In my 20th July blog I asked the question, “Are we a good parent?”. Well this week we had the answer with the CIW inspection report into our Child and Family Service which identified good quality practice with positive outcomes for many children and young people.
The inspectors found the service was effectively led and staff were dedicated, well supported and enjoyed working for a local authority where there was a culture of support. The children and young people they heard from were generally positive about the support they received and were appreciative of the relationships with their social workers. The report also found there’s good support in place for care leavers who were helped with a range of housing options, employment and further educational opportunities and access to benefits.
The report identified a number of areas for improvement and that although some children and young people are achieving good educational outcomes and no looked after children have been permanently excluded from school, there’s scope to improve support and opportunities for others. I’m less concerned about this because we know it’s already a current area of focus with some great work being done in our education service. We’ve reorganised this service and invested in it and we’re also in the process of developing a new £8 million purpose-built centre for children educated other than at school (EOTAS). In fact, Cabinet yesterday approved the contract to build it and if we get Welsh Government funding we hope to start work next month.
Despite the positive findings in the report there’s no room for complacency and achieving the best well-being outcomes for our children, particularly those in our care, will remain a top priority for CMT. However, I must thank all the staff involved in providing these services. It’s rare to get such a positive endorsement from the regulators and you can all feel justifiably proud of the work you do.
More good news
Our annual review of performance highlights the great work our staff do and the documents are available on the Cabinet meeting page from 18 October. We have to publish the report as part of the Well-Being of Future Generations Act. Basically, we set out what we plan to achieve and then we have to report against those objectives. I know the budget news is gloomy at the moment, but the dedication of our staff never diminishes and I’m really grateful to everyone for their efforts.
Education
I attended two meetings with head teachers from the primary schools (YCA) and the secondary schools (SCCASH) to explain the budget settlement and the likely impacts in the coming years. It’s clear to me schools have the same concerns as the rest of the Council in relation to the funding priorities at national level and I hope we can work closely with them on a concerted campaign to communicate our collective feelings.
I also took the opportunity to explain the changes we’re making to our regional school improvement consortium, ERW. We’ve changed the management arrangements and the lead officer for ERW is now Geraint Rees, an experienced head teacher who has been working with Welsh Government on a range of education programmes. We’ll also be developing a revised model of joint working across the regions and I know Geraint will be talking to as many people as possible to make sure we get this right. I’m confident we can improve on the current arrangements and deliver what schools want and deserve in terms of support for school improvement.
Responding to the storms
Our highways and cleansing teams did a great job keeping people safe and motorists on the move during Storm Callum.
Long before the storm came they’d cleared roads of debris to prevent flooding, checked high-risk watercourses for blockages, checked the sea walls and shifted wind-blown sand from Oystermouth Road.
When the storm arrived they tackled localised flooding, setting up diversions and offering advice to motorists and residents near the Morriston by-pass cut-off due to a flood. One team even caught a fish swimming along the A4067 which had to be closed for a spell due to the deluge.
I’m also aware that lots of staff went about their normal duties during the storm. My thanks to everyone involved; it was a terrific team effort.
Well done and thank you
We’ve been successful in attracting funding to install innovative energy design and features into new council homes.
The £1.5m Innovative Housing Programme grant from the Welsh Government will help install features such as solar panels and battery-powered energy. Well done to the housing team for their hard work.
Staff and service users at Fforestfach Day Service recently held a festival staging bands and solo artists.
More than 200 people attended and for many of them it was their first experience of a concert. They also set up bars and sold food.
It was so successful they plan to do it again next summer. Well done to everyone involved in a great team effort.
Hate Crime Awareness Week ends tomorrow and the council has been playing its part with partners like Safer Swansea and Victim Support to highlight this blight on our communities.
No-one has to put up with it as a victim or as a witness.
It can be reported FREE on 0300 3031982 or online at the Report Hate Crime website.
My thanks to council colleagues involved in the campaign.