Archives for November 2021

Probably the most important thing we do every year is set our budget. It has implications for services, the public and you – our staff.

The decisions we make now will directly affect you for the next 12 months and beyond. The budget filters down into every team and will determine the budget you have for basic items from pens and uniforms to how often we collect waste or open libraries and how many people we employ.

This time of year is when the hard discussions take place with each Director and Cabinet Member to decide how we allocate the money. We’re now at a point, having met with Cabinet yesterday, that we can take our proposals forward.

This year hasn’t been as tough as some had feared. That’s due to excellent financial management and clawing back money from the Welsh Government for the extra spending during the pandemic.

However, it’s the year after and beyond that’s giving us problems. The Government will not have the funding it has now and we’ll no doubt be hit. So we’re deciding next year’s budget with more than one eye on the following years when some tough decisions will need to be made. That means continuing to tighten our belts so we can build up reserves to help deal with some of the future funding issues.

Just before Christmas we’ll know what we’re actually getting from the Welsh Government, although we have a good idea already, and then we’ll consult in January before going through the political process and agreeing a final budget in March.

Thank you to everyone involved in helping with the budget proposals.

Appeal for staff

We’re appealing for staff from across the council to come forward to help our under-pressure services for the elderly and vulnerable over the Christmas period. We need staff with the appropriate qualifications and skills to cover shifts during December and January in areas including residential care, domestic care and night care. Rates of pay will vary depending on the grade of the role and shifts/times on call, while additional payments will be made for standby allowance, unsociable hours, and night shift allowance. If you’re interested please send an email to carerapplications@swansea.gov.uk Further details are here

Do your bit

The latest Covid infection rates are still causing huge concern so I’m repeating last week’s message encouraging everyone to get vaccinated to help protect your colleagues, family and the public. If you haven’t been vaccinated please call these numbers – 01639 862323 or 01792 200492. And if you’re due to have the Covid booster jab or the flu jab please go along and have it done.

The pressure on staff and services is rising during the winter and this week there’s been a lot of coverage of Cinema & Co. Our enforcement team has worked brilliantly with hundreds of business in the past 20 months to help meet Government restrictions and protect the public. We understand the pressures facing businesses and we’ll continue to work with them to keep people safe. In the meantime, thank you to all our staff for your continued efforts.

Reasons to be cheerful

A huge thank you our officers who’ve helped develop Wales-wide climate change proposals. Martin Nicholls and Tom Evans have been working with Welsh Government to amend the Tan 15 proposals which basically guide councils on how to develop on potentially flood-threatened land. Following discussions, the Welsh Government announced this week a delay to introducing Tan 15 which will affect many of our development sites and I’m sure will be welcomed by every council in Wales.

Our Christmas Parade has been one of our success stories this year. Last weekend’s event saw crowds return to the city centre for the fantastic spectacle. Our staff in Cultural Services and other teams who planned and supported the event deserve huge praise – thank you!

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I’m delighted we’ve been awarded the title of Queen’s Green Canopy Champion City. We’re one of 13 cities in the UK chosen to celebrate the Queen’s 70^th year on the throne. It will promote our green credentials to make Swansea a ‘green’ city. As part of this Penyrheol primary school held an event and each pupil did a portrait of the Queen.

Our Glynn Vivian Art Gallery has become the first in the UK to be awarded the accolade Art Gallery of Sanctuary. This is a fantastic accolade celebrating the commitment of organisations to ensure a warm welcome and inclusivity for all.   Last year we celebrated 10 years as a City of Sanctuary and this award illustrates our ongoing support of refugees and people seeking asylum.

We need your help to tackle the number of Covid cases and increasing number of Covid-related deaths in Swansea.

Our infection rate is above 500 per 100,000 people and that’s higher than the Wales average. There were 47 Covid-related deaths last month and it looks like that’ll increase for November.

We’re working with the health board to encourage our staff and their families to be vaccinated as quickly as possible because we’re now entering a really difficult period of winter pressures for the NHS and our social care services. I know our staff in social care are really under pressure to meet demand and the pressure in other services continues. So if you haven’t been vaccinated please call these numbers – 01639 862323 or 01792 200492. And if you’re due to have the Covid booster jab or the flu jab please go along and have it done.

