This post is us doing our bit for European Local Democracy Week which starts today. We wanted to mark it because we think that local government scrutiny makes an important contribution to local democracy. First and foremost scrutiny can make a real difference to people by working to improve policies and services. To show this we will […]
Our Year in Numbers
August 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
OK, so it might not be the most exciting thing you have ever read but I was working on the stats for our Annual Report 2010-11 and thought I might as well share them. Whilst we don’t want to go overboard on this, it is important to be able to show the level of activity […]
We Do Research You Know
August 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Research is an important part of what scrutiny does and, as a team, it is a core part of our role. At a time when research resources within local councils are under pressure, research is one of the ways in which a scrutiny function can add important value. If the right topics are chosen scrutiny can […]
My Experience of Scrutiny at Swansea Council
July 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
For the last couple of weeks we have had Eve McFadzean, an undergraduate from Cardiff University Politics Department, on placement with us. This was our second politics student placement for the year – the first being Andrew Jenkins. Both placements have been a real pleasure to host and I think that there has been a real benefit […]
Our Ambition 8
July 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Swansea’s annual community strategy conference will take place on the 4th October 2011 between 9.00 – 1.00 at the Canolfan Gorseinon Centre. There will also be an informal afternoon session in the same venue – details to follow! As with previous years the event will be an informal and interactive opportunity for policy makers and […]
Five Things Worth Knowing About Scrutiny
June 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Over the last couple weeks we have had Andrew Jenkins with us on placement from the Politics Department in Swansea University. We set Andrew a small task – to give his impressions of scrutiny and suggest the five things most worth knowing. Here is what he came up with – I think it’s really rather good […]