Archives for October 2020

The first week of the national “circuit-break” has been dominated by controversies over what’s an “essential item” and what restrictions will be in place after the current restrictions lift on November 9.

On the first issue I’d like to thank our teams who’ve been working with retailers and others businesses to ensure there’s a sensible and safe approach in what are very difficult circumstances.

They’ve been treading a fine line between keeping people safe and being sympathetic towards under-fire businesses.

On the second point the Welsh Government has already indicated that “non-essential” shops and gyms will re-open after November 9. We expect further details which could include guidance for bars and restaurants.

The sooner we get this detail the sooner we can start planning and support those who need it.

We’re all having to adapt quickly and I’m sure we’ll have to do so again after November 9. As soon as we get more details we’ll communicate them and start planning for life after the circuit-break.

Once again, I want to thank our staff for the efforts you continue to put in. for instance, I know our social services staff are feeling huge pressures and our finance team is pulling out all the stops to ensure businesses get vital grants as soon as possible.

Many of our teams are on the frontline in the fight against the virus. And another team to mention is our track and trace team, which is working flat-out to help slow the spread of the virus. In the last week alone there’s been 933 cases in Swansea and more than 1,700 contacts they’ve had to chase up.

Your work helps save lives. I want to pay tribute to you for your resilience and determination. You’ve done an amazing job so far. Please keep going!

Schools

The Health and Safety Executive is currently visiting schools to look at Covid-related issues including social distancing management, risk assessments, ventilation and cleaning. The visits have shown that schools are working exceptionally well in maintaining a Covid-secure environment. The schools visited so far – Clydach Primary, YGG Gellionnen, YG Gwyr, and YG Bryntawe – have all received the top two grades against the seven areas. And Pentrehafod Comprehensive received the highest grade across all areas. This is great news for our schools, reflects the dedication and hard work of the staff and should give staff, parents and pupils reassurance that they’re doing all they can to make schools safe. Thank you to all the schools and especially Nic Overton, our education health and safety officer, for their work on this.

In the space of a few hours the new regulations on lockdown in Wales will come into force.  They’ve been met with a mixed reception but over the last couple of weeks the Welsh Government has shared with us the clear epidemiological evidence that led to their introduction.  They are a necessary constraint on our conventional liberties which will help to ensure that health and social care services are not overwhelmed by the second wave of the pandemic and that the R rate reduces.  I’ve worked with our Comms Team this week on a number of important messages

Firstly, the new measures require that all staff will be working from home unless their role requires them to be in the workplace for operational purposes. If you have to come into the office then you must agree this with line your manager, wear a mask when in the public areas and familiarise yourself with the risk assessment and FAQs before coming into the building.  The detailed guidance can be found here.  Perhaps most importantly we, as public servants, have an opportunity if not an obligation to set an example in our communities by ensuring we comply in full with the regulations.

Secondly, for the public there are a number of important changes.  The Stay Home message underpins the Government’s approach and the regulations prohibit certain businesses and council functions from operating, whilst many front-line services considered will remain open.  This information is also contained in these FAQs.  The Welsh Government will not be reintroducing the shielding programme although they’re writing to those on the shielding list to remind them of the previous guidance.  We’ll need to keep a close eye on vulnerable people in our communities and continue to provide a safety net for those in need. 

Thirdly, we must continue to support our local businesses. Many have already struggled through the first phase of the pandemic, and a number haven’t survived it.  Our Finance Team have mobilised rapidly once again to operate the financial support mechanisms introduced by the Welsh Government and I hope this will provide the necessary support to prevent further business closures. The Covid challenges are compounded by the uncertainty over Brexit with a meaningful trade deal looking increasingly unlikely.  Recent projections by economists suggest the Welsh economy will take a major hit if even if a deal is agreed.  If there’s no deal the impact is likely to be far worse, so the developments over the next couple of months will be critical for us all.  This double whammy presents a very uncertain future for the economy and our businesses so let’s do all we can to support them.

I’m conscious of the profound impacts that lockdown is having on many of us in terms of our social interaction and individual well-being.  The fact that our staff have kept the city running, our residents safe and supported during all of this continues to impress me and I know that the whole Council appreciates this.  But we must keep on running because so many people depend on us.

Last but not least, we should all thank our schools and their teams for continuing in the essential task of helping our children and young people to develop and to be the best that they can be. They have shown incredible commitment and flexibility in maintaining the education service in extremely difficult circumstances. The long term impacts of the pandemic on our young people should be a major concern for society and the efforts of our education colleagues at this time will be of fundamental importance for future generations.

Well done to scrutiny

The National Library of Wales has sought our permission to provide public access to copies of the Swansea Scrutiny Bulletin Board within the UK Web Archive. The Library, working with legal deposit partners, archives UK websites.  The fact that the National Library has submitted this request is a reflection of the fantastic work done by our scrutiny team as an exemplar in Wales.  Thanks to the team and congratulations.

