I want to add my appreciation to all the gratitude our teams have been getting this week from the public and elsewhere for their actions in dealing with Storm Darragh. When major events like this happen, people expect us to step up and we always do. Last weekend that included those who must continue with critical work such as providing social care support for vulnerable people. It also includes our highways, tree services, grounds maintenance teams and tractor drivers who also went above and beyond at the weekend. If you have time and access to Facebook, please have a look at our posts about Storm Darragh, the responses from the public and the praise they were offering which also included very clear and regular communications updates. There are too many to list in full, but I want to stress my thanks to all those who were working last weekend for their response to the emergency and for ensuring our reputation was enhanced in the eyes of the people we serve.
If you think someone involved in the response to Storm Darragh deserves recognition for what they did, please remember to nominate them through our new reward and recognition scheme. The scheme is open to all and in November a total of 15 nominations for teams and individuals were received. I look forward to browsing through them. My thanks to the staff engagement group for their role in setting up this important initiative and also the new long service awards. Services have also started rolling these out and we will see more over the coming weeks which recognise staff with 25 or 40 years service and it is great to see such dedication finally being recognised.
Among topics for Leadership Group this week was a discussion about refreshing our policy about unacceptable customer behaviour that can range from verbal or physical abuse of our staff to vexatious complainers. We have a zero-tolerance attitude to abuse by the public of our staff, so if it happens to you make sure you report it to your manager immediately. We’ll be going out to consultation with staff, trade unions and others on this so I’ll keep you posted. We will also shortly be reviewing the violence and aggression policy which will also give further protection.
Leadership Group also considered opportunities to improve our customer contact operating model. It may seem a bit dry but it is about how we use our resources best to respond to customers face-to-face, by phone or digitally. We will never stop offering a face-to-face service. But we should also look to update our options, including in areas like AI, so that our services offer more convenience to customers and are more efficient for us. My thanks to Sarah Lackenby and her team for their work and I will update you on developments.
You may have noticed in the news this week that the Welsh Government has unveiled its budget for the coming financial year. We are assessing what it means for us ahead of a report to Cabinet and consultation with you, trade unions and the public in the New Year. Look out for your opportunity to have your say.
This week I caught up with Lisa Wells, Sarah Lawton and our city centre team who, among other things, look after our award-winning indoor market, the Christmas Market, the Christmas lights and the city centre atmosphere at this critical time of year. As well as an update on how things are going during the festive period, we also discussed plans for next year. My thanks to them for doing a great job and please go along if you can and support our local traders. And don’t forget you can vote for us in the annual UK market awards here, though you’ve only got until midnight tonight, December 13.
And, finally, nominations for the Swansea Sports Awards close on December 31. So, if you know a club or individual whose contribution to their sporting community or success deserves to be noticed, get your nominations in now.
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