Quieter on the council front

A quieter fortnight on the council front thank goodness!  But some very useful meetings nonetheless, staring with a recent scrutiny group I have joined.  We intend to assess how we can best engage with the public, and after taking time to decide on the scope of the inquiry we are now in a position to get to work.  To the outsider it might appear that the process is a bit cumbersome to begin with as it takes a couple of meetings to get to this point.  But it’s really important to make sure we all understand & agree the issue from the outset, so in my view it’s time well spent.

I managed to get to the PACT meeting in TOPIC House.  I’ve probably said before that this venue is the Older People’s Information Centre and that these meetings are open to residents from the whole of Swansea.  But there are regulars who come from the ward itself, and of course it’s useful to keep in touch with those who run centres like this.  And they do a cracking range of cakes, (for which Jeff is very grateful!)

This last week has concentrated very much on the ward.  As local councillors all three of us have put forward various ideas for street scene improvements as we all feel even minor ones can definitely make a difference to residents.  But of course, as you probably all well know, the council is a big lumbering organisation and the wheels can grind very (and frustratingly!) slowly.  However we’ve had a double whammy of help, from another cabinet member and a director, so some of our suggestions might finally come to fruition in the not so distant future.

Outside direct council meetings I’ve also been to my once termly Finance subcommittee up in Seaview Community School.  It always surprises me how much I get from my involvement with the school as I would never have put me down as school governor material.  But then years back I would never have dreamt of being a councillor!

Les