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Contents

1. Dates for Republishing the Manual
2. Submission Process
3. Minor or Generic Edits/Comments
4. Complex or Detailed Edits
5. General
6. Incorporating new Chapters

1. Dates for Republishing the Manual

This Manual will be updated and republished twice each year.  The next planned updates are:

• July 2010 - with a planning meeting on 26th May 2010, and
• January 2011 - with a planning meeting on 27th October 2010

Apart from this, we may include urgent updates at other times. If you wish to recommend inclusion of an urgent update, please contact Dave Trask (Section 2, Submission Process).

If this Manual is updated, on a planned or urgent basis, all staff will be notified and the first page of the Manual will be amended showing that it has been amended.

If the Manual is amended, all staff must familiarise themselves with the amendments - amended or new chapters are always highlighted in the Contents List.

2. Submission Process           

Feedback/amends must be approved and submitted to Dave Trask* by the date of the planning meetings referred to above(the next due date is 26th May 2010).

• Dave Trask: Information Analyst, Children and Young People's Performance and Outcomes Team.
  Tel: 0406
  Email:  traskd@walsall.gov.uk

Amendments that arrive after the due date willl usually be held over until the next available update.

It is important that feedback/edits are forwarded in the format outlined below

3. Minor or Generic Edits/Comments

If your comments or feedback are minor or generic e.g.

• Post titles or terms that relate to multiple chapters
• Change of title/name of a Chapter
• Spelling mistake or grammatical error
• Inclusion of a reference to a Form or an agency

Notify Dave Trask , in writing, providing as much information as you can.

• If the feedback relates to a specific Chapter, make sure you state the title of the Chapter.
• If your comment relates to a section or paragraph of a particular Chapter, identify the section/sub section as precisely as you can.

NB: Small sections of Chapters - that appear on the screen - can be copied and pasted to 'Word' documents: this will enable you to duplicate the section that needs to be amended.  If you do this, highlight the changes you are recommending in red or with 'Tracked Changes' and always add a note indicating the title of the Chapter it relates to.

4. Complex or Detailed Edits

If you would like to substantially edit or change a Chapter, this must be undertaken in 'Word'.

• Small sections of Chapters - that appear on the screen - can be copied and pasted to 'Word' documents: this will enable you to duplicate the section that needs to be amended.  If you do this, highlight the changes you are recommending in red or with 'Tracked Changes' and always add a note indicating the title of the Chapter it relates to.
• If you wish to make changes to a whole chapter, please contact Dave Trask, who will arrange for you to receive a 'Word' version of the whole chapter, which you can then amend.

5. General

When making amendments, be as clear as you can...

1.	Questions/Clarity:  It is not helpful to put a question mark or insert something like "Is this how we do it"; if you aren't sure what should be included, seek management guidance or approval from a relevant Manager.
2.	Incomplete procedures:  If a section of a chapter can't be completed e.g. if you are waiting on further guidance or decision making, you should decide whether you can include the chapter anyway, and show the relevant section as 'To Follow'.
3.	Indicate the changes: As stated above, it is critical that your amends are clearly highlighted, this saves time in the formatting and it helps us to indicate to staff what changes have been made.  You should do this in one of two ways highlight your changes in red use 'Tracked Changes'.
4.	What Chapter?: Always indicate the name of the chapter at the top of the document.
5.	Which Section?: If you are forwarding part of a Chapter, always state the name of the chapter and the section title/number.
6.	Cross References:  You can cross reference to other chapters or documents e.g. government guidance or websites if you wish.  To do this: indicate the name of the document/website you wish to cross reference to - in red; provide a copy of the document (or indicate where it can be obtained) or provide the web link. and always add a note indicating the title of the Chapter it relates to.

6. Incorporating new Chapters

If you would like to suggest the inclusion of a new Chapter, please discuss your recommendations with the relevant Manager.

In these circumstances, you will need to:

• Forward a copy of the new chapter in 'Word'
• Clarify what the name of the chapter is
• Clarify what part of the Manual is should go in.

End