Archives for February 2025

We are all rightly proud of our reputation for supporting innovation in Swansea, particularly when it helps support our communities and jobs. We often hear about the major projects, which is great, but this week the Leader and I took the opportunity to visit a smaller project run by Indycube. They have set up Post-Bocs in the city centre, a new business supported by Shared Prosperity Funding through our regeneration team. The Post-Bocs team’s business is creating podcasts and videos that turn a spotlight on other brilliant small businesses in the city centre and elsewhere. Their effort is also having real impact, promoting the unique Swansea brand with over 50 videos already produced. My thanks to Elliott Williams and Clare James in the regeneration team for their work on this.

In addition, this week two major businesses and developers were in Swansea talking to us about opportunities, and they told us they are attracted because they like what we do and the difference they’ve seen. It’s a very encouraging endorsement, and I’ll update you as these discussions progress.

Appraisal season is coming, and this week CMT discussed their performance objectives, including budgets, delivery of priority actions, and how we ensure we are all compliant with our council rules and policies. These headline objectives will be cascaded from directors, heads of service to all our staff in the coming financial year. The performance appraisal is a crucial part of our collective responsibility to deliver our services, so staff know what’s expected of them and managers are held accountable for supporting their delivery. I will therefore be sharing more on this in the coming weeks and months.

This week CMT also took a look at our 2nd quarter strategic risk report. It’s important an organisation as large and complex as ours constantly monitors the risks we face and takes actions to control them – and it’s a legal duty anyway. It also helps ensure we prevent issues from developing that will impact critical services like safeguarding, financial management and our staff. I’m satisfied to say that, at the moment, our risks are being managed appropriately, although there are still some improvements we will be looking at over the next few months. My thanks to the team in Communications, Corporate Planning and Performance for their work in helping us manage the risk process and, in particular, thanks to Leanne John for getting our new Inphase risk system over the line.

One of our six corporate objectives is about climate change and nature recovery, and in the coming weeks you have the chance to become a staff climate change champion through this free training opportunity. In our staff survey you said you wanted more opportunities for networking, sharing information on other people’s projects and cross-departmental collaboration and this training opportunity will help you do all that too.

Also mentioned frequently in the staff survey was the importance of recognising long service. This week I want to say thank you to five members of staff who have each clocked-up at least 40 years’ service. They are Laura Davey (43 years) and Steve Sawyer (40 years) from housing who have both spent many years working on the frontline, supporting our tenants and their neighbourhoods. Also, congratulations to Caron Trubey, Kathryn Thomas and Stephanie Rees from the benefits team who will have each clocked up 40 years’ service by next month. The support the benefits team provides to families and individuals facing financial problems often makes a world of difference.

It’s also Rob Jones’ last day before retirement after 40 years with our Revenue and Benefits section. Good luck to you on your next endeavours. Nigel Williams, our Head of Building and Waste, also retires today after 19 years with the Council and will be replaced in the interim by Rachel Jowitt, who I am sure will meet many of you over the coming weeks.  

My thanks also this week to the teams working this weekend on the very popular Croeso Festival and HMS Cambria’s Freedom of the City march. Please get along if you can as both events will be very colourful.

Finally, don’t forget that if you know anyone who wants to be one of six new apprentices in corporate building services, the closing date for applications is on Sunday. I’m pleased to say that when it comes to apprenticeships, we are an employer of choice in Swansea.

Some great news for all of us this week – we have been named one of the UK’s best councils in this year’s Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards. We’ve been shortlisted by them for the top award – Council of the Year. There was a record number of entries and judges said we stood out because we’re a professionally led transformational council that demonstrates we are making a difference in our communities. The awards are regarded by our peers as the local government Oscars, and we’ll find out in June if we’ve won. In the meantime, I want to thank you all for your efforts. Getting to the shortlist in a competitive field is testimony to your hard work.

Cabinet has agreed our budget plans for the 2025/26 financial year. There will be a final decision on the proposals by Full Council on March 6. It’s a process that started last October and I’d like to thank again everyone who’s contributed, particularly Ben Smith, Sarah Willis, Liz Rees and their teams in Finance.

Yesterday cabinet and CMT took part in a workshop to test out what we would do if our services came under a sustained cyber-attack. It reinforced the message that every member of staff has a responsibility to be vigilant every day against criminals aiming to do us harm by stealing our data. It takes just one successful attack to do untold damage so find out more about what you need to do here.

