I’ve been asked to speak at conference next week about our experience with social media (blogging, twittering etc). I’ve given conference presentations before but this one is a first – it’s being held online. The conference is called Local by Social and its being held on the Communities of Practice website. This online conference will bring together […]
How Can We Make Swansea Safer?
October 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Today the Partnership Overview & Scrutiny Committee met to have a look at a draft of the Safer Swansea Strategy. As you might know, the Safer Swansea Strategy sets out how the police, council and many other partners will work together to reduce crime and anti social behaviour and improve community safety. The body that brings all […]
Performance & Finance – The Challenges
July 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Earlier today the Performance & Finance Overview & Scrutiny Board met to discuss their work plan. To set the context Jack Straw, the Council’s Executive Director, explained the range of issues facing the Resources Department and provided a presentation on the Council’s budget situation which covered a number of issues. The Council’s very difficult budget situation will […]
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 […]
Our Surveys Said
June 2, 2010 by 1 Comment
We have run a couple of surveys recently to get an idea of what topics people thought should be looked at by the overview and scrutiny boards. The first survey was through Swansea Voices – the Council’s citizen’s panel. We had 85 suggestions back from this. The second survey was an internal survey of staff and councillors and we […]
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. […]