Spencer Davis

I was saddened this week to hear that one of Swansea’s most famous musical talents, Spencer Davis, has died. Spencer was a widely-respected musician who characterised Swansea as a City of Culture, achieving global success.  I’m discussing with our Culture Team how we as a city can celebrate his achievements and I hope we can find a fitting tribute.

The Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford today announced that he will be making a further announcement on Monday about the much-publicised circuit-breaker, and further restrictions to the way we live and work to help stop the spread of the pandemic.

Yesterday the Leader and I, along with our counterparts from all the other Welsh local councils, met the First Minister to be briefed on the potential next stages of lockdown designed to reduce the R rate from its current level of 1.4 to 0.8.  Potential changes were discussed, and these may well change again following further discussions over the weekend ahead of the First Minister’s announcement on Monday. While nothing is certain we may be looking at the following:

• We’ll be returning to the Stay Home message rather than Say Local.  This means the closure of all non-essential retail, hospitality and indoor fitness businesses. 
• Everyone should work from home where possible.
• No non-essential travel
• Local lockdown boundaries will disappear and people will be able to use nearest facilities – even if outside their county boundary
• Bubbles can be formed with households outside of county boundaries. Single people will continue to be able to form a bubble and meet indoors with another household
• Meeting up and exercising outdoors will allowed.
• Construction permitted – including essential repairs
• We understand that parks and crematoria will remain open but we aren’t yet clear on playgrounds.

For anyone who has to go into the office or workplace, please remember to social distance and wash your hands regularly. There have been some complaints from staff about others not adhering to the rules in our buildings so please ensure you take the necessary steps to protect yourself and others.

Annual appraisal

I’ve had my annual appraisal at the Chief Executive’s Appraisal and Remuneration Committee.   The purpose is to review my performance and set my objectives for the coming year.  It was conducted via Microsoft Teams and, once again, thanks mainly to the efforts of our staff, I was able to give a good account of myself as we’ve maintained or improved performance in the majority of services and responded well to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Chief Executives should not take the credit for the work of others and simply provide the leadership and support to enable the staff to get on with their jobs.  So the positive comments from the committee are more appropriately directed at those of you in the organisation who, day-in day-out, continue to excel in what you do.  Thanks to all of you for this. For the next 12 months I’ll continue to work to enhance the growing reputation of the Council as a leading authority, work to improve collaboration with neighbours, help to maintain the impetus of regeneration, maintain financial sustainability and drive our transformation programme forward.  Inevitably, my objectives for the next year also include the management of the organisation through the next stages of the pandemic.  My objectives can be found here.

Congratulations

I was delighted to see Nigel Williams receiving recognition through the honours system this week.  I know lots of people have excelled over the last six months and in many ways it is a recognition for all who’ve been involved in our pandemic response.  But knowing how much Nigel has put into his work it’s also a deserved personal award that recognises his efforts in ensuring all our colleagues have PPE, hospital capacity can cope with demand and people have new affordable high quality homes to live in.  Congratulations Nigel.  However, I hope you’ll take some sartorial advice before choosing which shirt to wear to the Palace!

Farewell Diane Thomas, Sheltered Housing Manager is retiring at the end of this month after nearly 40 years’ service.  Diane started in Cave Street as a Repairs Clerk in 1981 and later went to Eastside DHO and then to Housing Options where she worked as a Senior Officer in homelessness. In 2005 she became Sheltered Housing Manager.  Alongside these busy moves Diane was also a rep for NALGO.  Diane and I worked together for many years and I wish her a long and happy retirement.

We’ve started work on setting the budget but I’ve never tried to do this in such bizarre and uncertain times. To start with Ben Smith and I gave our best understanding of the likely financial landscape to our cabinet members.  In normal years we’ve had a pretty good idea of the likely level of financial support coming from the Welsh Government alongside the extent of service pressures facing us. However, we currently find ourselves in a very strange place with no informal or formal information on what that support may be and what additional pressures we’ll face as a consequence of the worrying combination of winter flu and the Covid-19 pandemic.  We expect the Welsh Government budget on December 8 and we may get an idea of our funding about a week later. In the meantime, we’ll need to plan for the worst but hope for the best, but it’s encouraging that to date the majority of additional costs we’ve had to meet during the crisis have been met by the Welsh Government. It’s inevitable the timetable for approval of the budget will be compressed and pushed forward, which may impact on the time for consultation but we’re trying to address this.  The increase in service pressures, particularly in social care, and the extra l costs and lost income incurred in the Place directorate will have a heavy impact and add pressure to the level of council tax, the need for further savings and the importance of containing in-year spending. I’ve previously aired my concerns about the medium to long-term impact of economic recession on the public finances and the support given to councils.  I’m reassured by the fact that the financial planning and control over the past couple of years now stands us in good stead compared to many smaller councils. I’ll keep you up to date as discussions progress.

