CMT, heads of service and our Senior Manager Group (SMG) caught up for a busy discussion about the key issues we’re facing now and over the coming months. Wednesday’s event at Brangwyn Hall was the first face-to-face SMG meeting we’ve done since before COVID-19 and the feedback so far has been very positive. Managers did a Q&A session with CMT and had a discussion about how such meetings should be arranged in the future. Importantly, we also had an update from Finance Director Ben Smith about the budget. Next month we’re starting discussions with Cabinet members about our budget for 2025/26, something that will affect us all by the time it’s agreed next March. I will keep you posted on progress. We also did an in-depth review of the feedback from the staff survey and what it means for managers as well as you. We also discussed the actions we’ll need to take in light of what you’ve told us. I’ll update you further on these shortly as we know it’s important to feedback on what you have told us and show how we are taking action.
Climate change is a fact of life and, as a seaside community, it will affect the way we provide services as well as the way we live in the years ahead. That’s why I was pleased to attend a Resilient Swansea workshop at Llanrhidian Primary School designed to get residents’ views on developing plans to mitigate and adapt to the changes we face. It matters also because it links to our commitments under the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and you can find out more about it here. My thanks also to the school for hosting the workshop. The visit also gave me the chance to catch up with Llandrhidian Primary School, its head teacher, Donna Caswell, and enjoy the hospitality on offer from its pupil-led community café. The cafe is open to the public and well worth a visit if you’re in the area.
It was great to be at the West Glamorgan Regional Partnership’s annual event for unpaid carers on Tuesday. We invest millions of pounds a year in social care services that make a difference every day. But it’s also important to acknowledge and support the vital contribution of an estimated 41,000 unpaid carers in the West Glamorgan area who play their part as well, which is what the event was all about. You can find out more here. But in the meantime, my thanks to all those who organised the event and all the unpaid carers who give so much.
Congratulations to the hard-working youngsters at Cila Primary School whose expertise has won them the highly prestigious Wales in Bloom Awards for the best school garden in Wales for the third year in a row. This year they secured the award jointly with a school in Abergavenny.
And, finally, everyone is welcome at next Wednesday’s Macmillan Coffee Morning in Room 153 at Guildhall being run by our occupational health team. It starts at 10am and if you can join the band of volunteer bakers or donate something else for a great cause, find out more here.
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