Archives for December 2023

As this will be my last blog of the year, it’s worth looking back on all that’s been achieved by you over the 12 months, providing vital services that touch the lives of our residents every day. Your hard work and its positive impact on residents and communities have been a constant theme in my blogs over the last year. Regulatory bodies across the board including Estyn and Audit Wales have praised your performance in challenging times and this is backed up by the recent annual performance report shared with Council. Key economic regeneration projects like Blue Eden, 71/72 Kingsway and the city centre community hub are continuing to make progress and next year work on transforming Castle Square begins. This year we were shortlisted for Council of the Year in the MJ Achievement Awards, a well-deserved accolade no other authority in Wales received. Whether it’s major issues like the cost of living crisis, keeping the vulnerable safe, supporting children or critical incidents like the Morriston explosion, our residents turn to us for support at times of greatest need. Thanks to you, we are there for them. So I want to say a huge thank you for your work over the last 12 months and wish you a peaceful and very happy Christmas. While many of you will be taking a much-deserved rest, some will continue providing critical services over the festive period and I thank them too for their time and commitment.

This week I visited staff at the housing central team in Townhill where the NSU and CCTV are based and talked to staff about some of the pressures and challenges they face and also some of the priorities in housing and the wider council. My thanks to all for taking the time out to meet with me. As always, if you’d like to invite me to come and visit your team in the New Year, please let me know. I always find such catch-ups useful and informative.

As part of the council-wide Successful and Sustainable Swansea transformation programme, I am attending a range of relevant programme boards to discuss and monitor progress. This week had the pleasure to attend the Workforce and Organisational Transformation Board, where it received the progress on our workforce development strand and it was great to see positive progress being made.

Yesterday Swansea University hosted the Inaugural Annual lecture on Human Rights and Social Justice, given by Jane Hutt, MS, Welsh Government minister for Social Justice. As Wales’ first Human Rights City, human rights are embedded in our values and actions as a council and it’s important we continue to set an example for others.

Finally, today is the last working day for Fran Jenkins, our Strategic Manager for Tourism, Marketing and Events, ahead of her official retirement next month. I want to say thank you to Fran for the achievements of the team she’s led over the years and for her incredible commitment to the council and to Swansea. The Wales Airshow, Admiral Swansea Bay 10k, the Christmas Parade, the World Triathlon Para Series Swansea and Ironman 70.3 Swansea events are among quite a legacy. We all wish you well in your retirement.

On December 20 we will find out what our Welsh Government revenue support grant settlement will be for the next financial year. Although we already have a good understanding of what’s needed to ensure jobs and services are maintained, it’s an important moment because the amount we get will help finalise spending plans and savings targets. A report setting out budget proposals, taking into account the Welsh Government settlement, is due to go to Cabinet on January 12 to be followed by a round of consultation before a final report to Cabinet in February and a Full Council decision in March. I will keep you posted on progress.

This week I had a catch-up with Swansea’s new Chief Superintendent for South Wales Police, Chris Truscott. We had a very useful discussion and it was good to see lots of agreement on joint issues, particularly around policing the city centre. It was very pleasing to be briefed on his plans to put high-visibility police officers on the street to enforce the rules, tackle anti-social behaviour and help promote a safe, welcoming city centre. More than £150m has been committed to city centre regeneration with projects like the Arena, 71/72 Kingsway and Y Storfa, and next year work starts on re-vamping Castle Square Gardens. All this effort has encouraged a rise in private-sector investment too. The police’s work will help us challenge the narrative about anti-social behaviour in the city centre. It will also complement what we and our partners are already doing to support vulnerable people, the growing city centre community, businesses, shoppers and visitors alike. My thanks to all those involved in continuing this important work.

Congratulations this week to teams in Social Services for scooping honours for four projects in the first-ever Wales Safer Community Awards. The Local Area Co-ordination team (pictured) won in the Equalities, Inclusion and Cohesion category and there were highly-commended honours for the CMET panel, the ‘Flip the Streets’ art project and the Safer Swansea Christmas chalet initiative. Find out more about their success stories here.

Earlier this week I visited the lunchtime Together at Christmas event at Brangwyn Hall for the vulnerable, isolated and homeless. Organised by JR Events in partnership with the Council and partners it’s become a Christmas tradition in its own right, supported by teams from the council, volunteers, Cabinet members and councillors. This year more than 500 meals were dished up to those who came along. My thanks to all those involved.

It’s always pleasing to get external praise for council initiatives, especially for one as valuable as last winter’s Swansea Spaces project. An in-depth study by Swansea University says Swansea Spaces made a striking difference to those who used the service, helping foster social connections, alleviate loneliness and promote wellbeing. It’s exactly what we hoped it would achieve and this year we’ve invested £500,000 in similar schemes supporting community food, neighbourhood activities and warm spaces. My thanks to all staff involved in projects like this which make such a noticeable difference to the lives of the people they touch.

Finally, through this blog, I try and highlight the great work that’s done by our staff across the Council. I will continue to do so as I think it’s more important than ever to showcase staff achievements in increasingly challenging circumstances. So please keep the good news stories coming.

Yesterday, I and senior officers had the latest round of discussions with Cabinet as we continue to work on budget proposals for next year. We also discussed the importance of tackling budget challenges in the current financial year against a background of rising costs and increased demand for services. It won’t surprise anyone that we are working in a very difficult financial environment, so it’s vital that action is maintained to restrict and minimise our spending to protect jobs and services. Corporate Management Team has updated it’s positon on spending restrictions and I’d urge everyone to have a look at them. They’re for all of us, not just managers. I’ll update you in the coming weeks on next year’s budget proposals as they evolve.

This week the staff engagement group discussed our emerging Values and Behaviours document that’s due to be seen by CMT in the near future. It’s an important piece of work because, when finalised, it will set the tone for how we conduct ourselves with colleagues and the public in our everyday work delivering services that make a difference in people’s lives. My thanks to all those involved in progress so far.

I was pleased to be invited to the LC this week to see first-hand the great work being done to develop the next generation of Swansea’s young ambassadors for sports in schools. Around 600 young people have been involved in the scheme over the last 11 years and another 100 were at the LC this week to complete their training and take it back to school to share with classmates. It’s a really good initiative designed to promote physical and mental well-being among young people, good habits they’ll hopefully carry with them into adulthood. It was great to see so much positivity, energy and enthusiasm on show. Thank you to the sports development team and our partners for delivering this important scheme.

Don’t forget next Wednesday’s Winter Fayre in the Guildhall to help raise funds for vital medical treatment for Kobi-Jai Morgan whose dad, Connor, works for the council. You can find more details about getting involved here.

Finally, farewell and thank you to senior planning officer Lynne Davies, who is retiring on Monday after more than 34 years service in the planning department. She’ll be missed by colleagues and we all wish her well in retirement.