We need to do all we can to protect our colleagues, families and service-users.

The latest Welsh Government review of Covid hasn’t brought any new measures, but the current need for “Covid passports” is bringing extra pressures on our enforcement staff. I know they’re trying to get the right balance of support and enforcement with businesses and I’m grateful for their efforts. If you’re going to venues please ensure you have your Covid passport.

And well done to our staff who’ve organised this weekend’s Christmas Parade – it’s taken a huge amount of planning and comes on the back of the successful fireworks display. Staff in Cultural Services and the likes of Highways and other areas have been outstanding in their efforts. If you’re attending the parade please plan ahead and arrive early; the crowds will be large so we’ll temporarily close parts of some key roads at various times on the afternoon and evening.

Full details – including public transport details and changes to roads and car parking – https://www.visitswanseabay.com/swansea-christmas/christmas-parade/

Call to action

Cop 26 has put the spotlight on climate change and we’re introducing a series of initiatives that will affect staff in work and at home. Our aim is to be net carbon zero by 2030 and for the city to net zero by 2050. To help do this our plan includes:

• Our new Corporate Plan will reflect Climate and Nature ambitions.
• A climate change web page and staff are being urged to sign-up to an online pledge to address climate change
• A new Home Working Tool Kit with APSE to encourage staff to think about energy consumption, reducing waste etc.
• Working with the unions to develop ‘toolbox talks’ for staff to access training on climate change.
• Boost the size of our EV fleet, already the biggest of any council in Wales.
• Promote active travel as alternatives to car use.

This is the biggest issue facing us so I hope we can all get behind these initiatives and do our bit. At the same time we’re in discussions with Welsh Government to ensure we get the right balance on issues such as flooding and development and the need to invest in energy-efficient homes whilst also tackling homelessness.

Finances healthy for now

Our budget discussions are going well with each director meeting with CMT and Cabinet to set out their budget pressures and potential savings. This is the first stage of the budget process, and it’s really important for all our staff as this will help decide what budget and resources you have to do your job next year. Our finances are pretty healthy for next year, but I’m worried about the following years because I can’t see how the Government will have the same level of money available whilst paying for the pandemic and meeting emerging challenges such as inflation and pay awards. We’ll have the details of our Welsh Government settlement in late December and will complete our discussions in January, but I don’t expect any major surprises when we go out to public consultation in Jan/Feb.

Great efforts by staff

And a big thank you to officers involved in the proposals considered by Cabinet yesterday on skatepark facilities via the lease of land to Mumbles Community Council.  There’s a huge amount of support for a first-class facility for our skating community and I hope we can now proceed in partnership to make this happen.

Despite fewer staff being in our offices due to the pandemic, we still need your help to improve security.

I mentioned recently we’re going to review security at our buildings, but one of the first things we can all do as individuals and teams is ensure we’re taking the right steps ourselves. So even the most basic steps such as wearing our staff ID badges at all times and preventing people from tailgating behind us through security doors will help reduce potential incidents. Our security teams are on hand and, from time to time, they may need to challenge us on these issues, and I’m grateful for their efforts. I know these sound like minor issues, but they’re important and when CMT discussed staff security this week the feedback we had was these basic measures are not always being followed.  CMT agreed this week to review our main civic premises followed by satellite offices and depots, but, in the meantime, let’s all do our bit when we’re in the workplace.

Great effort by staff

Whilst the Senedd agreed to introduce Covid passports for more venues this week, staff across the council have been busy organising events for the public. I attended the Remembrance event yesterday to remember those who have fallen during conflicts around the world. Due to the pandemic restrictions this event was different to previous years which I think made it even more poignant. It’s one of a number of events taking place across the city this week. I’m grateful to all our staff who’ve worked with the Royal British Legion and others to help stage these events. Today we launched a new fund to help support armed forces veterans.

Tonight our fireworks events takes place when hundreds of families are expected to enjoy a free and spectacular show along the seafront. There’s also the opening of the Waterfront Winterland event today and then a week Sunday our Christmas parade takes place. I know it’s been a huge task to get these events in place at a time when the pandemic is still restricting how we do things. I’m grateful to all our staff involved in these events and for working with numerous organisations – I’m sure they’ll be an amazing success.

