With winter fast approaching, our long and busy summer spent engaging with rural communities all over Wales feels like an increasingly distant memory.

In January, we are holding a seminar which is going to challenge how public services in wales need to rethink how they hold members and officers to account in relation to future generations. We recognise that this is a step change for public services and we caught up with our colleague Tim Buckle who has a foot in both camps – working on a Wales Audit Office review of local authority scrutiny arrangements during 2017-18, and helping shape this seminar.

Casey Edwards @casey_walescoop from the Wales Co-Operative Centre @WalesCoOpCentre has blogged for us about how housing co-operatives are helping to build resilient communities.  The North Wales leg of our #WAOADM event is next week.

Following on from our recent event on ‘Early closure of local government accounts’, Matthew Coe, Financial Audit Manager at the Wales Audit Office, talks about his experience of the day and the important discussions he encountered with delegates…

Georgina James, Melin Homes

As I’m writing this, I’m sat at my desk working towards developing our offer for Melin’s schools program over the next 5 years, a schools program that didn’t exist 4 years ago.

Working together since 2009, Gwalia (Pobl - @poblgroup) and the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority (@BreconBeaconsNP) have developed a series of outdoor projects which have enhanced the lives of those living in supported housing and outreach clients.

In researching this year’s alternative delivery models event, one common theme kept coming up: the importance of safe and secure housing and the organisations which are providing this service. 

In our latest blog, Russell Higgins, Human Resources Learning Partner at the Wales Audit Office, looks at the appraisal process and shares his experiences from the CIPD learning and development show back in May…

Seth Newman talks more about our recent review [opens in new window] of the Welsh Government’s Supporting People Programme (the Programme). He looks at the difficulties in trying to evaluate the Programme and other preventative programmes like it.

Mae Seth Newman yn sôn rhagor am ein hadolygiad [yn agor mewn ffenestr newydd] o Raglen Cefnogi Pobl Llywodraeth Cymru (y Rhaglen) a gynhaliwyd yn ddiweddar. Mae’n ystyried yr anawsterau sydd ynghlwm wrth geisio gwerthuso’r Rhaglen a rhaglenni ataliol tebyg.