Councillors' training

One of the areas I am now responsible for in my portfolio at the City Council is training and support for elected councillors. So I went to a training session with two hats on last night. The session, for newly elected councillors (and I am sort of that) was on equal opportunities. I wanted to benefit from the training as an individual, but also see at first hand the sort of training we were offering.

The good news was that this was a really good, thought provoking session. The bad news was that, out of the new councillors, there were only four of us there (myself and Gary Millar from the Lib Dems and Richard McLinden and Brian Dowling for Labour). (To be fair I ought to say that the new Green Councillor did try to attend but there were timing issues). It is bad news for those who weren't able to be there as it was a surprisingly good session and not the usual trot through the legislation. Hopefully we can find a way of offering this again.

But it raises a question of timing. I suspect that when you are very new you are trying to sort out all sorts of balancing acts to do with the rest of your life - so perhaps training for new people needs to be not quite so soon after the election (apart from the really basic need to know stuff). There is also the question of how much training people actually need or want. I love training as you always pick up something new but others may see this as a chore and we need to explore whether that is the case.

Anyway Josie Mullen (assistant exec member)and I will be looking at this as one of our priority areas this year.

Up the alley!!

I don't usually go wandering round the back of other people's houses - but I did last night. A group of residents at the surgery on Monday described a situation which is causing a lot of grief to them and others, but there is nothing like going out and having a look at it for yourself. So if you saw a strange woman peering at a pile of rubbish - it was me!

Surgery

Last night was my turn to do the Councillors' surgery for Cressington ward. I was kept very busy! Lots of issues to sort out, or attempt to sort out so I'll be spending part of today following up. We hold the surgery in a venue very near the boundary with another ward so not everyone coming along is actually from Cressington. My attitude though is to deal with the problem if I can rather than refer people on. It's not fair to delay, particularly if they have made a journey.

Busy Saturday

Off reasonably early on Saturday to do a home visit as part of some casework I am dealing with. Sometimes issues come up that are much better discussed face to face - and this was one of those. I'm now waiting for replies to various e mails I have sent out on this one.

Straight onto the bus after my visit and across to Childwall to help deliver leaflets. And this time it was someone else who was bitten by the dog!

Mastermind

Not sure how much I am supposed to say as the programme won't be broadcast for a while.. but I am now revising my subject for the semi finals!!!

Foster care cut off

This article from todays Times (29th May) will hopefully help prompt some changes.

A couple of years ago I visited a family in Speke. Without going into huge details, a 17 year old girl was happily there as a foster child, but the funding was about to end. She was applying for University courses and the family would have been more than happy for her to stay while studying at one of the Liverpool Universities or another one reasonably near. Yet because of the money situation it looked as if either she was going to have to put this off for a while or move out, with all the implications of that. She had had a difficult few years beforehand and by the sounds of things had turned her life around. The law, and with it the funding, needs to be changed to acknowledge that leaving the care system, or the support at the end of the care system, should be a gradual process which may well run up until someone is 21.

Read this book!

Am currently reading "An utterly impartial history of Britain" .... "or 2000 years of upper class idiots in charge" by John O'Farrell.

One of the few books to have me laughing out loud on the train.

Do get a copy of you can.