Congratulations

It’s great to see our efforts to build the Bay Hospital at speed during the pandemic has been recognised by the public. The project, which saw the council work with Swansea Bay University Health Board and contractors Kier and TRJ, won an award in the Partnership Category at the health board’s Living Our Values Awards this week. Thanks to Nigel Williams and the team who worked on this.

The Pentrehafod cluster of schools broke new ground this week in a partnership approach between Swansea Parent Carer Forum and Education, Health and Child and Family Services. They came together at an event to improve outcomes for children and young people. Our commitment to an excellent education for all was seen in action and thanks to those who participated.

We’ve had some great news this week by gaining funding for nine important projects across the city. I mentioned several months ago we had to submit bids for the new Community Renewal Fund – this pilot scheme has been created by the UK Government to help replace EU funding that came to end as part of the Brexit deal.

And now we’ve been successful in securing more than £2.6m in regeneration funding after nine out of our 10 funding bids were accepted.

This is going to make a real difference. Our successful bids included more than £200,000 in support for developing the Blue Eden project, the successor to Dragon Energy Island.  But there’s also vital funds for projects in areas ranging from education and training opportunities for vulnerable groups to green community transport and regeneration schemes. There’s a full list below, and my thanks go to Paul Relf and his team for putting the bids package together in record-breaking time!

• Community-led Sustainable Transport Solutions – Investing in Communities and Place: £128,821
• Cowork Local (Swansea): £331,891
• Dragon Energy Island – Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon: £202,650
• Enterprise Swansea: £199,734
• Pathways to Work Swansea: £764,444
• Penderi Green Regeneration: £223,029
• People with Disabilities Employability and Enterprise Project (Swansea Project): £139,855
• Swansea Business Support and Green Recovery: £583,766
• Time to Learn and Work: £94,131

Appraisal time again

This week I had my formal appraisal meeting with the Chief Executives Appraisal and Remuneration Committee.  It’s helpful to reflect on the year’s events in this process and just how difficult it’s been for us all to maintain the pace of work required to run services as usual whilst supporting the city through the pandemic.  It’s been a huge challenge and it’s not getting easier for many of us as we head into the winter period.  Once again I was able to give a decent account of my performance but as I’ve said before that’s a reflection of the work that the whole staff do, not just me.  So my thanks go to all of you who’ve helped to make us one of the best performing councils in the UK as evidenced once again by a series of awards and accolades at national and regional levels.  I mentioned in a previous blog the Annual Review of Performance and for me that’s the perfect summary of our collective achievements during the year.

The committee agreed my objectives for the rest of the financial year which can be found here. 

Senior Management Review

Yesterday I presented my report to Council on the changes that need to be made to our most senior management structure.  The current structure has been successful in steering the Council and the city through the pandemic, but some changes are needed so that we can meet the next set of challenges.  I asked that it be placed on the record that, like all staff, the directors, chief officers and heads of service have worked tirelessly over the last 18 months and their collective efforts to support the city and its communities deserve recognition. Whilst immediate changes are required these should be kept to a minimum given there’ll be a new council following the elections in May 2022 and I’ll be retiring prior to that date.  This will allow latitude for the new Council and CEO to make further changes during the next council term.

The simple truth is we’ve managed the pandemic with an unchanged structure but as we shift to recovery the volume of work and money involved is of a different order. We’ve managed major increases in capital and revenue expenditure.  Fortunately this has been recognised by Welsh Government and reflected in our budget settlement which allows for an appropriate and budgeted-for increase in resources.  My proposals will consolidate our progress in social services and health integration, give us the capacity to deliver our agenda for vulnerable learners and ensure the finance function is sufficiently robust to face the impending challenges ahead. Council approved the recommendations and there’ll now be a period of formal consultation with all those affected by the changes.  I’ll keep you informed of progress.

Top marks!

One of the great examples of how we’ve continued to deliver during the pandemic is the new Tirdeunau primary school. The 500 pupils and staff moved into their new home this week. It’s been a fantastic project and the third of four new-build schools that’s been, despite the pandemic. Head teacher Jackie James says it’ll be transformational for youngsters’ learning. My thanks to the teams that made this happen in such testing times.