Earlier this week the Partnership Overview & Scrutiny Committee had a close look at Swansea’s Local Service Board. They were particularly keen to find out what difference it makes and had asked for two presentations to help them find out. This is the first one, given by yours truly, that tried to set the scene with […]
Talking to Partners about Shared Services
February 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Earlier today councillors from the Performance and Finance Overview and Scrutiny Board held a focus group for local partners as part of their review of shared services. The focus group included people from the police, the health sector, Swansea University, Job Centre Plus and Swansea Council for Voluntary Services. The purpose was both to learn from experiences […]
Learning from the Swansea Youth Offender Service
February 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday the Partnership Overview and Scrutiny Committee had a presentation from Eddie Isles, the Youth Offending Team Manager, on how the Youth Offending Service works in Swansea. In case you don’t know, here is the service in a nutshell: Swansea Youth Offending Service is a multi-agency approach to youth offending. The staff group comprises of social workers, […]
What is the Best Way to Deliver Shared Services?
October 15, 2010 by 1 Comment
If you haven’t heard of shared services before it is a phrase you might come across more and more if you have anything to do with providing public services. Essentially it means different organisations sharing different parts of their business to achieve savings. So, for example, all public service providers need legal and finance functions and, […]
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 […]