Archives for July 2016

How should we reward staff?

July 29, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

Staff reward and recognition is a really important issue but it can often be a difficult one to get right.

Some of our past attempts, many of you may remember the Service Excellence Awards as an example, have been well intentioned but flawed and, consequently, short lived. But now our Innovation Community are looking at this and I met them on Monday to discuss progress. There were some interesting views and the group is gathering evidence from other organisations to see what we can learn. The need for consistency whilst maintaining flexibility will be an interesting dilemma for the group. I recently explained I was keen that our annual complaints report becomes more balanced to include positive comments and compliments, so I was pleased to hear their view on the need to document, monitor and celebrate success and praise from the public.

Linked to this, Corporate Management Team this week discussed, among other issues, the Staff Suggestion Scheme which has been developed by staff in the Innovation Community. We hope to launch it in the autumn and I‘ll be saying more about this in the weeks to come.

I had my first meeting as Chief Executive with the Police and Crime Commissioner, Alun Michael and his team. The Leader and Chris Sivers, Director of People, also attended and we started with a discussion on hate crime and recent trends. But the main topic was the Public Service Board and the role the police can play in the priority areas I mentioned last week. We also discussed to the future of the CCTV service and the likely impact of developing technologies on improving services and reducing costs.

Thanks
One of our domiciliary care providers recently went into administration, which isn’t a unique situation for councils but thankfully it’s not an everyday occurrence! These services support some of the most vulnerable citizens in our community, so it’s important we stepped in and secured continuity of care and minimised the impact on service users and staff. Thanks to an immediate and thorough review of each individual’s needs the Domiciliary Care Contracting Team worked closely with the Intake Team and the Community Hubs to ensure a smooth transition. This was a massive operation that went pretty much un-noticed by the public and media. My thanks go to Fiona Broxton and her team, and all the other officers in Adult Services and the Local Health Board who worked so hard to resolve this potential crisis.

I visited the newly-refurbished high rise flats at Matthew Street with the Leader, Councillor Andrea Lewis and officers from Housing and Corporate Building and Property Services.

The programme of improvements to these homes is part of our drive to meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. This will require investment of over £270 million between now and 2020 to deliver the improvements to all council housing.

Matthew Street has had more than £11 million of investment, providing improvements including an external insulation system, new roof covering, new bathrooms and kitchens, rewiring, and environmental improvements. The tenants were delighted with the results, saying they now had homes they can take pride in. They also told me the Council and Interserve had managed the contract very well. It’s clear that one of the many real benefits for tenants will be reduced utility bills and this is an important point given our corporate commitment to tackle fuel poverty. Congratulations to all who worked on this regeneration project.

It was lovely to hear that our former colleague, Sue Miles, who recently passed away, is being honoured in a unique way. I worked with Sue for many years on transport and economic development issues and miss her wise advice, calm disposition, patience and sense of humour. Sue held several regional transport roles and First Cymru has now named a bus in her honour.

Congratulations
A special Ceremonial Council was held to recognise the contribution of former councillor, Byron Owen. I worked with Byron for many years on a range of projects, but I remember most vividly the support he gave me and my team when working on the replacement of PRC houses in the Clase area in the early 1990s. His intervention to support officers at many of the “heated” public meetings was welcome indeed. Byron is a former Lord Mayor and held various Cabinet and committee roles, but remained a hard-working ward councillor. Council granted Byron the status of Honorary Alderman, a fitting recognition for his excellent contribution to the well-being of the city.

Tonight I’ll be attending the inaugural Lord Mayor’s Summer Ball at the Brangwyn Hall. It promises to be a lively and fun event where the Lord Mayor recognises the achievements of some of the city’s most famous sons and daughters. Among those receiving awards are Catherine Zeta Jones, Bonnie Tyler, the Swans and Joe’s Ice Cream.

Congratulations to all the staff who’ve made Swansea’s parks so attractive again this year. Being a compulsive walker I spend a lot of time in the city’s parks and on recent visits to the botanical gardens at Singleton, Victoria Park, Brynmill and Clyne I‘ve been really impressed by what has been achieved in the face of the financial reductions we’ve had to make. It’s also great to see that prestigious Green Flags have been awarded to parks including Singleton Botanical Gardens, Brynmill Park, Clyne Gardens, Victoria Park and Cwmdonkin Park.

Well done to staff in the West Glamorgan Archives for achieving UK Archives Accreditation Standard. The standard defines good practice and agreed standards, encouraging and supporting development.

