West Kent’s new scrutiny panel completes their first review
The West Kent scrutiny panel was established at the end of 2020 and the newly formed group have just completed their first review.
The panel's initial meetings covered the national context of scrutiny, the role of scrutiny within West Kent’s governance structure and included a series of training sessions. The panel then looked at performance information to decide on the focus of their first review. The took the decision to review West Kent's employment and training service, because they felt this was a highly valuable service that all residents should be aware of.
Jason, one of the five panel members involved in the review said;
“I’d never heard of the service before so how do we know others have? It was worth taking a look at to make sure we can support all West Kent residents if they need it.”
The employment and training team helps West Kent residents find work, volunteering opportunities, and training courses and can also help residents who are in work improve their career prospects. As well as running job hubs, they work individually with residents to make sure their CVs are up to date, that they're able to carry out effective job searches and that they feel confident to attend interviews.
At the start of the review, the training and employment team delivered a presentation to the panel outlining the service and what they can offer residents. This gave the panel the opportunity to learn more and ask questions before going away and completing additional research to inform their recommendations.
The panel met again to feed back their thoughts and research and the review finished with panel producing a final report with a series for recommendations that they feel will improve the service. The report has been discussed at our communities and homes board meeting. You can read the full report here.
The panel are now looking forward to their first ever face to face meeting in December, when they will confirm the area for their next review and plans for 2022.
If you’re interested in having a closer look at our services and would like to know more about becoming a scrutiny panel member, or you have a topic idea for them to review click here.