Chief Exec's Blog

An update from the Chief Executive

Archives for May 2019

It’s goodbye from me….

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Goodbye really does mean goodbye this time, after this blog I hand back the reins to Phil Roberts who is returning to work on a phased basis from next week.  I am delighted that he is ready to return as I am sure you all will be.

The last few weeks have been dominated by the EU elections.  Our team did a fantastic job and all went smoothly.  I must say a special thanks to Alison O’Hara who led the efforts in the final days and did a superb job.  I have always enjoyed working with the team, it is a classic example of the strength of teamwork with all prepared to do whatever is needed, including providing massive quantities of sausage rolls and pasties to keep us going!  (Thanks Sian).

Last week I was delighted to see the annual launch of the High 5 Awards take place at St Helen’s Primary school.  The awards are in their eighth year and again are a testament to teamwork.  Siany from Mumbles Pier was joined by our new ambassador James King from Ospreys, Cyril The Swan again created mayhem.  These awards have recognised some incredible young people over the years and you can help by nominating, please visit this link. The awards are not just about recognition, important though that is, they have also helped to inspire other young people to push on with their personal goals.

Continuing with young people I am delighted to see that Clase Primary has been ranked Good and Excellent in an inspection published today.  Congratulations to the staff and pupils.  Colgate are running a competition where schools can win a playground made of recycled materials.  Two of our schools, St David’s and Waunarlwydd are in the running.  You can vote for them by going to this link.

In the distant past I was responsible for producing the Authority’s annual accounts and would struggle to get them completed by September. Ben Smith and the Finance team have worked with staff across the Council and completed the task by the end of May!  This has been achieved with fewer resources and more complexity, well done to all.  The accounts may be a mystery to most but they are an important aspect of corporate performance and a feature of financial control which is vital in delivering all of our services.

This week I attended my first (and last) meeting of the City Deal Joint Committee that brings together Leaders from the four local authorities and partners.  There has been much controversy as a result of issues at Swansea University and in relation to a life sciences project in Llanelli, widely covered in the press.  This meeting was to get matters back on track and to this end agreement was reached on new governance arrangements that will see each Authority contributing to the task rather than the (criticised) concentration of activity in Carmarthenshire.  A crucial next step is Government approval (and money) for the early projects including Swansea City Centre.  This is currently expected in the next two weeks.  I hope so.

An element of this meeting was consideration of the revised proposal for the Tidal Lagoon.  This has caused much hilarity in some quarters as the press focussed on the prospect of a floating village etc.  The reality is that the project will only proceed if the basic technology of the lagoon can be afforded and funded and if public sector bodies agree to purchase the electricity.  If that works then what floats where is an entirely different matter!  The next phase is to seek to procure a partner with the skills and resources to deliver, funded by Welsh Government.

Finally a few words regarding my experience on returning.  I have enjoyed it, and largely been made very welcome.  Things have changed over the three years I was away.  The challenges are much the same, though the scale and intensity have increased markedly.

It has been a pleasure to be reminded how many of you, provide excellent service whatever the circumstances and I wish you all well.

Phil to return… and other news

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I’ll start with the good news that Phil Roberts is planning to return to work on June 3 and is expected to be back in full work mode from June 10. I’ll say more about my departure next week but clearly I’m delighted Phil will be back, which releases me back to my garden just in time for summer!

I know many are bored of it, but the European elections are taking place this weekend and our staff, not just the elections team, have been working hard to ensure it’s conducted properly. Polling staff were out all day yesterday and we carried out the verification after polling closed to ensure all the votes cast were properly accounted for. Staff will return on Sunday to count the votes with the result due to be announced at 10pm. This is to coincide with the Europe-wide arrangements.

Many of our services are under severe pressure not just because of finance but also public demand and expectations. One example is domiciliary care where we struggle sometimes to provide sufficient capacity to meet the needs of people which can result in delayed transfers from hospital. A key contributor is the occasional failure of external providers which means we have to reallocate work and funding to deal with the problem. This puts extra pressure on our staff who work at the sharp end and I’m grateful for their efforts. It’s a problem in Swansea, but also in the social care system across the UK and unfortunately the UK Government’s focus on Brexit for the past three years has delayed radical proposals being discussed.  Proposals that are going to have to change the way that health and social care is both funded and provided if the impact of demography is to be managed.

CMT this week considered a draft scrutiny report on equalities and although more work is needed we’ll have to agree an action to ensure we continue to meet legal requirements. The scrutiny function is important because it carries out a detailed examination of practice highlighting strengths and challenges.

