Still some new firsts!

It’s over a year but through Scrutiny there are always new committees that you can join.  As it happens I finally managed to get to one that I had expressed interest in before Christmas!  Called Service Improvement & Finance, this group does 'what it says on the tin' in that it looks at services the council offers in the aim of suggesting improvements where possible.  Although I say I managed to get to it, typically I had another meeting with clashed with it so was only there for about half an hour.  But even in that short time I felt I could identify with its aims.  With a bit of luck I’ll do the whole meeting next time!

There are a number of initiatives being tried on the Hill to help those people living there, particularly when it comes to money & budgeting, something even some of the most intelligent & cleverest people can be known to struggle with.  I went up to a drop in session in Phoenix Library to find out more about one such scheme, and also visited Gors Community Centre one afternoon for an advice open day, with CAB, LASA credit Union, Age Cymru and so on.  The worry I have, and probably all likeminded people, is that despite leaflets, flyers, social media, it can be very difficult to get people to come along to these.  But not only because they don’t get to know about it but for all sorts of other reasons, like embarrassment, feeling stupid, don’t want to ask for help etc etc.  Added to this the number who are needing this help is surely going to escalate. 

I’ve also been to Area 1 planning meeting for the first time – I swapped from Area 2 as I felt I wanted to be able to hear about issues affecting neighbouring wards even if the planning applications for Townhill itself were rare.  And I’ve had a double dose of Governors – the Finance Sub-Committee & the final full Governors meeting for the academic year. 

Last but not least I chose to go on a day & a half Summer School looking at Credit unions.  It turn out to be the ‘curate’s egg’ – good in parts, but bad in others!  However I probably benefitted from it more than it felt like at the time.

Les

Give a little, get back a lot

In May I managed to remember to go to the LASA Board meeting (somehow I didn’t put the date in my diary for April so not surprisingly I didn’t get there!)  It’s been quite a learning curve even though I have been involved in both this, and other credit unions, in the past. There is just so much going on, and I’m having to learn about it all at the same time as brushing up on policies & procedures.  I’ve probably mentioned this before but for me the priority is to promote LASA as the right alternative to all the hundreds of legal loan sharks out there, who as I see it are making money by legally ‘stealing’ from the poorest in society.  I read an interesting article recently which pointed out that many people in desperate straights just don’t bother to think about how they will pay the money back, which is why it’s so easy for these companies to get away with it.

In the last fortnight have also been to Trustees meeting which isn’t held very often. This is usually quite rewarding as we are able to give small grants to various social enterprises and so far we have rarely had to say no to anyone. 

And the last council meeting was one of the lighter ones I’ve been to.  It included a very interesting presentation on the Penllergare Trust who are doing excellent reclamation work on the woods in that area of Swansea.  A Welsh speaking councillor was critical of the spelling but as it happens although not strictly correct it is in keeping with the way the word was spelt at the time the house existed, and those grounds laid out.
 
In the same meeting we also enjoyed an excellent answer from the deputy leader to a question about what will replace the members’ coffee machine. You may have seen the article on the front page on the local paper.  They made it look like for years the council has been squandering loads of taxpayers money on tea & coffee!  The point is we realise that it’s a waste so not only are we getting rid of an expensive ‘toy’ but we all agreed we would now pay for this from now on.  The paper, of course, failed to mention that!  Anyway, she inferred that because of the changes we would definitely require a drinks monitor, and fortunately her intended ‘target’ laughed as loud as the rest of us!

And to end on a nice note, I was invited to the launch of the first smoke free playground in Swansea, opposite the Phoenix Centre.  There’s always a feelgood factor when you are able to do something that will benefit kids, giving them a better future.

Les

A Time of Two Halves

In the end I didn’t get to the ceremonial council this year but it must have been very strange.  Some of you will be aware that the Lord Mayor Denis James had just died so it would have been one of the few times, if ever, where the incumbent would not be able to pass on to the new Lord Mayor.  I was however able to go to the funeral, where I was privileged to hear about Denis’ life, especially through his son.

Other than that it’s been half & half over the last two weeks – 3 ‘indoors’ and 3 ‘outdoors’.

‘Indoors’ I went to a very useful & interesting session on Child Protection, which was held in Seaview Community School so it meant I also met up again with parents, teachers and other governors.  This week I went to the Well-being & Attainment ‘round table’ where all the relevant professionals gathered to give their input, and this will help us make the best recommendations to go to Cabinet.  And finally Democratic Services.  This is one committee I get a lot out of as it looks at the organisation that backs the work of councillors, and as such it’s more practical so I feel I can get my teeth into it more.