Staff in our Planning Service, who help protect Gower’s beauty, have been shortlisted in a competition run by the Royal Town Planning Institute Cymru to celebrate some of the country’s most attractive and inspiring places. You can vote for Gower to win here: www.rtpi.org.uk/walesbestplace

And finally, many happy returns to Brynhyfryd Library on its 60^th birthday today. Penblwydd hapus.

*There’ll be no blogs for the next two weeks as I’m on annual leave. My next blog will be on August 19.

A lesson for us all

July 21, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

I often mention the importance of safeguarding but I’m hoping this story will show everyone just how vital it is.

A member of our Corporate Building and Property Services team visited a house to carry out some routine work. But when they arrived they saw a child living there in unacceptable conditions. Thankfully our employee used our safeguarding systems to raise his concerns and as a result social services investigated and took appropriate steps to safeguard the child.

This is a great example of how any one of us could come across a safeguarding issue and it hits home the importance of all of us undergoing the training. Perhaps without the training our member of staff may not have raised their concerns. Our safeguarding training is mandatory for all staff, but the rewards which flow from your commitment to implement the learning have the potential to change lives. I’ve contacted the employee involved to express my thanks and I hope this example will encourage everyone to do the training as soon as possible.

Future Generations
Councillor Andrea Lewis, Tanya Nash (our Sustainable Development Team Leader) and I met with the Future Generations Commissioner, Sophie Howe. We discussed how the Future Generations Commissioner can add value to our work, particularly on the implementation of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. This is an important piece of legislation, the impacts of which are not yet widely understood. The Commissioner was particularly interested in our work on innovation and I suspect we will have further discussions about it.

We highlighted what had already been achieved in Swansea in terms of governance/reporting and initiatives such as Beyond Bricks and Mortar, Signs of Safety and the Neighbourhood Environmental Action Team. We also discussed embedding the seven well-being goals into our corporate and service planning processes and into the work of the Public Service Board.

Coincidentally, this discussion was followed by a meeting of the Public Service Board. The meeting confirmed the partnership arrangements for the board’s four statutory members and received updates on the four priorities; domestic abuse, city centre/economic development, independence of older people and a good start in life for the young. The board also received an update on the well-being assessment that is currently under way which will provide an evidence base for the future. Although it’s early days for the board the partners are determined to make progress on these priorities and the level of commitment is impressive.

This week’s Corporate Management Team away day was dominated by a number of commissioning reviews including parks and cleansing, highways and transportation, corporate building and property, adult services and CCTV and community safety. These are detailed and evidence-based exercises which review the outcomes required in each area given the financial constraints on the Council. The reviews also consider the efficiency and effectiveness of services. Staff can find out more by speaking to their line manager or their departmental lead on commissioning.

CMT also discussed the budget and the need for continued financial restraint in the months to come. There are some significant financial pressures developing which we’ll need to address rapidly and I’ll be making further statements about this in the coming weeks – including a reminder of the spending restrictions that continue to apply.

Farewell
Two long-serving employees who’ve clocked up more than 80 years’ service between them are about to retire. Chris Gibbon, Section Leader (Planned Maintenance) is leaving after 42 years of local government service. Chris started with West Glamorgan before transferring to Swansea in 1996 and during his service has overseen an estimated £40 million worth of schemes.

Also leaving this week is Chris Taylor, Team Leader (Improvements Section). Chris has worked on some of the biggest civil engineering projects in the city during his 41 years, including the Sail Bridge, Boulevard and Bus Station. Their service is outstanding and I’d like to put on record my thanks to them and wish both a long and happy retirement.

Events
What a summer of events it’s been so far and it’s not over yet! Last weekend saw the Beach Football Festival and also the annual Gower Bike ride. Whilst the weather wasn’t brilliant for spectators, it probably suited participants in both events. Earlier this week, the annual Swansea Special Festival took place. Now in in its 36th year, the event is open to adults and young people with learning difficulties and attracted over 200 athletes. Many thanks to our staff and volunteers for making this event possible.

More than 2,000 spectators are expected at Saturday’s annual Beach Rugby Wales festival. Now in its 11th year, it’s grown from six teams to 36 and will take place on four pitches marked out on the beach outside the Civic Centre. I mentioned last week that the Eid celebration had been postponed due to poor weather. Eid in the Park will now take place from 11.30am on Sunday at Abbey Meadow, Swansea University. There’ll be plenty of fun and entertainment with bouncy castles, sumo wrestling, magic, animal shows and much more.

