Yesterday we held a councillor induction session for Overview and Scrutiny. Of the 72 councillors elected on May 3rd, 33 are new councillors. The induction session was a brilliant opportunity for the Overview and Scrutiny team to meet many of those new councillors and we were delighted that a few of the more experienced hands were also able […]
It’s Not Rocket Science – It’s Networking!
November 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Just a quick post to feed back from a meeting of the Mid and West Wales Regional Scrutiny Network that we hosted this morning here in Swansea. The purpose of this meeting is very straightforward – once every few months it gives councillors involved in scrutiny an opportunity to share good practice, talk about common concerns and […]
Effective Questioning for Scrutiny: A Checklist
October 20, 2011 by 3 Comments
Effective questioning is at the heart of effective scrutiny. For this reason it has been identified as one of the things that we want to develop and improve over the next 12 months. As a starting point we have tried to capture all of the things that the overview and scrutiny boards and committees in Swansea already do well, as […]
Swansea City Centre – We want your views
October 17, 2011 by 3 Comments
Since the 2008 recession town centres around the UK have been hit with the hardest trading conditions for generations. There have been a number of high profile retailers reporting extreme financial pressures as well as the negative impact on small independent businesses. Swansea City Centre is no different with decreasing levels of footfall over the […]
Looking Back, Looking Forward
October 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Last week, to mark European Local Democracy Week, we were tweeting the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report for 2011/12. If you want to see the full report you can find it here. If you are not a tweeter then don’t worry – all it boils down to is that we have summarised the annual report in to ten short statements […]