‘Outdoors’ I’ve had my usual council surgery, attended the first Mobile Police Station – this is where a highly visible police van parks in the community so people can come to get help & advice from the police and anyone else there such as councillors.  And finally a very useful meeting looking at an ongoing car park issue which I feel certainly went a long way towards resolving it – amazing what you can do when people come together!

Les

A Whole Year!

Where has the time gone? It does seem quite incredible that I have now been on the council for 12 months.

Last night we had the AGM of full council, so I now know what committees I will be on for the coming municipal year, the same as before plus the Audit Committee.  (I have a role description for this but you can never really get to grips with the purpose of a particular committee until you start going – so watch this space!)  I’m still waiting to hear if I will be the local authority representative on any other organisations that have links with the council – neither of those I was on last year panned out.

In the meantime I have also joined another scrutiny panel Corporate Improvement Budget Performance (what a mouthful!)  Whilst the words have meaning it will be interesting to see what we will be specifically looking at.  Again, I’ll keep you posted.

Now for an exciting Friday afternoon task to finish the working week – enter dates in my diary!

Les

Easter Time

Bit of a lull over Easter, but since I last blogged I attended an extra Council meeting solely to appoint Head of Corporate Sevices.  This was quite interesting, especially being on an ‘interview panel’ potentially 72 strong!

Some years back I was very involved in LASA, 

139 Walter Road Swansea SA1 5RQ.
Telephone: 01792 643632
Email: query@lasacreditunion.org.uk

the local credit union, and recently felt that the time was right to renew my aquaintance.  Hence I have gone back on the board, and since then attended the AGM and my first board meeting.  I do feel both very desperate and very angry about people being conned by firms like Wonga – personally I think their TV adverts should be banned!  So I’m hoping that by being involved again I can actually do something practical to help.  Tackling payday loan companies is definitely top of my list.

Also went to the shortest council meeting on record, for me at least – unavoidably late but only by a couple of minutes and they had already got to AOB!!!

Les

Strange Times

It’s been a strange old fortnight (and yes, by some miracle it’s only been two weeks since I last did my blog, and no, I don’t understand it either!)  In that time I’ve actually been able to fit in a bit more ‘life’ yet still been to, or done, ten council related events.

One of these was an informal meeting to look at issues which were raised at my first ever Community Centre meeting - yes, yet another first even after being on the council since last May.  I believe there is the will from the council to give support to help develop the activities put on in these centres.  Unfortunately the centre management committees spend a lot of their time on building related problems, so my aim is to give help on that front.  Then they can concentrate instead on what is far more worthwhile, making best use of the centre.

I mentioned the Wellbeing & Attainment scrutiny panel in my last blog, and this week have done the last school visit, to a special unit. The children, whose ages range from 3 to 19, all have some degree of physical and/or mental disability.  They are all different so the approach of the school is to recognise that fact by developing an individual education programme for every one.  The staff without exception were all friendly and welcoming, and their obvious patience showed in the way they worked with every child.  An amazing and quite humbling experience.

Les

Planning for the Future

Scrutiny has played quite a big part in my diary over the last couple of weeks.  I’ve been attending some school visits as part of the Wellbeing & Attainment panel.  It’s been very encouraging to see the length & depth of the strategies in place to support pupils, both to get the most out of school and prepare them for the future.  There seems to be much more of a culture of two-way respect than I seem to remember from school life in ‘my day’.

As quite a contrast I have also been to one scrutiny meeting of the Allotments working party.  This turned out to be much broader than the term suggests, looking not only at standard allotments but also other forms of community growing.  All present agreed that there was scope for more meetings to follow up the initial positive discussions.

As well as other regular meetings we had the ‘full’ planning meeting last Thursday ie where all councillors are expected to attend.  In addition to the usual planning applications that had been defered to this meeting, there was a very interesting presentation on a proposal to have a Tidal Lagoon in Swansea.  This would be quite a long term strategy aiming for 2017, and would be finally decided upon by central government.  So it was just a chance for us to ask questions with no decisions involved, but personally I certainly think it is not only a very exciting project, but would also bring much needed jobs and many other benefits to Swansea.

Les