Success
Two pupils at Blaenymaes Primary have received an award for their role as health and safety ambassadors. Jeffrey Griffiths and Finnley Bradnum, won the Jewson H&S award, having identified problems, collected information and agreed with the schools’ management what changes needed to be made. I visited the school a few years ago and met the head teacher, Bev Phillips, so I was delighted to hear this news.

There was further success, this time at the Swansea Life Awards, when The Wales National Airshow won best event, Swansea Market won best visitor experience and the Swansea Bay 10k was highly commended. This is great recognition for the work we do and I’m grateful to all the staff involved.

We can all play a safeguarding role

July 15, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

Safeguarding

I mentioned previously that I will occasionally use my blog to focus on corporate priorities. This week the topic is safeguarding.

In 1985 I started working in the Housing Department of Brent Council, shortly after four-year-old Jasmine Beckford was starved and battered to death in the borough by her stepfather. She had been in the care of Brent Social Services department for two-and-a-half years during which time she was seen only once by a social worker.

But who knows how many other council staff might have been in contact with them but either did not understand what they were seeing or didn’t know what to do if they did think something was not, perhaps, quite right? It was a question we asked ourselves at the time.

I have personally witnessed the impact of safeguarding failure on individuals, families, communities and organisations. It is catastrophic and overwhelming.

Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, neglect or maltreatment. It applies both to children and adults. Safeguarding is everyone’s business and we all have a personal responsibility to report concerns. As the phrase goes: “If you hear something or see something then say something”.

Guidance is available here about what to do if you want to report an issue. Staff should also be aware of their departmental leads for safeguarding which can be found here.

All staff are required to complete mandatory safeguarding training as part of their induction process and training is also mandatory for councillors. More than 3,500 of our staff and councillors have completed mandatory face-to-face or e-learning training on safeguarding so we are making progress but not quickly enough. I have asked the Corporate Management Team to speed up efforts to reach our target of 100% as soon as is possible. Councillor Christine Richards, our lead councillor on Safeguarding, has sent a similar message to councillors.

If you have access to a PC in work you can complete your training through the Council’s e-learning portal at swansea.learningpool.com . Speak to your manager or to your area’s designated lead for safeguarding. If you don’t have access to a PC in work you can book face-to-face mandatory training. Speak to your manager or to the training team at ODCorporateTraining@Swansea.gov.uk or on Ext: 6232.

Also in relation to safeguarding two members of our Child and Family Services team, Sarah Ford and Claire Lloyd, recently made a presentation to an international conference and demonstrated how this Council effectively uses the Signs of Safety framework to build safety and resilience in partnership with families. They also used the opportunity to advertise the ‘I am me’ practice handbook, developed by Vanessa Chambers from Social Services, to provide guidance for social workers to help children understand their life journey. This has been copyrighted and the team also demonstrated their commercial thinking by selling 53 copies with a profit of £530. It is encouraging to see Swansea Council leading the way in this crucial area of work.

There has also been a huge effort in Adult Services in managing safeguarding concerns and in particular the challenges faced by the Deprivation of Liberty Standards (DoLS) which have significantly increased workloads.

Poverty and Prevention

Appointments Committee earlier this week appointed Rachel Moxey to the Head of Poverty and Prevention. Rachel is currently self-employed, working on a range of social regeneration projects in Wales and the South East of England. Prior to this she worked in a number of local authorities, including Merthyr and the City of Salford. Rachel will be taking up her post in the next few months.

JCC

On Tuesday I attended the Joint Consultative Committee with the trade unions. I had been invited to make some comments by way of introduction so I explained the state of play with our corporate priorities and the challenges that face us over the next few years. I also mentioned the importance of the Sustainable Swansea programme in helping to modernise the organisation and the need to consider new models of delivery in financially challenging times. I look forward to a positive and constructive relationship with the trade unions as we move forward.

CREST

On Thursday I visited the Community Recovery Education and Skills Training (CREST) facility at Cwmbwrla which is part of our Social Services operations. This is an innovative specialist resource centre which aims to support people with serious and complex mental health problems to recover by equipping them with skills and develop relationships. The service was recently relaunched (previously CREATE) at an open day which I unfortunately could not attend as it clashed with the EU referendum.

The manager of CREST, Gary Sheaf, explained the wide range of activities that are available at the resource centre and how they help people to become more independent and take control of their lives. According to MIND one in four people will suffer some form of mental health problem each year ranging from depression and anxiety to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, OCD and panic disorder.

The centre is doing excellent work and I wish them continued success.

