That time of year again

As we’ve come to expect at this time of the year the budget is once again the biggest issue facing us. Corporate Management Team spent most of Wednesday morning discussing the revenue budget proposals for next year in advance of the challenge sessions with Cabinet next week. In last week’s blog I explained the headlines from the Welsh Government’s provisional settlement and that we needed to find £14 million of savings to deal with unavoidable service pressures.  Whilst we will focus on the need to generate income and improve efficiency it’s inevitable that some tough decisions will need to be taken on reducing or stopping services.  As I mentioned in my last blog the whole of next week has been allocated for Cabinet and the Corporate Management Team to close the budget gap.

The medium-term financial position was set out very clearly at Council on Tuesday evening by our Section 151 Officer and Director of Resources, Mike Hawes. Reading finance reports can sometimes be a great cure for insomnia, but Mike’s report set out in detail the likely scenario for the next three years.  Although we’re uncertain about the scale and timing of budget announcements from the Government, the question is not if there’s a budget reduction, but how much of a reduction? We’re working on assumptions of at least 2% reductions in each of the next three years, but we’re also mindful it could be more!  Mike’s report makes it clear that along with additional spending pressures, the gap between what we receive in funding and what we spend will continue to grow. Therefore, we have to focus on providing different services and providing services differently, maximising digital solutions and a radical commercial agenda among other changes if we are to avoid sweeping service cuts on a scale not seen previously.

Following the technical financial questions there was a lively political debate about future plans, including the Leader’s announcement on the school improvement programme and other projects in the medium term. It included feasibility work starting shortly on plans for new schools for Blaenymaes, Portmead, YGG Tirdeunaw and on the former Daniel James School site. The plans could see a new English medium school on the former Daniel James site, potentially for pupils from ages 3 to 16.  This will also provide the opportunity for the current Welsh medium primary school at YGG Tirdeunaw to relocate to a new build co-located at the Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe. Blaenymaes Primary would be completely rebuilt and Portmead Primary would see significant investment.

Regeneration

This week the Leader and I met with Ken Skates, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure. Although it was an introductory meeting we discussed some current important issues including the City Deal and the broader regeneration of Swansea city centre.  We also raised the issue of electric vehicles and the need for a national approach to charging points and I hope we will be having further discussion on this in the months to come.

Gower’s still the best

This week the Royal Town Planning Institute announced that the winner of their Wales’ Best Places competition was Aberaeron, with Gower securing a creditable third place. Thanks to all who voted for Gower, the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Britain, and still my favourite place in Wales.

Appeal

Thanks to the efforts of the Early Intervention Team within Poverty and Prevention, the Council’s contribution to the Mr X scheme will continue in its 57th year.

The appeal is designed to enable residents to help local, less-privileged children this Christmas by collecting donations of gifts for children aged up to 18. These gifts are allocated to families that may otherwise not receive many, if any, gifts at Christmas. If you would like to donate a gift then please contact Donna Rowley Donna.rowley@swansea.gov.uk

Congratulations and thanks

Thanks to everyone who took part in our first Redeployment Day this week. Almost 300 employees attended, along with managers and trade unions. The HR Operations Team is currently sending out information to staff who are interested in positions on the bumped redundancy list.   They will then contact staff with details of the next steps in the process. In the meantime, if you have a query, please contact your Departmental HR Officer.

The recent success of some of our social work team was recognised at Council this week. I mentioned in a previous blog that we won awards at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Cymru Social Work Awards. Vanessa Chambers, Amanda Etherington, Martin Chapman and the Foster Swansea Team were present to receive their awards in the Council Chamber.

Congratulations to the West Glamorgan Archive Service, who have successfully applied to the National Archives to become an Accredited Archive Service. This gives an assurance that the public records they hold are well-preserved, safe and accessible.

Thanks to our Events team for all their hard work in organising the event that will accompany the Christmas lights switch-on in the city centre next Thursday. The event, which will feature a staged area and illuminated balloon acrobatic acts, is a new and exciting addition to our Christmas celebrations in Swansea.

Well done to Judith Oakley, a marine and coastal biodiversity officer in our nature conservation team, who has been selected to represent Wales at the British and Irish Cross Country Championships in Glasgow on November 12. This follows her silver medal in the Welsh 5k Road Race Championships in August.