Time to review senior management structure

Following discussions with political group leaders I’m undertaking a review of senior management.  By that I mean the structure of the corporate management team and heads of service.  These roles are determined by full Council and the review, supported by the Welsh Local Government Association, will be reported to our councillors who will then decide the appropriate structure.  Many Welsh councils are currently doing this as they adjust to the process of recovery from the pandemic and brace themselves for potential cuts in the context of an economy that has shrunk by more than 10% following the pandemic.  We’ve performed well during the pandemic but we must prepare ourselves for an uncertain future.

The existing structure has been largely unchanged for a number of years.  It was developed to ensure there was sufficient capacity and expertise to deal with the local, regional and national challenges facing the city and the Council.  It’s been largely successful in doing so, but the world has changed rapidly and the delivery of the Recovery Plan is now a central driver for us.  A number of temporary changes have been made to the senior management structure and these will need to formalised where appropriate.

The Local Government & Elections (Wales) Act places a number of new duties on local councils including alternative arrangements for performance improvement and a requirement to collaborate regionally.  The structure must be appropriate to deliver these new duties.  In the context of future financial challenges it’s important the cost of the structure is appropriate whilst ensuring we have resilience to deliver the recovery programme.  We’re facing potentially significant reductions in resources and this will impact on the size of the whole organisation. Senior management should lead by example in ensuring efficiency and economy.

The challenges we face can by crystallised into four main areas:

• the social care system and the absorption of the lessons learned in terms of integrated working with health.
• an education system that has suffered massive disruption to the development of a cohort of our young people.
• a financial system that potentially faces another period of prolonged austerity.
• an economic infrastructure that is rapidly becoming obsolete as global economic trends force rapid change.

This is not all that we do but must be the core priorities for the organisation and the city.  At the same time two cross-cutting themes must run through the analysis.  Firstly, the need to maintain a pace of organisational transformation through the effective management of people, buildings and ICT capacity.  We’ve made huge progress in adapting to the brave new world and this must continue.  Secondly, to drive forward regional collaboration to deliver more coherent plans and more efficient services.  These two themes will be fundamental in the management of change. 

I’m conscious this creates uncertainty for all those impacted by the review, so I’m aiming to complete it as quickly as possible whilst taking as many views as I can and absorbing the external independent advice. I aim to complete it before the end of April in readiness to report to Council shortly thereafter.

A huge thank-you to our officers who came together to support and evacuate more than 100 residents from one of our housing blocks yesterday.

It seems somebody deliberately set-off the sprinkler system at Matthew Street flats, causing damage to the power supply which will take a number of days to restore. Our officers were quickly at the scene to assess the damage and re-house the residents at short notice. This was a huge operation involving many services to ensure residents were reassured, transported, fed and provided with alternative accommodation. I can’t thank the staff enough. This was a magnificent effort which highlights how our staff go above and beyond every day. Thankfully this kind of incident is rare, but I’m proud of everyone’s efforts in doing whatever they can to protect and support the public.

Similarly, staff from a number of services stepped up after a fire at YG Pontybrenin. Thanks to the efforts of council and school staff they hope to be back in school on Monday. Head teacher Ceri Scourfield thanked me for the work our staff had done. Ceri said: “I can honestly say that the support schools within Swansea receive from the L.A is unmatched and I know that my head teacher colleagues would agree with this.” 

“There is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”   (Oscar Wilde)

• 

Well, the new bridge across Oystermouth Road has done what every effective piece of public art should do; stimulate a debate.  I’ve watched this debate with interest and it’s encouraging that so many people care about the look and feel of their city.  Whatever your view, the important thing for me is such landmarks must be distinctive and unique.  The Trevi Fountain, the Arc de Triomphe and the Guggenheim Centre are not everyone’s cup of tea but you instantly know where you are when you see them.  Thanks to the team working on this brilliant and innovative project.  I look forward to seeing how lighting will further improve this excellent new statement in our public realm.

Regional working

I’ve been in discussion with Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire about school improvement in this region. Sadly, colleagues in Neath and Port Talbot don’t wish to be part of a new organisation to replace ERW. This dilutes the power created by having our economic ambitions on the same regional footprint as our education and skills collaboration.  But we’ll have to live with it.  The views of head teachers are being factored into our thinking about how we can best support the roll-out of the curriculum and the professional development of teachers and leaders.  Once the way forward is identified I’ll discuss future plans with our head teachers and other stakeholders.