Archives for June 2019

Perhaps now more than ever we need staff to be innovative and bring forward ideas to help improve the way we work and use our limited resources.

We recently launched a new Ideas Hub replacing the old staff suggestion scheme to help encourage more ideas. I’m sure there are many things that frustrate staff and many things they’d like to change! CMT don’t have all the answers, and let’s be blunt about it, it’s our staff working at the coal face who have the real insight into how their areas could operate better. So please come forward with any ideas which will be looked and where possible they will be implemented. If you don’t want to use the new Hub just speak to your line manager.

Fair Play

This week CMT discussed the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) which has specific duties for public bodies to bring equality and good relations into day-to-day business. This includes:

•           publishing equality objectives and plans.

•           identifying an equality objective for each of the nine protected characteristics.

•           supporting the objectives through appropriate engagement.

It also aims to increase workforce diversity, the recruitment and employment of disabled people, and work to narrow pay gaps.

I think it’s fair to say like all other councils in Wales we’ve made good progress but there’s some way to go before we can be confident that all requirements are being fully met.  We’ll be developing an action plan to take this forward rapidly.

Not unrelated to this was the CMT discussion on Chwarae Teg following our recent decision to work together to improve gender equality here.  The presentation CMT discussed can be found here and we agreed to put in place a number of actions to make sure the impact of our joint working is maximised.  Martin Nicholls and Adrian Chard will lead this for us but we’ll need reps from all directorates to make sure this reaches every part of our organisation.

Swansea grows

Swansea’ population increased by approx 1,000 (+0.4%) to 246,500 during 2017-18. It’s in line with the Wales average and is the 11th highest rate of growth among the 22 authority areas. These are important statistics given population levels are a contributory factor in determining our funding from Welsh Government.  Thanks to Steve King for sharing this information with us to help us better plan services for the future.

Swansea@50

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Our celebrations are really kicking-off now. Yesterday the Sandfields community held a street party in St Helen’s Road and today we’re having a 50^th flag-raising ceremony at the Guildhall. Next week, to celebrate Swansea’s 50^th and also the 50^th anniversary of the Prince of Wales’ Investiture, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will be visiting Swansea. The royal couple will be in Victoria Park and the Patti Pavilion before the Prince heads to Morriston to visit the Tabernacle Chapel project. Fifty staff have taken the offer to go to the park to help greet the visitors. A few days later our 50^th-themed Airshow takes place when we expect hundreds of thousands to attend this free event. Thank you to our staff for organising these events.

War memorial

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I was disappointed to see the war memorial had been vandalised. It’s so disrespectful to the huge numbers of men and women who gave their lives fighting against fascism and oppression to help protect future generations.  Our cleansing colleagues responded rapidly and effectively to remove the graffiti and I’m very grateful to them for their excellent work.

Well done

You may remember the evacuation of the Meadow House Private Care Home last December after a serious fire, which resulted in us placing residents into Parkway to ensure their safety and provision of care until repairs could be made. Andy Walters and Ben Cromie from our emergency management team have since been working with our social services commissioning team to improve standards of business continuity planning in the private homes. This has included delivering a series of workshops to the care home managers which has brought praise from those attending.

Congratulations to Lynsey Davies within Building Services for being named Wales’ best in the Federation of Master Builders’ Master Builder Awards 2019.  Lynsey will now be entered into the National FMB awards on 20 September 2019.  Ifan Glyn, Director of FMB Cymru, said “Lynsey is a shining example of how commitment, dedication and determination can achieve results and we wish her luck in the national final.”  We will all be rooting for you Lynsey

Appreciation

This week I had a letter from two people whose father recently passed away from a degenerative illness.  They’d written to thank Neil Wilson, a care management officer in our Integrated West Hub, for his work in making sure their father’s last days were spent at home and with his family.  Neil had done a wonderful job over a long period of time and the family were extremely grateful. I know our fantastic care teams do this on a daily basis and I appreciate their efforts all-year round, but this underlined for me once again how important our services are to our communities.  So my thanks to all our care teams but on this occasion particularly to Neil for going the extra mile and really making a difference to people’s lives.

