As mentioned in previous blogs, one of my key priorities agreed with councillors is to ensure staff and public engagement is effective and consistent, which is why it’s really important for me to understand if this approach is working. So, while I’m proud of the strides we’ve all made in engaging staff and listening to your views, I know there’s more we could be doing to address your concerns. That’s why I’m encouraging you to complete the current staff survey. It’s vital that we hear from you so that we can understand what’s important to you and identify the improvements we need to make. This year you don’t have to complete an individual response; you can do it as a team in your regular meetings. I’m encouraging managers to take the survey with you as part of their team catch-ups. We’ve also extended the deadline to July 19 to give managers time to hold these meetings.
Another way I’m trying to engage staff is by visiting teams across the council. Last Friday I visited the West Early Help Hub, one of a network of five hubs around the city providing support for children, young people, their parents/carers, and wider family. The range of work they do is hard to encapsulate in a few words. However, the importance of this type of early intervention and prevention activity cannot be understated. It can reduce the escalation of the need for more intensive services and ease dependency on more extensive or statutory functions the council and partners need to provide. Put simply, the teams can and do transform the aspirations and well-being of some of the most vulnerable children and their families in our communities – with potentially life-long benefits. The teams should be very proud of their work and I’d like to thank Sue Peraj for inviting me and the team for giving up their time and all those working in this essential area for their commitment and resilience.
One of our corporate well-being objectives is to try to help tackle climate change and protect our natural environment. Sometimes this can be seen as something too big for us to deal with individually – but everyone can play their part. In addition to the climate implications, the council spends over £10m a year on energy across our public buildings and schools. Energy costs remain stubbornly high and have a continuing impact on our budgets. As a council, we’ve done a lot of work to tackle energy usage and costs. As staff and managers, there is still more we can do, as this recent intervention at YGG Llwynderw demonstrates. Easy things like switching off computers when you’re finished with them or making sure the lights are off when you leave all help. Our Energy Management team can also help by providing guidance so every service can play their part. Please take the opportunity to find out more here.
We’re fast approaching the General Election on July 4. Our elections team has done a brilliant job preparing for polling day, managing more than 29,000 applications for postal votes and dealing with issues around voter ID – the first time in a General Election. My thanks to Huw Evans, Alison O’Hara and their team for their work so far. If you can, please vote next Thursday and don’t forget to take your ID to the polling station.
Last weekend’s World Triathlon Para Series was yet another great advert for Swansea and our expertise in staging complex events that boost business and raise our profile as a sporting and leisure destination. Next up is the Wales Airshow on July 6 and 7. My thanks to David Price-Deer, the Special Events team and the Cultural Services department for their efforts.
Congratulations to our Dylan Thomas Exhibition which has been shortlisted for the Best Small Museum category at the Kids in Museums Awards 2024. Good Luck for the final in October.
Farewell this week to our Singleton Botanical Gardens supervisor Jeff Richards, after 46 years with us. The Gardens rightly enjoy a great reputation as a visitor destination and that’s thanks to Jeff, his team and the Friends group. We all wish you well in your retirement.
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