I’ve mentioned a few times our regional arrangements for the City Deal, ERW and the like. This week the WLGA has commented on the Local Government Minister’s proposals for driving this agenda forward. The current proposals appear to promote the idea of statutory joint committees that take on both the legal and potentially employment role for a range of areas such as education improvement and regional planning. I can see this type of proposal would give greater authority to regional arrangements to deliver their agenda. But on the flipside, it places question marks over the democratic accountability of these bodies because the joint committees will be made up of a small number of councillors, leaving the majority potentially having even less say.

At the moment we’re looking at all our land ownership across the city to see whether sites can be released for development to improve the city and in some cases to generate income. The latest seafront proposals have inevitably led to a significant reaction.  We need to be clear that we’re only seeking expressions of interest at this stage. If there is any interest, we’d need to take into account a whole range of issues including any environmental and visual impacts. Public consultation is under way and it is interesting to see we are receiving ideas as well as objections. 

Lynsey Davies, one of our apprentices, has been named Wales’ best in the Federation of Master Builders’ Master Builder Awards. Lynsey will now be entered into the National FMB awards in September. Judges described her as ‘a shining example of how commitment, dedication and determination can achieve results’. Well done Lynsey, this is a brilliant achievement.

Finally, congratulations to Steve Williams who retires with 40 years’ service. Steve has worked as a driver in social services and our integrated transport unit. I along with his colleagues wish Steve all the very best in his retirement.

All change for Lord Mayor

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The Lord Mayor of Swansea is appointed at a Ceremonial Council annually and the changeover occurred this week.  Tradition has it that the longest serving Member who has not already held the office is appointed.  Councillor David Phillips has done an excellent job this year and will be succeeded by Councillor Peter Black and I wish him well in what will be a very busy year.

Whenever I mention money in this blog it seems to have negative connotations as we continually strive to meet ever more challenging savings targets.  So it’s great this week to have some positive financial outcomes!  Cabinet approved the award of two key contracts – one for local bus services and one for park and ride buses.  In both cases not only were services maintained or improved but significant savings were achieved.  It was great to hear Cabinet Members praise the officers involved not only in terms of the outcome but also the hard work that goes into such tasks.

Personally, I was also pleased to see Cabinet adopt a policy on “Pupil Development Grant”, formerly known as “Pupil Deprivation Grant”.  This money is allocated to schools on the basis of the number of pupils in receipt of free school meals (FSM).  Whilst we can be rightly proud of our schools relative performance it remains the case that FSM pupils do not perform as well as others in general, the position being worse for boys.  This Policy requires us to monitor the effectiveness of the use of the grant, learn from best practice and undertake research to drive up achievement.  A continued focus on FSM pupil attainment is a key priority for us.

It is also good to see that this week a clear policy promoting the rights of people with learning disabilities and mental health issues to live supported in the community was endorsed.  Supported living has been very successful in Swansea for many years, the issue here is that this policy binds officers and councillors together in advocating for this important provision.

At CMT we discussed the staff survey again.  Each Head of Service is tasked with addressing issues in their area of responsibility.  It is for CMT to drive forward change in a small number of key issues that are identified across the Council, three were selected.  Firstly, bullying and harassment.  The policies relating to staff are being reviewed and updated assisted by specific feedback from some individuals.  The issue that is very worrying is the increasing trend in allegations relating to members of the public.

Secondly, Safeguarding.  This has been our number one priority for many years and much positive work has been done.  It is very concerning therefore that the survey returns low result on, for example, people’s awareness of the key lead.  The third issue related to staff reporting lack of knowledge in terms of their work area and plans for change.  This raises yet again challenges in relation to staff engagement.

All three issues have arisen previously so clearly CMT is not only going to have to refresh what has been done previously but also come up with some new approaches to affect these key issues.

Three years after we launched our specialist mental health resource centre Crest in the former Cwmbwrla Day Centre the service is about to take the next exciting step in developing the services we provide.Working with partners it is to become a Recovery College providing formal education programmes as a route to recovery for people with a lived experience of mental distress. Crest will continue to provide the employment and day services it already offers but this addition will enhance the work and educational opportunities available at the centre.

Many of our schools have been working closely with the Show Racism The Red Card for a number of years now and they were very well represented at the charity’s creative competition awards. Winners came from St Helen’s, Cwm Glas and Terrace Road Primaries as well as YGG Llwynderw and Olchfa Comprehensive.

A word of thanks to the Emergency Management Team who were called out late last night to support the fire service to evacuate local residents due to the wildfire on Kilvey Hill. All the residents found temporary accommodation with friends, but this is another example of the great work being done by our teams to support local communities.

