Welcome
Bryony Houlden, Chief Executive, South West Councils
Welcome to the latest edition of South West Councils News and the last for 2011.
November and December have been particularly packed with activity, including the successful Shared Services Conference and the annual 2-day Pension Managers Conference, which successfully attracted 170 delegates. The full South West Councils meeting, which was well attended by leading Members and which both Sir Merrick Cockell and Carolyn Downs from the LGA attended, also covered a whole host of items, including Europe, the Rail Franchise for the South West and the role of the LGA.
Following on from the last Newsletter, authorities from across the region joined together to lobby Government on the opportunities and challenges posed by the move to Universal Credit and what this will mean for local authorities, as well as the change to the Feed in Tariff on photovoltaic cells. To read the Universal credit letter click here and for the Feed in Tariff letter click here.
2011 has been a busy and challenging time for us all with a raft of changes at both a national and local level. In his article SW Councils Chair, Cllr Angus Campbell has been reflecting on the events and achievements of the past year as well as looking ahead to the future.
The team in SW Councils have already been planning for the new year, and we have been moving full steam ahead with plans for training and conferences over the coming 12 months for both Members and officers. Keep an eye on the training pages and future Newsletters for more details. As always, please do continue to let us know what you think of this newsletter or submit stories for publication as well as ideas for future events.
On behalf of everyone at SW Councils, I wish you all a restful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Yours
Bryony
Housing
New Community Engagement Toolkit
The Homes and Communities Agency have launched a new Community Engagement Toolkit....
Strategic housing options for older people
The LGA are hosting a regional seminar exploring practical approaches to developing strategic housing options for older people....
‘Green’ boiler switch on at Yeovil eco development
A cutting-edge biomass boiler that will help make thirteen new homes some of the most sustainable in the country was launched at Yeovil's Glove Factory development....
Smarter Procurement
LGA seeks 'Big Win' projects
The LGA has identified resources to award to projects run by councils that take forward ‘Big Wins' in category management....
Adult Health and Wellbeing
E-Personalisation Marketplace
Gloucestershire are leading on a RIEP funded project to tackle the issue of personalisation across the South West....
Learning and Development Services
A Day in the Life - A Councillor’s Perspective on Accredited Learning
Cllr Michael Bevan, Dorset County Council, gives us his perspective of accredited learning....
Local Economy
Plans announced to help young people into education, training and employment
The Government has published plans to increase the participation of 16-24 year olds in education, training and work....
Prospects for Private Sector jobs growth
The South West Observatory have launched two major new pieces of analysis on employment, skills and growth....
Multi million package announced to boost innovation and research in the UK
A £75 million boost for high tech small and medium sized businesses is part of a package of measures announced in the Government’s new Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth. ...
Review of the High Street
Mary Portas has published her review of the future of our high streets....
Children and Young People
Children's safeguarding in Torbay improving
The results of Torbay Council's recent unannounced Ofsted inspection have found children's services are improving and no longer have any areas of priority action....
Supporting Child Protection services
A RIEP project supporting front line managers and practitioners in the challenging and risky work of delivering child protection services to children and their families....
Safeguarding children who may have been trafficked - Practice guidance
Updated guidance, Safeguarding Children who may have been Trafficked, has been published by the Home Office and the Department for Education....
Raising the Participation Age: sessions for local authorities
The Department for Education are running events to support local authorities prepare for Raising the Participation age....
Top Stories
Message from Cllr Angus Campbell, Chair of SW Councils
Cllr Angus Campbell, Chair of SW Councils and Leader of Dorset County Council, looks back on 2011 and ahead to 2012....
Satisfaction at an all-time high in Stroud
Residents are more satisfied than ever with the work of Stroud District Council. That's the message from the council's annual budget survey which shows that resident satisfaction with the council has shot up from 63% to 76%....
LGA launches Knowledge Hub platform for building professional networks
The Knowledge Hub is a new online platform from the Local Government Association (LGA) for building professional networks in the local government sector....
Exmoor becomes an International Dark Sky Reserve
Exmoor National Park has been designated an International Dark Sky Reserve, the first place in Europe to achieve this prestigious award and only the second in the world....
Future of Local Audit - help to shape the proposal
South West Councils are working with the Department for Communities and Local Government to host a workshop on the Future of Local Audit....
Chair of SWEACS meets Minister
A government minister has pledged to visit the region after talking with Leader of North Somerset Council Nigel Ashton at a special meeting in London....
Improve your planning know how
The Planning Advisory Service have produced a simple guide to strategic planning....
Devon Councillors lead way on snow warden scheme
County Councillors in Devon are among the community-spirited volunteers who have been trained as snow wardens in preparation for this winter....
The Localism Act - Over to You
The Local Government information Unit (LGiU) and Bristol City Council are hosting a major one-day policy conference in Bristol, for the South West and West Midlands....
Tackling troubled families
Plans to radically transform the lives of the country's most troubled families have been announced by the Prime Minister David Cameron and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles....
Big Society – invented in the South West
West Country enthusiasts rose to the challenge of making sense of the ‘Big Society’ and ‘Localism’ by publishing a guide based on their own experiences of local people being encouraged and involved in the decisions that affect their communities....
The Audit Commission's analysis of 'Tough Times'
Tough times is a new report looking at councils' responses to a challenging financial climate....
Views sought on CAP reform as opt-out clause for agri-environment agreement schemes
Farmers, environmental groups and others with an interest in the Common Agricultural Policy will be able to present their views on the European Commission’s proposed reforms...