Rugby Sevens at Ashleigh Road

Last weekend Swansea staged the Rugby Sevens 2016 FISU World University Championships at the Ashleigh Road sports village. Our Leisure team has worked with the University to secure the championships, the first time it’s been in the U.K. since 2002 The opening ceremony saw teams from all over the world parading across the sports village with nine women’s and ten men’s teams participating.

The Lord Mayor, Councillor David Hopkins, officially declared the WUC Rugby Sevens open and the ceremony ended with a rousing performance from the Morriston Orpheus Male Voice choir. The event demonstrated some real sporting excellence but more significantly it reminded me what a friendly and welcoming City we are to people from all over the World. Once again the logistical support from the Leisure team was excellent and my thanks go out to them.

Also busy this month are our trading standards team who are doing their bit to prevent residents from getting caught out by scammers in Scams Awareness Month. We’re letting the public know what to look out for in terms of scams and how not to fall for them. It’s worth checking out the latest on our web pages so you know all about the latest scams and can avoid being out of pocket for something that’s not quite what it seems.

Pupils from Lon Las have been visiting the site of their new school this week to inspect progress on how their £9.8m new home is getting on. They’re due to move in in the autumn of next year. Lon Las comes on the heels of new schools for Burlais and Gowerton and is testimony both to the importance we place on education and the amount of behind-the-scenes work is done by our education team to make these success stories happen.

From Fanzone to Eid

Last Sunday Singleton Park lacrosse field was due to host the celebration of Eid, an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. Unfortunately the weather put paid to the event which is now rescheduled, provisionally for 24^th July. However the fact that it was possible at all is miraculous given the challenge of cleaning up after the match. A big thank you to the staff of Waste Management & Parks for their efforts. The before and after photos are attached below.

High 5 Awards – the deadline approaches.

We are now only a week away from the deadline for nominations for the High 5 Awards so it is the last chance to vote for that inspirational young person who you think has made a real difference. You can nominate here.

Brave the Shave

Finally this week I must mention that Fran Williams, (Waste Management Team Leader) and Yvonne Lewis (Senior Licensing Officer) are going to take part in the Macmillan Brave the Shave. Yvonne is having her head shaved at 12.30pm today, Friday 15^th, in Committee Room 1 at the Civic Centre. Fran is scheduled for the morning of August 1st 2016 at the Baling Plant. The link to the giving web site is here and the names on the site for sponsorship are Frances Williams and Yvonne Lewis. They would both like to thank those that have already generously donated and further donations are gratefully accepted. Fran and Yvonne will both have to come and see me personally for my donations as I want to get value for my money. Good luck to Fran, Yvonne and anyone else taking part.

Building for the future

July 7, 2016 by Martin 2 Comments

On Monday I attended the official opening by HRH the Prince of Wales of the Swansea University Bay Campus. As you might expect it was a grand affair and my congratulations go to the university on delivering this substantial and impressive project. I have been a member of the joint partnership group since the very beginning of this project more than eight years ago. It was a great experience to see the plans turn into reality as a fully functioning centre for the engineers of the future.

The opening of this new facility marks the start of a new era for Swansea University in its 95th year and is part of a £450 million programme of development and expansion that includes further investment into the Singleton Park campus. Over the last five years the university has had a significant impact on the region with a 20% increase in students and staff and a 120% increase in research awards. In addition during the during the 26 months construction of the Bay Campus over 7,500 people worked on the site, 273 contracts were awarded and 165 individuals trained in accordance with the Council’s Beyond Bricks and Mortar policy. Overall the investment in both campuses is estimated to contribute over £3 billion to the economy over the next decade.

School visits

I have been continuing my visits to schools this week. On Tuesday I visited Morriston Comprehensive School which last year saw the completion of a £22 million rebuild. It is a fantastic learning environment for young people. I met the head teacher, Martin Franklin, who not only made me feel very welcome but also filled me with enthusiasm as he explained the impact of the investment and the improvements achieved in performance by the staff and pupils. He also gave me a guided tour of the school. It is a really first class facility.

On Wednesday afternoon I travelled to meet Rob Phillips, head teacher at Dylan Thomas Comprehensive School. Once again there was a warm welcome for me and Rob explained the challenges and achievements of the school very clearly. The school is making fantastic progress, recently receiving a Good/Good inspection from ESTYN. On our walkabout we visited the Dereck Roberts Centre which provides an education for children who are identified as having additional learning needs associated with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This is an impressive and important facility of which the school can feel rightly proud.