A whole blog without mention of Brexit or the EU election? Well, not quite. Staff have been dealing with postal votes this week and making preparations for polling day. Much of my next week will be taken up with the election so the blog would be more boring than usual!

Finally, colleagues may wish to be aware of two forthcoming funerals:

Dave Gill, Monday, 20th May –  2:30 p.m. Siloam Baptist Chapel, Goetre Fach Road, Killay, Swansea. SA2 7AL and then 4:00 p.m. Llanelli Crematorium.

Jamie Parsons, Thursday 23rd May – 2:00p.m. at Morriston Crematorium – if you are attending, the family would like you to wear something colourful.

Election Fever(ish)

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So now we know, the European Elections go ahead on the May 23 and the European flag will not fly on civic buildings across Wales on Europe Day!  It’s now full steam ahead, postal votes are on their way to electors and will start returning next week.  We’re expecting around 30,000 postal votes in Swansea.  Nationally there are concerns around protests and disruption which would threaten the integrity of the vote.  I attended a police-led contingency planning event this week that explored a number of potential scenarios.  I’m very clear that the integrity of the election is massively important, but very conscious of the responsibility for the safety of our staff.  There’s no specific local intelligence which is of concern but it does no harm to plan.

The extent to which people are increasingly able to share their experiences in terms of mental health issues nationally and locally can only be positive.  Next week is Mental Health Awareness week.  I’m delighted to see our Stress Management and Counselling team has created an online programme of mental health and counselling resources for our employees.  I hope people will make use of this resource.

Physical activity is of great importance throughout life but it’s especially good to see young people active and enjoying!  So congratulations to Alison Williams and the children of Penyrheol Primary School at their recent participation in the Big Pedal 2019.  Well done all.

In more mundane, yet important, matters Corporate Management Team dealt with a few key issues this week.  Firstly a report on performance in Adult Social Care was presented by Deb Reed (Head of Service) and Dave Howes (Director).  Whilst there are obvious pressures on delayed transfer of care and provision of domiciliary care packages, I was pleased to see the service clearly has a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and is actively working to achieve the best possible outcomes for clients.

We also started preparations for the coming budget round (surely the point at which I lose readers!).  We of course need to address our overspends from last year, deliver our savings planned for this year and prepare for further future savings.  Swansea is no different to other local authorities in facing demand pressures and falling cash.  Tough though it is, it’s imperative we work continuously on this agenda in the belief that planning our way through it is not only a duty but our best chance of protecting vital services.

The other hardy perennial issue rearing its head again this week is the tensions around regional working in both ERW and the City Region.  Government policy is set on extending regional working and we continue to try and be positive whilst some of our friends continue to threaten to withdraw.  Nobody said it would be easy!

Following the national innovation award at the House of Lords, our corporate health and safety team has again been recognised for outstanding performance. The team has been shortlisted for awards in H&S large organisation of the year, H&S training and wellbeing at tonight’s South & West Wales Occupational Safety Group awards. Good luck tonight!

Fondly remembered friends

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Only a couple of weeks ago I attended the funeral of my friend and colleague Paul Hopkins formerly of the Estates department.  At the funeral, I chatted to Dave Gill and Kim (his wife) who were both for many years’ stalwarts of the planning department.  As so often happens, we agreed to catch up soon, but it was not to be.  Sadly, Dave passed away suddenly this week.  Dave was in every sense larger than life and all those who knew him will miss him.

When I returned to the Council in 2005 we were blessed with the presence of an ‘interesting’ Chief Executive and on many occasions I would have to meet with Senior Managers to explain the latest madcap proposals.  Dave would tackle me ferociously highlighting injustices on behalf of his colleagues and often wiped the floor with me! 

Once the meeting was over and the points made, Dave’s convivial side would return, friendship being far more important than professional disagreement.  All our thoughts are with Kim who I am sure will have the support of colleagues and friends alike.

Many of you will also know Marilyn Torrentino who worked for many years in the authority and passed away recently.  Her funeral is on 14th May 12 noon at Llanelli Crematorium.  Unsurprisingly attendees are asked to wear a bit of sparkle or colour, which is in keeping with Marilyn’s character.

It is also with great sadness that I have been made aware that Jamie Parsons, Fleet Admin. Officer in CTU passed away last night after a short period in hospital. Jamie worked for CTU for over 20 years, principally in the role of CTU Workshop Receptionist. Jamie was a hugely respected and charismatic member of staff and,  was a cornerstone of the CTU service. Our thoughts and condolences go to his wife, Arlene, family and friends at this sad time.

Given the sad news above, I will stop here for this week and will return next week with a more detailed update in terms of Council business.