Improving performance through Bridgend's Assuring Quality Framework
Last updated: 8 October 2026
The Assuring Quality Framework supports social services and well-being senior managers at Bridgend County Borough Council to improve performance through impact and storytelling, using both data and learning from practice.
The framework provides a structured way for social work teams to assess how well strengths-based practice, in line with the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, is reflected in day-to-day work.
Through a monthly quality assurance cycle, teams identify strengths, areas for improvement and emerging themes to support continuous learning and improvement across services.
The framework brings together a range of quality assurance activities, including audits, quality circles, performance information and qualitative evaluation. It's designed to move beyond monitoring compliance and processes, supporting a more balanced understanding of people's experiences, the quality of practice and the outcomes being achieved.
Storytelling approaches are a key feature of the framework. Alongside traditional quality assurance methods, teams use story dialogue, Most Significant Change and other qualitative approaches to understand what matters to people and the difference services are making in their lives.
In Children and Family Services, a story dialogue panel uses individual stories to support reflection, learning and service improvement. In Adult Social Care, a story dialogue panel is being piloted alongside the framework's monthly quality assurance cycle to strengthen understanding of people's experiences and support learning from practice.
A directorate-wide compliments and complaints protocol also provides opportunities for people to share their stories and feedback, making sure lived experience contributes to service improvement and organisational learning.
Why is the work being carried out?
The framework was developed to strengthen how teams learn from quality assurance activity and use evidence to improve practice and outcomes.
Previous approaches were often seen as compliance-focused and disconnected from day-to-day practice. While audits and performance information identified recurring themes, there was less opportunity to understand why issues occurred, how people experienced services and what could support meaningful improvement. This created a need for a more flexible and streamlined process that brings together quality assurance activity at local, regional and national levels.
The framework aims to create a more integrated approach by bringing together evidence from audits, performance data, practitioner feedback, partner feedback and the experiences of people who use services. Through reflective discussion and shared learning, teams are encouraged to focus on the quality of interventions and the outcomes people achieve.
Co-production with management teams has been central to the development of the framework. Story dialogue and evidence-based feedback help make sure people's experiences inform learning, practice development and decision-making at all levels of the organisation.
Where and when is the work taking place?
This project is taking place at Bridgend County Borough Council.
The framework was implemented in June 2023 and continues to develop and evolve as part of the council's wider approach to quality assurance, learning and continuous improvement.
Who's involved?
The project has been funded by Bridgend County Borough Council.
Social Care Wales has supported development through its evaluation offer, Developing Evidence Enriched Practice (DEEP) programme and innovation coaching service, with a focus on dialogue-based evaluation, system learning and organisational change.
The framework has been developed with senior leaders, operational managers, practitioners and people who access services.
What have they learned?
Bringing together qualitative and quantitative approaches has helped teams develop a richer understanding of practice, performance and outcomes.
This has supported more meaningful reflection about what good practice looks like and how services can continue to improve.
The work has helped shift quality assurance activity from a mainly compliance-based process towards a learning-focused approach that puts more emphasis on impact, lived experience and outcomes.
Creative evaluation methods such as story dialogue, Most Significant Change and ripple effect mapping have supported teams to better understand change and the difference services make for people.
The framework has also strengthened leadership oversight by helping teams identify patterns, themes and opportunities for improvement across services. It's encouraged greater professional curiosity, critical reflection and engagement with evidence in decision-making.
Feedback from staff has been positive, with quality assurance arrangements increasingly viewed as supportive of learning and development.
The framework now provides a consistent structure for quality assurance activity across children's and adult services while allowing services to respond to local priorities and emerging issues.
The approach has received positive recognition through Care Inspectorate Wales inspection and assurance activity.
In Children and Family Services, inspectors in July 2025 highlighted the Assuring Quality and Learning Framework as an effective approach to monitoring and evaluating practice, recognising its focus on learning, professional curiosity and understanding lived experience.
In Adult Social Care, inspectors in July 2026 identified well-established quality assurance arrangements supported by a comprehensive framework, regular audits and quality circles and noted the council's commitment to continuous improvement.
Learning from the project continues to show that improving quality assurance is not only about introducing new tools and processes, but also about supporting cultural change and creating the conditions for reflective, evidence-informed practice across services.
Get in touch
If you’d like to know more about this project, please contact fay.turner@bridgend.gov.uk.
Find out more
Contact name:
Fay Turner