This week I also met with Ysgolion Cynradd Abertawe, the Swansea Primary Schools association made up of head teachers from all of the cluster areas. We discussed a number of topics including pupil attainment and the importance of the broader achievements and well-being of children, the landscape for local government, reorganisation and the financial outlook post the EU referendum. The YCA are a passionate and challenging group and I am looking forward to further discussions with them and a series of visits to primary schools in the autumn term.

What did I learn from the visits and the YCA discussions? Well quite a lot really but I think the most important message was that whilst buildings and the environment are important the most significant determination of good outcomes in education is to recruit and retain inspirational teachers. Those I met this week left me with a very positive feeling indeed.

Farewells and congratulations

Next week sees the departure of our Head of Poverty and Prevention, Sarah Crawley, following her appointment as Director of Barnardos Cymru, based in Cardiff. Sarah has made an excellent contribution to developing our corporate priority to tackle poverty and will be missed by colleagues. I wish her well for the future in her new role. We are in the process of recruiting another Head of Service but in the meantime I am delighted to announce that Jane Whitmore has been appointed to act up for the interim period.

Congratulations also to Julie Thomas on her appointment to the Head of Child and Family Services. Julie has been doing this challenging job on a temporary basis for the last 12 months but has now been made permanent Head of Service by the Appointments Committee.

It’s all about you

The second “It’s all About You” staff engagement event was held at Gors Community Centre last week. These events are about improving staff well-being and morale and to give staff the opportunity to express their views and ideas. 104 members of staff attended between 1.00pm and 4.00pm, and the event was organised by staff for staff – all of whom are volunteers. I had planned to drop in but unfortunately I could not be there. It sounded like a good afternoon was had by those who attended though.

Dancing in the street

This Saturday sees the return of another event, Dance Days, a free weekend of dance performance organised by Taliesin. It takes place in Swansea city centre and around the National Waterfront Museum on Saturday 9th July, and in and around the National Waterfront Museum on Sunday 10 July. There is a link to the Dance Days programme here.

Mametz Wood

You might remember last week I mentioned Swansea Council paid its own tribute to those from our city who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country in World War I at the Welsh Memorial to the Battle of Mametz Wood. The 100th anniversary of that battle starting was yesterday and I’ve included a picture of the wreath-laying by Karen Hallchurch from Special Events on behalf of us all.

Events

I thanked all staff who helped to deliver the Wales National Airshow last week but I have to repeat the message this week following another superb weekend for the City. An estimated 200,000 people attended over the two days, the sun shone and great fun was had by all. The feedback from the general public has been very positive indeed. The next Wales National Airshow will take place on 1st and 2nd July 2017.

If that wasn’t busy enough, in the midst of the Airshow weekend, our Events team was asked to consider staging a Fanzone for Wales’ Euro 2016 semi final. Castle Square had been the Fanzone for the games up to Wednesday this week, but it had a restricted capacity owing to its size, location and configuration.

Given the anticipated high volume of people expected to watch the game at a Swansea Fanzone, it was decided to move the location to Singleton Park which could cater for much bigger numbers. It was just as well we did as more than 10,000 turned out to cheer Wales on against Portugal. They didn’t quite make the final of the European Championships but their performances in the competition earned praise from all over the world. Well done Wales.

Cohesion in our communities

July 1, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

EU Referendum – the implications

As the dust settles following the vote to leave the EU, senior officers and Cabinet members are considering the possible implications of the decision for all services. Detailed discussions are also taking place with the Welsh Local Government Association. Staff will be kept informed of developments, but currently there is little clarity from the UK Government on the timetable and preparations for the exit. As I said last week, this will be a long process.

The outcome of the referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union has, understandably, raised a number of questions about what this will mean for people from the EU currently employed by the council. I wanted to take this opportunity to reassure all our staff from the EU that you are valued and hugely appreciated. Your work and commitment to Swansea Council, your colleagues and your customers has not changed since last week and nor has our commitment to you. Your vital contribution to our work together will continue; you are appreciated by me and, most of all, by those we work for.

I am also conscious that there have been instances where racist and xenophobic comments have been made both to adults and children. It is a hate crime. We will take a zero tolerance approach to this and staff who witness such behaviour should report it to the Police immediately and inform their line manager. See the link to our webpage on Hate Crime which explains how to report incidents.

Resilience

Corporate Management Team discussed a number of matters this week including Resilience and the More Homes Project.

