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 […]
How Effective Scrutiny Made a Difference for Vulnerable Children
October 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Learning about Improvements in Learning
September 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment
At their meeting last week, the Children, Young People & Learning Overview & Scrutiny Board spoke to Head Teachers and Chair’s of Governors from four Swansea schools about their ESTYN inspection reports. As I’m sure you know, every school gets inspected by ESTYN and, following the inspection, a report is published and an action plan is produced […]
Scrutiny Improve Thyself
June 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment
If there is a scrutiny equivilent of ‘doctor heal thyself’ then it might be ‘scrutiny improve thyself’. OK, it might not be a saying that catches on, but the point is that councillors involved in scrutiny should be as intrested in their own performance as they are in anyone elses. To show that we are serious about […]
New Ways of Making a Difference
May 21, 2010 by 2 Comments
Over the last 12 months one cross party group of councillors has been showing how overview & scrutiny really can make a difference. The Child & Family Services Overview & Scrutiny Board was set up in April 2009 following a CSSIW Report into children’s services in Swansea. It has been chaired by Cllr Mark Child with support from the […]
Sorry, You Do What?
May 13, 2010 by 1 Comment
Somehow I’ve always managed to work in areas that needed to be explained. I’ve been in Tenant Participation, Anti Poverty, Community Leadership & Engagement and now Overview & Scrutiny. I’m slightly jealous of those people who work in Planning, Education or Social Services who don’t get a blank expression when they tell someone what they do. […]