Lagoon

It’s been a while since I mentioned the tidal lagoon, but work has never stopped on putting together a viable option to deliver this game-changing project for Swansea. The Leader and I have been working behind the scenes with UK and Welsh Government Ministers and civil servants and I’m hopeful that we may have some positives things to say in the coming weeks. My thanks to Martin Nicholls and our consultant Paul Marsh, from Holistic Capital, for their tireless work on this.

Well done

Last Sunday I was out walking with my grandchildren and saw at first hand the work of our public health team who were supporting the Shisha Bar in meeting the current restrictions faced by businesses during the local lockdown. It’s a difficult task but they are doing a great job.

It was lovely to receive a letter of thanks from Matthew’s House for the support they’ve had from our transport team. The team has provided support throughout lockdown, helping Matthew’s House ensure that over 170 people in temporary accommodation receive a daily hot meal and snack. The letter said: “Your team should be proud that they played such an important part in making this happen”. They gave a special mention to our drivers who helped deliver 18,000 meals and now 60-100 people continue to receive a hot meal every day. They said: “We have loved working with you and your team”. There’s probably nothing I can add as the letter says it all, but I just want to thank all those involved.

Congratulations to Wyn Evans in our rents team who’s clocked up 40 years’ service. Wyn joined Lliw Valley Council in as a rent collector, and after the 1996 reorganisation he became a housing officer in Gorseinon and Pontarddulais, becoming fondly known as “Mr Bont”. Since 2004 he’s been in the rents team. Wyn has given outstanding service and I know you’ll join me in wishing him the best on reaching this milestone.

Farewell

Geoff Mellor from our Housing and Public Protection service is leaving after 30 years’ service. Geoff worked in Urban Renewal/Grants from 1990 and was transferred to Housing in 1996 as part of the grants team.  He started with us as an estimator but went on to work in most aspects of surveying.  He’s an accomplished all-round practitioner who’s made a positive contribution and I wish him a long and happy retirement.

We’re almost a week into lockdown and we need everyone to do their bit to help reduce the number of Covid-19 cases in Swansea and further afield.

Last Friday and over the weekend was a bit frantic waiting for the Welsh Government restrictions to be made public and to work our way through them.

Officers have been brilliant in responding quickly and clearly in these unprecedented times and I’m grateful for your efforts. We all have a role to play in work, at home and in our community. We all know we have responsibilities as public servants and now it’s more important than ever that we lead by example. I’m confident we’re taking the correct steps to support and protect our workforce. But we should also behave and communicate in the right way outside of work and then hopefully others will follow. Sometimes our professional and personal lives overlap, so we just all need to ensure we follow the current restrictions. They are there for good reason so let’s do our bit and set the best example.

The latest restrictions and increase in testing has brought new challenges for us, but our contact tracing team have been heroic. They’ve been working seven days a week to support the Test, Trace and Protect process in the face of a sharp rise in positive cases. This includes colleagues from across the organisation who are working with our public health team and other agencies to help contain the spread of Covid 19. I’m also aware a number of you have returned to contact tracing/advising duties to help meet the demand. There are clearly significant challenges ahead, but I remain grateful for the efforts and commitment shown by our staff.

Our enforcement teams have been working with local businesses to implement the restrictions. And where businesses are not complying we’ve been taking appropriate action and offering support to help them to operate safely. Thank you to everyone involved and to all our staff who continue to go the extra mile to support our communities.

This week the Leader and I have been in close discussions with both of the city’s universities over the state of play in their organisations.  Despite isolated outbreaks, the general picture is a positive one and the disturbing behaviours in some of England’s universities have not been repeated here to date.  On Thursday we met with the First Minister and his colleagues to provide updates with both vice chancellors.  We’ll need to work very closely with all FE and HE institutions in Swansea to support them.

Great support                                                               

Programme-makers behind the BBC’s DIY SOS show have praised us for our backing on their Caswell Bay project. We helped presenter Nick Knowles, his team and local volunteers create brilliant new facilities for Surfability UK. It means the business can offer more surfing lessons and improved experiences for those with a disability or learning difficulty. Show producer Hamish Summers told us: “We’re so grateful for Swansea Council’s brilliant, endless, professional support for our charitable build for Surfability in Caswell Bay – thank you. Your support on every level – and from every department and amazing local contacts – was the principal reason we could contemplate such an episode of DIYSOS. The build was completed in only 24 days!” The show is due to air on BBC One on November 12. See what Nick Knowles and Council Leader Rob Stewart said about the council’s assistance

Well done

We’ve received the Value Award from Construction Excellence Wales (CEW) for our Active Travel Programme 2018-19. Our team delivered 12kms of new active travel infrastructure. And a community benefit programme included bikes to local school children, free cycle training, equipment and new cycle shelters and scooter pod storage. We also developed a civil engineering apprenticeship scheme, with Ciara Lynch being shortlisted by the CEW (Apprentice of the Year). My thanks to Chloe Lewis, Ben George, Amanda Howarth and our road safety and capital projects teams.