in South Wales from Swansea to Cardiff where there will be online counselling only. A 30 […]
What should the Child & Family Services Overview & Scrutiny Board Investigate Next?
April 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday the Board met for the final time in this council year. It took the opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved over the past year. It was the year which saw the removal of the Assembly appointed Intervention Board and ‘serious concerns’ protocol in relation to Child & Family Services. The work of […]
Scrutiny Delivers a Clear Message about Corporate Parenting
April 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Councillors in Swansea have shown their commitment to corporate parenting as a result of a report produced by the Child & Family Services Overview & Scrutiny Board. The scrutiny report (PDF), called ‘Care to Help?’ turned the spotlight on the role of councillors as corporate parents and its findings were recently accepted by Cabinet and Council. […]
What is the Best Way to Support Care Leavers in Swansea?
January 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment
According to the National Care Advisory Service ‘young people who have spent time in care tend to have poorer outcomes than their peers. Care leavers are more likely to have poor educational performance, contact with the criminal justice system, poorer health and be vulnerable to homelessness and unemployment. It is therefore very important that they […]
How Effective Scrutiny Made a Difference for Vulnerable Children
October 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Tuesday was a really important day for Swansea Child and Family Servcies as the Welsh Assembly Government decided to withdraw its Intervention Board after inspectors identified real improvements. First and foremost this is good news for vulnerable children and a story about the hard work of many dedicated people in social services in Swansea but there is also a story here about how […]
Getting to the bottom of what it means to be a Corporate Parent
August 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Corporate Parenting Task & Finish Group (set up by the Child & Family Servicse Overview & Scrutiny Board) met yesterday . The group discussed the results of the corporate parenting surevy that was sent to all councillors, it looked at how other local authority scrutiny boards have delved into the subject of corporate parenting & it looked at practical examples gleaned from elsewhere of […]