It’s been an interesting week as I continue to catch up with the events of the last few months and the people who work so hard to keep our services running.

CMT considered a broad range of issues including the current financial position and likely forward budget planning assumptions, corporate targets, pooled funding for care homes, Welsh language training and support and the creation of a Strategic Learning & Development Group to consider how to support and improve staff development across the organisation. 

All of these are important, but perhaps the most significant item on the CMT agenda was the discussion about the Swansea Central regeneration project.  An incredible amount of work has been completed to get us to the stage where we can progress the scheme, subject of course to the release of funding by the Welsh Government.  I have to admit a degree of frustration with the bureaucracy and pace of the civil service in delivering their part of the bargain and we’ve been applying intense pressure on them to sign off.  Thanks to all the staff who have worked on this over the past five years.

One of the important issues to remember given the time it takes to actually put shovels in the ground is why we are doing this; or rather what would be the consequences of us not doing it.  Some time ago CMT, Cabinet and Council received a series of reports relating to the City Centre Strategic Framework.  This was an extensive and strongly evidenced piece of work which set out the implications of doing nothing, and it didn’t make for happy reading.  Even prior to the uncertainty caused by Brexit the clear messages were that failure to intervene would mean further decline, increased poverty and worklessness, more empty buildings in the city centre and dramatic falls in regional output and productivity.  This would have major impacts on our ability to raise taxes and revenues, and hence our ability to deliver our core services.

The role and function of cities is changing as retail and leisure patterns shift, the demand for city living increases and the outdated physical infrastructure needs updating.  However, it’s essential we do the right things and that they are affordable.  This is our obligation to future generations and previous attempts have rarely been 100% successful. Officers and members will need reassurance on this and the next few months will be critical in making sure that this is the case.

Poverty

Cabinet yesterday agreed to establish a Poverty Truth Commission.  This is an important step in making sure the foundations of our work to combat poverty are strong.  Policy makers and service deliverers need to understand what the experience of poverty is and the Commission will establish an essential dialogue with those who have to live with it in order to better shape and target our actions to deal with it.  Thanks again to the councillors and staff who have driven this initiative.  I look forward to taking part and I hope many of you will engage as well.

I’ll be paying close attention to how we link our large scale capital investment in regeneration and house building to this agenda.  We need to ensure that the way in which work is procured and delivered benefits those who most need it and offers opportunities and ambition that is currently absent in some of our communities.

Pentrehafod Award

Congratulations to everyone who’s worked on the £15m refurbishment of Pentrehafod school which has this week been recognised nationally. The scheme won the Innovation in Delivering Value award at this week’s Education Buildings Wales Awards. It was also Highly Commended in the Innovation in Delivering a Sustainable Education Facility category. The project has brought new teaching and sports facilities and for the first time all the school buildings have been linked up so pupils and teachers no longer have to run between buildings in bad weather. And all this work was done while the school remained fully open. Thank you to everyone involved.

Swansea@50

Our celebrations continue at a pace with a number of events coming up. The anniversary is on July 3 and there’s a big event planned for that day – more details to follow! Thank you to everyone who’s helping to organise our celebrations and if you’ve not got involved yet please do.

High 5

Nominations are already coming in for this year’s awards which is great news. However, if you know a young person who deserves recognition please take the time to nominate them as I’ve seen the huge benefits these awards have brought to hundreds of young people in recent years.

Thanks

It’s great to know that we’ve played our part in helping democracy in Europe. We recently loaned some ballot boxes so that Romanian nationals were able to vote in the recent European Parliamentary Elections. We’ve now had a letter from the Honorary Consulate of Romania saying, “Thanks to you (Cllr Rob Stewart) and your Team 1,340 Romanian Nationals were able to take part in the European Elections (for the Romanian Representatives)“. And I’d like to add my thanks to our elections team for making this happen.

Budget outturn

I’ve spent the week catching up with all that’s been happening over the past couple of months.  On Tuesday CMT discussed the revenue budget outturn for last year which will shortly be reported to Cabinet.  I know Jack thanked the finance staff a few weeks ago for their excellent work in rapidly closing the accounts but I have to extend my gratitude as well.  It’s a huge task to undertake and the team did a great job in finishing the work before the end of May.

