We’ve woken up this morning (some of us a bit later than others!) to a new Government in Westminster. Locally, we elected two MPs – Torsten Bell in Swansea West and Tonia Antoniazzi in Gower. Carolyn Harris was elected in the new Neath and Swansea East seat, which was counted in Neath Port Talbot due to recent boundary changes. Congratulations to all three and I look forward to working closely with all of them. It’s really important we have positive links with our local MPs, Members of the Senedd and Ministers in both Cardiff and Westminster to ensure we push forward the city’s case. Our count in the Guildhall went really well, despite finishing as expected in the early hours of this morning. It’s a long day for many staff and there’s always added pressure to avoid any hitches. There’s a huge amount of work that goes into preparing for an election, and in fact election planning begins well before the election is called, and it paid-off in terms of how well it went with postal votes and at the polling stations yesterday. Thank you to all those involved in the planning, working at polling stations and the count for all your efforts.
This weekend we’re once again hosting the Wales Airshow when tens of thousands of people will gather on the seafront and across the city to watch some fantastic displays above. This is another huge logistical effort from our staff who plan this event months in advance. This year the airshow takes place close to Armed Forces Week and we’ll be celebrating the contributions made to the UK by those who serve and have served in the forces. I’m delighted to be attending this event on Saturday. Thank you to all the staff involved in the planning and working over the weekend. It’s a brilliant event and does a huge amount to boost the council’s and city’s reputation.
CMT this week met with heads of service from our corporate services to highlight the good work going on and to discuss some of the challenges they face. We rightly place a great onus on the services we provide to the public, but our corporate services play a vital role in helping the wider council meet public expectations. As such its important that we are all clear on our internal service standards and turnaround times so some of the issues discussed were staff recruitment, sickness management and occupational health support, digital services, legal support and our call centres. It was a good opportunity to understand better what’s going on and to discuss options to help address some issues and clarify expectations. Thank you to the heads of service who came along and to all the staff in those areas for their efforts.
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