It’s great to see so much happening with staff engagement across the council.
Many of you attended last year’s “It’s all about you” engagement event in the Marriott Hotel which was a huge success. We’re now making preparations for this year’s event which will be held in the Marriott on November 24. Everyone is invited and I want managers to support all staff so that they have the chance to attend. More details will follow in the coming weeks.
As a result of last year’s event we’ve been holding mini engagement events in different locations for those staff who weren’t able to get to the Marriott. The most recent one of these was held at Clydach earlier this week where more than 60 Highways staff gathered to give suggestions and ideas and get an update on staff discounts and the work of the Innovation Community. The event also looked at the current commissioning review in Highways.
Given that this was an impromptu event, a lot of good ideas came out of it and it was a great success. Thank you to everyone involved.
Sticking with staff engagement, this year’s staff survey is open and we’ve already had almost 800 returns. Please take some time out to complete the survey as it’s really important that we get as many staff as possible giving their views. Whatever the results, I along with the Corporate Management Team are committed to listening to you and addressing issues.
City Deal
I was in London on Wednesday with the Leader and Sir Terry Matthews, the Chairman of the Swansea Bay City Region Board, where we met with the Secretary of State and MPs to push the case for an ‘Internet Coast’ City Deal for Swansea Bay.
A range of projects were discussed, including the development of broadband digital infrastructure in both urban and rural areas, as well as initiatives to boost the region’s renewable energy, steel and health sectors.
A progress report was then considered by a meeting of the Swansea Bay City Region board in Pembrokeshire yesterday, as we look to finalise the City Deal proposal with both the UK and Welsh Governments in the coming months.
Our aim is to get the City Deal signed next year. If we’re successful it will help generate jobs, change how people live and help businesses gain a competitive advantage if they base themselves here.
Friendly City
I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that one of the important issues facing the Public Service Board is how Swansea to becomes a Dementia Friendly City. This isn’t just an issue for people who work in social care but more an issue of how we as an organisation work in a way that is more supportive to the most vulnerable members of our communities. Part of the plan for a Dementia Friendly City is that all organisations will be training staff in dementia awareness, and I’m committing the Council to a target to train all staff in 2017. This is a significant challenge for us, but if we want to become a dementia friendly city, then the Council needs to demonstrate its commitment. We have a similar commitment in coming months to training in domestic abuse, which is a new legal requirement for us and officers will be doing their best to make sure we don’t duplicate effort for these training sessions.
Foster Swansea
Last Friday I met Donna Houlston and Sarah Thomas from the Foster Swansea team which provides a vital service identifying, securing and managing appropriate placements for children. It’s a nationally respected service and Donna and Sarah explained the importance of effective placement planning, the need to focus on early intervention and prevention and the importance of the Corporate Parenting Strategy. I’ll be going to a workshop on this next week so I’ll probably say more about it in the next blog.
What I hadn’t realised is that we’ve recently become a fostering-friendly employer and this means staff who foster children get certain benefits that were not previously available. Employees are entitled to five days paid leave to support them in their role as foster carers at any stage of the process. More details of this can be found on the council website or by calling 533212.
The team has been shortlisted for Social Work Team of the Year in Wales and I wish them every success.
Seaview Community Primary School
On Monday I visited Seaview Community Primary School and met the head teacher, Julie Dunn, and her team. Julie explained the challenges the school faces and the determination of the team to improve the lives of the children in Mayhill. I was taken on a visit to all the classes and different year groups to see the children learning and they were eager to show me what they were doing. For those who are not familiar with the school it’s an unusual circular design that in itself presents a lot of challenges and needs investment. The lack of green space for the school restricts what can be done and I promised Julie that I’d try to help deal with some of the environmental issues and the spaces available for the children to play and exercise. I’ve asked colleagues to help with this.
Once again I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the team working in the school and their commitment but even more impressed with the atmosphere in the school which was happy, calm and overwhelmingly positive.
Gower
Pretty much all of us know from personal experience what a brilliant place Gower is. It’s the jewel in the Swansea crown, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world every year. Now we have an opportunity to make sure it’s officially named Wales’ Best Place in the Royal Town Planning Institute Cymru awards. The awards are designed to celebrate some of our country’s most attractive and inspiring places and nominated areas include Caernarfon, The Hayes in Cardiff and Tenby.
To vote for Gower just go to this link. My vote is cast and you might want to encourage your friends to Vote Gower too.
Awards
Congratulations to two of our libraries staff who’ve received ‘Outstanding Individual’ Awards from the Prisoners Education Trust for their work at Swansea Prison. Valerie Samuel and Vicky Dickeson both work at the prison library supporting prisoner education and leisure needs. The awards set up as part of the Prisoner Learning Alliance recognise people who go the extra mile to promote and encourage learning in prisons. Prisoners agreed that Vicky and Val had transformed the library into a place of ‘sanctuary and actively promoted its usage for learning and reading, which has had a huge impact on prisoner’s lives.
Finally, it’s the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k on Sunday, so good luck to everyone taking part. My thanks also go to our staff for all their work in organising and promoting the event, which I’m sure will be a big success once again this year.
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