The horrific events at the Manchester Arena shocked us all. Whilst it’s hard to identify what the authorities could have done to prevent the attack, it’s important that we redouble our efforts to mitigate against such dangers. We’ll continue to work with the police and other organisations on security for major events in the city. We’d urge everyone to continue to be vigilant and report anything suspicious.
In paying our respects to those caught up in the bombing, flags have been flown at half-mast and a vigil took place on Tuesday evening in Castle Square. I’m grateful for the staff who helped to arrange this at short notice.
On Wednesday parts of the city centre were evacuated due to a suspicious package, which seems to have been a “hoax”. I’m really angry about this because one of the purposes of terrorism is to inject chaos, disruption and paranoia into communities. Hoaxes compound this and assist those who commit acts of terror.
However, I’m grateful to all our staff and others who helped in the quick and safe evacuation. They were praised by the police for their efforts.
Unsurprisingly, CMT this week discussed emergency and civil contingency planning. We’ll be reviewing procedures and carrying out a practice exercise to test our readiness for a major emergency. I hope we never face the situation that confronted the authorities in Manchester, but if we do I want to make doubly sure that we, along with our community, are all prepared for the critical roles that would be required of us.
Council AGM
The annual General Meeting of Council took place last night. Councillor Rob Stewart was re-elected as Leader and Councillor Clive Lloyd was elected Deputy Leader
The Cabinet Members and their portfolios are:
- Economy & Strategy – Leader – Rob Stewart
- Service Transformation & Business Operations – Deputy Leader – Clive Lloyd
- Education & Children – Jen Raynor
- Health & Well Being – Mark Child
- Housing & Energy – Andrea Lewis
- Stronger Communities – Will Evans
- Culture Tourism & Sport – Robert Francis-Davies
- Commercial Opportunities & Innovation – David Hopkins
- Future Generations – June Burtonshaw/ Mary Sherwood (job share)
- Environment Services – Mark Thomas
- Scrutiny programme committee – Mary Jones
Council also appointed chairs for the Policy Development and Delivery Committees, which replace the Cabinet Advisory Committees. The PD&D Committee chairs will be councillors Robert Smith, Mandy Evans, Erika Kirchner, Ryland Doyle and Paulette Smith. Councillor Penny Matthews will continue to chair the Licensing Committee and Councillor Paul Lloyd will carry on as Chair of Planning.
Congratulations to all.
A new Lord Mayor
The inauguration of the new Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress takes place this afternoon. Councillor Phil Downing is taking over from the current Lord Mayor, Councillor David Hopkins. David and his consort, Beverley, have done a magnificent job for the city over the last year. It’s been an incredibly busy year for them and I know they’ve enjoyed it. Thanks both for a job well done.
Election
Preparations for the General Election are continuing with just over 34,500 postal votes going out this week – the highest number we’ve ever had.
The elections team has added over 7,500 people to the register since the May election, and processed 1,600 postal vote applications on Monday and Tuesday. A great effort, well done!
Bishop Gore
Last week I visited Bishop Gore School to meet the head teacher, Ryan Davies, and his team. The school has over 1,200 pupils. It is a “green” school with 1 for standards and A for leadership. We discussed how we can ensure pupils are properly equipped for the world of work and further education. I was interested to hear how it’s difficult to find proper work placements for students and this is an area I think we can make progress on. One possibility is a database linking placement opportunities with students’ skills and ambitions. I’ll be discussing this with colleagues.
The school has implemented an innovative approach to educating children who arrive at the school from primary education with low levels of literacy and numeracy and this is making a real difference. They’ve also recently developed their horticultural skills by regenerating the school’s walled garden. This is a wonderful facility for learning and fun and I hope the team at the botanical gardens who’ve already assisted can help further. Ryan is leaving to move to Brynteg in Bridgend at the end of this term but I must pay tribute to his leadership and the achievements of his team.
Farewells
We have a number of long serving colleagues leaving us today. Mike Hawes, Director of Resources is retiring after 35 years. Mike has made a huge contribution and I’m grateful for his wise counsel and unwavering support, particularly since I took up post last year.
Dave Evans, Housing Business Manager, also retires today after 28 years. Dave and I worked together for many years on a variety of projects and he can be rightfully proud of his contribution in improving the quality of life for council tenants.
Also this month, Steve Colwill and Phil Lewis will be leaving Corporate Building and Property Services after 43 years and 26 years, respectively.
Thanks to all four who have clocked up 126 years of service between them!
Congratulations and thanks
Swansea Marina and four of our beaches – Caswell, Langland, Port Eynon and Bracelet Bay – have retained Blue Flag status for their quality of water, environmental education and management, safety and services.
The Blue Flag Award is a highly respected international across 49 countries.
Our city centre has retained prestigious Purple Flag status, demonstrating it’s a great, diverse and safe place to spend a night out. Well done to all involved.
A high-profile visitor has called into the Dylan Thomas Exhibition to find out about Dylan’s links with the USA. Lewis Lukens, the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in London, was shown around the exhibition by our literature officer, Jo Furber.
Blog
I’m on leave next week so my next blog will be on June 9.
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