Resilience is an important issue for all of us. Martin Nicholls, Director of Place, recommended that we review the current arrangements for resilience and business continuity both to provide reassurance to CMT that the current arrangements are robust and that there is an appropriate understanding of resilience and roles across the organisation. This will be a wide ranging review involving many of you and it will consider our state or readiness in case of emergency (remember the Fforestfach Fire?) as well as some business continuity issues which will be of concern to many. For example, resilience in ICT provision becomes an issue for the majority of staff and councillors when the email system or the internet is down.

CMT then focussed on the More Homes Project. This is an exciting venture, particularly for someone like me who is old enough to remember the last council houses being built in the City. Cabinet has asked officers to develop schemes to deliver new affordable housing in order to combat the developing accommodation crisis that has resulted from more than a decade of slowdown in the housing market. Councillor Andrea Lewis has been tasked with the development and oversight of this strategy and plans are already underway at two sites in the city.

Adult Community Learning

This week we had a visit from Estyn who are carrying out a national survey into Adult Community Learning. The purpose of the survey is to analyse the changes to services, progress for learners and the quality of teaching and leadership in the service. These are services that are delivered in partnership and it is therefore a complicated review involving a wide range of agencies.

Armed Forces Day

Armed Forces Day on Saturday was another successful event with many people in attendance, despite having to dodge between sudden rain showers. The Lord Mayor, Councillor David Hopkins and the Council’s Armed Forces Champion, Councillor June Burtonshaw, both spoke passionately about the sacrifices made by people from Swansea in various conflicts over the years. It made me reflect on the members of my family who had been killed fighting against fascism in the Second World War. There was a large crowd in attendance and I’m sure a lot of other people were reflecting in the same way.

Coincidentally, July 1 marks the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, where thousands of Welsh soldiers died, many from Swansea. Steve Burgess, operations technician at the Brangwyn Hall, visited the Somme this week to lay a wreath on behalf of the Council at the Welsh memorial at Mametz wood where the Welsh Division fought. The fighting was fierce and 100 men from the 14th (Service) Battalion of the Welsh Regiment [the famous Swansea Pals] were killed on their first day of action alone. Steve and other Council staff will be attending a ceremony that takes place on the centenary of the start of the offensive. I was honoured that they asked me to write a simple message of thanks on the remembrance card.

New ‘Self-Serve’ Room Booking System

Facilities are launching a new ‘self-serve’ room booking system. This went live on Wednesday. More information is available at this link.

Events

Tomorrow we have the much-anticipated return of the Wales National Airshow, my favourite event of the year. This year’s show promises to be more spectacular than ever with the addition of a number of new displays. This will be the sixth Airshow that Swansea Council has hosted since the inaugural event in 2007 and it is the first time that the Wales National Airshow has been held in successive years since it was confirmed as an annual event last year. Last year it attracted more than 170,000 spectators, generating an estimated £7.6 million for the local economy in Swansea

Whilst the Council’s Special Events team has responsibility for the overall planning and delivery of the event, they do so in conjunction with colleagues in services across the Council including Tourism & Marketing, Transportation, Telematics, Cleansing, Highways, Parks, Environmental Health, Corporate Communications, Facilities, Car Parks etc. The event is also grateful for the support of over 100 volunteers including the Scouts, Cadets, and the Lions Club. I’d like to thank all those staff and volunteers involved in the planning and delivery of the Wales National Airshow in order to ensure it is a safe, successful and enjoyable event. Have a look here for more information including car parking and transport.

Saturday also sees the first Street Market in Morriston, following on from the success of the Uplands and Marina markets. These markets started as a regeneration project – a way of invigorating public space, building footfall and vitality and they have now become a social enterprise in their own right. The Uplands Market was recognised by the Daily Telegraph as one of the top 10 street markets in the UK and I hope the one at Morriston will be equally successful.

You can find out more about the markets at this website and you can follow the developments at Morriston on Twitter @MorristonMarket and at this link. www.facebook.com/morristonmarket. The market will be open from 9am until 1pm on the first Saturday of each month (with the odd exception) on Woodfield Street, Swansea.

Barry Young

And finally I would like to say a special word of thanks to Barry Young from Corporate Building and Property Services who retires this week.Barry won’t mind me saying he is better known as Barry Carparks to some. I have known Barry for many years and he has been a valued colleague as well as the source of much information on a variety of topics, most notably the Swans. He has carried out his duties cheerfully through rain and snow and dealt with difficult situations politely and effectively. I hope he has a long and happy retirement. Thanks Barry.