One of my priorities is to improve staff engagement, so I’m pleased to say we’re making some good progress in a short space of time.
Thank you to our staff who’ve volunteered to be part of a new staff engagement group that’ll bring together people from across the council’s services to help improve the way we engage staff. Lee Wenham, our Head of Communications, will be working with this group to start work in the next few weeks, so please feel free to contact him with any ideas: Lee.wenham@swansea.gov.uk
We’re also looking at how we improve engagement with our managers who sit outside of CMT and Heads of Service. I met directors and HoS yesterday when we got together face-to-face for the first time since the start of the pandemic. This in itself was a big step forward on engagement and highlighted how Covid has affected engagement at all levels across the council. The main discussion was around how we can engage operational managers who lead our teams. I’ve asked a small group of HoS to consider how this could work and to develop plans. I’m pleased with progress but there’s more to do – if you have any thoughts or ideas on engaging staff or topics you want discussed in this blog please let me know.
Budget update
CMT had an update on the budget situation this week and the outlook isn’t great. We all know from the situation at home that inflation and the cost of everything is hitting families hard. As a council we face the same pressures although through sound financial management this year looks OK. However everything we buy and operate is becoming more expensive and as we move forward, CMT and Cabinet will be discussing the potential implications and we’ll be engaging all of you in the coming months as we begin our budget planning for the year ahead and beyond. In the meantime, we’re asking all budget holders to carefully manage their spending and plan for the savings already built into next year’s budget.
We’re leading the way
Our efforts to embed children’s rights have been highlighted by the Children’s Commissioner and used to help inspire other councils in Wales. The work done by our Partnership and Involvement team and Penybryn School has been included in the Commissioner’s publication, The Right Way: a children’s human rights approach to additional learning needs. Our team worked with the school to embed a children’s rights approach, developing training around the principles of The Right Way Education, and supporting staff at the school to self-assess their children’s rights approach. It’s one of only two case studies included by the Commissioner. This is a great accolade for us – well done to everyone involved in this project.
Another award!
I’m delighted that we scooped another construction-related award at the Constructing Excellence Wales Awards. We were successful in the Integration and Collaboration category, being recognised for our work on the £8m Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Tan-y-Lan development in conjunction with main contractor Kier, architects Stride Treglown, engineers Hydrock and the school. Congratulations to the team on the award and creating a fantastic school.
Thank you for taking the time to read these blogs and again if there is anything you wish me to cover please feel free to respond or contact me directly.
Farewell
It’s farewell today to Kath Banks, who’s been one of our civic officers for the last eight years or so and has worked for the council for more than 30 years.
As a civic officer Kath became Swansea’s first-ever female Mace-Bearer – a role in Swansea’s civic life that dates back to the days of James I. Kath previously worked in the Corporate Management Team support, Engineers, Environment and Leisure and Culture.
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