I mentioned last week just how difficult this year’s budget process is. I’ve spent most of the week dealing with a number of 11th hour issues including discussions with Welsh Government over education grants. Unfortunately, this has driven a coach and horses through my diary so apologies to those people I was scheduled to meet. Amongst the cancelled appointments in my diary was the Staff Well-being event held in the Brangwyn Hall on Wednesday which by all accounts was a massive success. I’ll say more about it next week.
The public consultation on the budget process finishes today which gives us the time to ensure that reports are finalised in time for Council on March 1. I know that discussions are taking place with staff affected by the proposals and I’ve urged managers to make every effort to avoid redundancies, however difficult that may be. I hope to see staff, managers and unions working together to come up with other options.
Work will then begin immediately on next year’s financial challenge and my thanks go to all who’ve worked harder than ever before to prepare the budget.
I know some staff may be considering taking ER/VR so it’s worth me flagging up some changes to the scheme. We’ve been offering an enhanced ER/VR scheme, giving staff additional benefits using a 45-week calculator. Unfortunately, the pot of money we set aside to fund these enhanced payments will run out by the end of June. This means we can’t offer the enhanced rate after March 31, so applications after that date will be considered on the 30-week calculator. In the past we’ve been able to extend the deadline for the enhanced rate because there was money left in the pot, but our Head of Financial Services and Service Centre, Ben Smith, has made it clear that’ll definitely not be the case after March 31 because the money will have run out.
Staff travel
Leadership Team looked at the issue of staff travel and how we can make it easier and more efficient for employees. A lot of time and effort is spent on travelling both in and out-of-county as part of our jobs, but with changing technology and new ways of working there’s an opportunity to take a fresh look at what we do. It’s early days in the discussions but we considered issues such as car share, parking at council locations, using Skype to avoid travel, pool cars and our existing fleet. Our Highways and Transportation team will carry out further work and I’ll update you.
CMT
Corporate Management Team this week considered a range of issues including the budget, social care charging policy and the Prevention Strategy. We also had a demonstration of the online sickness absence system that’s being developed by our in-house IT team. Hopefully this will produce accurate and timely information to help us all manage sickness absence more effectively. Sickness has a heavy cost to the Council each year which compounds the budget challenge and increases the likelihood of job losses. We’ll be working with the Leadership Team to refine the system over the coming weeks. Thanks to Leanne Casey and Richard John who came to CMT to present this to us.
Schools
I know opinion is divided over the Welsh Government’s school categorisation process but I was delighted to see the performance of Swansea schools in the latest round. We were one of a handful of councils with no schools in the red category and my thanks go to all the staff in our schools and education service for their efforts.
The Biggest Weekend
The Biggest Weekend is coming to Swansea this summer with Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift headlining at Singleton Park. This is a fantastic coup and something our Events Team has been working on for a number of years. It adds to our summer events which include Man Engine, Little Mix and The Killers at Liberty Stadium, the Wales Airshow and Now the Hero / Nawr Yr Arwr which justifies our position as Wales’ Capital of Culture. Tickets for The Biggest Weekend go on sale on Monday, February 12, at £18 plus £4.50 booking fee. Further information here or www.bbc.co.uk/biggestweekend
Well-being
You can have your say on plans to develop a better Swansea as part of the consultation on the Local Well-being Plan. It’s been drafted by the Swansea Public Service Board and an online survey can be found at https://www.swansea.gov.uk/psb or in sessions held at the Civic Centre on Feb 6 at 4pm-5pm, the Baling Plant on Feb 12, 9.30am-10.30am and Heol y Gors on Feb 9 at 7.30am-10.30am.
New build
Plans to develop a new purpose-built school for vulnerable young people as part of our EOTAS provision have cleared an important hurdle. The Welsh Government’s Capital Panel recommended to approve the business case. This approval is now subject to the Cabinet Secretary’s final decision. Let’s hope it gets agreed.
History month
To mark LGBT History month, we’ll be flying the pride flag at the Civic Centre in a series of events taking place across the city. Supported by our Staff LGBT+ Group, our library service has a display created from newspaper cuttings celebrating the history of LGBT in Swansea. They’re also showing ‘Britain on Film: LGBT Britain’ on February 24.
Swans
And finally, congratulations to the Swans on another well-deserved victory against one of the top clubs on Monday. Even I’m starting to regain hope they’ll survive in the Premier League which will be another massive plus for the city.
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