CMT are continuing to develop the financial strategy for the next few years taking account of the nationally recognised financial pressures, particularly in social care and education.  Councils across the UK are rapidly running out of wriggle room and my recent discussions with CEOs in other councils reflect this.  In the meantime, I’m grateful for the efforts staff are making to control expenditure whilst continuing to provide essential public services.

Freedom of the City

On Wednesday I attended the Ceremonial Council where rugby legend, Alun Wyn Jones, was awarded the Freedom of the City by our councillors.  With the Rugby World Cup rapidly approaching I was careful to ensure that Alun did not trip over the tricky steps leading up to the Presiding Officer’s chair as he took his seat, as I have done so on several occasions.   It was a great celebration of one of our finest sporting sons.  Many people are unaware that Alun has been helping us to attract the Skyline project from New Zealand and this has demonstrated his commitment to making Swansea a great place and a top tourism destination.  I’m grateful to him for his contribution both on and off the field.

The next few weeks will be critical for the delivery of the Skyline project and the Leader and I are working hard to ensure that this investment comes to the city.

Young Entrepreneurs

This morning I’ll be dropping in to Castle Square to join the 2019 Swansea Enterprise Challenge Market Day.  This is a great initiative designed to develop in our young people the creative thinking needed to design a product to make and sell in the summer term. Pupils create, advertise and sell their products and this includes today’s event in Castle Square where all schools set up a stall to sell their products.  Prominent members of the business community will judge the products, and pupils will present their business plans and evaluations of their projects. There will then be Grand Final, hosted by Kevin Johns, at the Brangwyn Hall on Thursday, July 11 where every child that has taken part will receive an award for their achievements.  I also hope to attend that event.  Thanks to all involved in this fantastic programme and particular thanks to Alison Williams, Head of Craigfelen Primary, for inviting me.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Karen MacKinnon, curator of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, who was made MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours announced last weekend. With a 25-year career as an arts director and curator, bringing high-profile artists, exhibitions and events to Wales, Karen was recognised for services to the arts.

Well done to our staff who were shortlisted in the recent All Wales Continuous Improvement Community’s Annual Awards. Our Child and Family Services Participation Team were shortlisted and commended for the Working Together for a better Wales award. They developed a video showing how we are giving young people a voice. And a project that has seen two workers providing a child and families wellbeing service to improve patients’ lives, reduce adverse childhood experiences and reduce the need for statutory social services. Congratulations to everyone involved in the projects.

Congratulations to the Grand Theatre staff for hosting the eighth year of Primary Partners. From a one-night only show in 2011, it’s grown to a four-night show featuring more than 1,200 pupils from 24 Swansea schools, organised jointly with Gower College Swansea.

Golden ticket

To celebrate Swansea’s 50 years as a city, we’re giving away 50 pairs of golden tickets to events and some special ‘money can’t buy’ occasions. Our second Golden Ticket draw will be for a pair of tickets to the gala performance of Mal Pope’s brand new musical ‘Calon Lân’.  Enter the draw online here.

Hello, I’m back in work.

Thank you to all who have sent messages of support during my recent illness.  As a result of the treatment I received from our excellent National Health Service I have recovered rapidly and I am looking forward to seeing you all again.  I am very grateful to Jack Straw for standing in for me for the last four months and to Adam Hill and the management team for their continued support.

This week I have been catching up with Jack and the Leader on the events of the past few months and absorbing a huge number of reports and emails.  The next few months will be challenging but exciting as our city changes its shape whilst celebrating its 50^th birthday.  I know our events team will be extremely busy over the summer with a packed programme for us all so our thanks must go to them.

I was saddened to hear that Dave Gill our principal planning officer had passed away last month.  Dave made a massive contribution to planning in the city over many years and his infectious sense of humour will be greatly missed.  It was also difficult to come to terms with the tragic death of our colleague Sam Morgan, son of our former Head of Housing, Lee.  Thanks to all of the colleagues who paid their respect and attended the funeral ceremonies.