Last week I mentioned the launch of a key part of our induction programme where there was an opportunity for all new starters to meet with our corporate management team. The launch page includes an opportunity to watch the first welcome event hosted by me and our directors. Similar events will take place four times a year and I will be reviewing the feedback to decide on how we roll out future sessions. But  all staff can now review the recording and my apologies for the technical glitch when it was posted last week

On behalf of us all, the Leader and I have signed-up to a new charter setting out how we’ll act to support those bereaved by a major public incident like Hillsborough or the London bombings. Such things are thankfully rare but it’s important our residents know we will be there for them.

Feedback from the staff survey highlighted your wish to know more about staff achievements and long service. This week I’m delighted to congratulate Elaina Brutto from our housing team. Elaina (fourth from the left in the back row) has been recognised though our reward and recognition scheme for transforming their approach to training, development, upskilling, personal growth and career support for housing staff.

I also want to say well done to Matthew Watts and Kathy McGibney of the East Side housing team for helping a vulnerable tenant find an appropriate home. A family member was so impressed by their support and compassion that he wrote to the Council Leader to say thank you. I add my thanks to theirs.

And it’s farewell to Nigel Fletcher, Contracts and Projects Manager with the waste team, who retires this week. Next month Nigel is collecting a top award from the Welsh Blood Service for donating more than 75 pints to the lifesaving cause. Giving blood is an issue close to my heart so I thank Nigel for his contribution both to the council and to our community.

You also said in the staff survey you wanted CMT and heads of service to be more visible, meeting and learning direct from staff in their workplaces. So, I want to say thank you to the Pupil Referral Unit for hosting a meeting of CMT this week and taking the time to brief us on a revitalising service which makes a real difference to the lives of some of our vulnerable young people. We’re very keen to do more visits of this kind, so please get in touch if you’d like to host a visit either for myself or our collective CMT.

I’m very proud to say that this afternoon I headed over to Kingsway for the official opening of 71/72 Kingsway – our brand-new high-tech business venue. As most of you will remember the site used to be home to the Oceana nightclub and before that it was a cinema. Now it’s a truly landmark building, a powerful statement of our confidence – and business confidence generally – in the future of a city centre with a vibrant, forward-thinking future. We have already got two major signings as tenants – flexible workspace provider IWG will take up about 20,000 square feet at the development, with travel and leisure company TUI taking up approximately 7,000 square feet. Their presence further cements our ambition that 71/72 Kingsway will be a catalyst for increasing footfall and supporting retail business.

Many individuals and teams have contributed to this success story, and I want to thank them all, especially Lee Richards, Catrin Kim and Elizabeth Morris. It has been an amazing journey. Congratulations to everyone who’s helped see this vital project through. It’s yet more evidence of our reputation as a council that delivers for its residents and businesses.

Yesterday I accompanied the Leader to Baglan in Port Talbot for the official opening of another regional business landmark – the High Value Manufacturing digital factory hub launched by CATAPULT. It’s a research and innovation centre open to manufacturers across Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, supporting them to improve how they do things. The investment is another vote of confidence in our partnership approach to protecting and creating jobs for Swansea people.

Sticking with the jobs theme, we have a well-deserved reputation for the quality of our apprenticeships and the gateway they offer to a lifetime of fulfilling employment. And it’s probably fair to say that Nigel Williams, our head of corporate building services (pictured right), has been a great advocate for apprenticeships across the service. So, it was great to see Gower College Swansea present him with a unique Apprentice Employer Champion award at its Apprenticeships Awards event on Monday. It is a fitting tribute, for Nigel who started his career as an apprentice plumber and is retiring in two weeks after 19 years with Swansea and over 30 years with local government. Congratulations Nigel, and good luck in your retirement.

The awards event at the Liberty also saw one of our apprentices, Isaac Fabb, pick up the Exemplary Apprentice award. You can read more about Isaac here, but it’s clear that his apprenticeship experience with us changed his life – and his family’s too. If you know anyone who may be interested in an apprenticeship with us, we are currently recruiting. I am keen to expand the programme and similar initiatives across all areas of the Council as part of our workforce strategy.

Following on from my blog last week about staff survey feedback, I’ve another update about things we’re doing as a result of your views about being kept informed about corporate activity and actions. On Wednesday, 100 new starters attended an induction session with our corporate management team where myself, directors and chief legal officer Debbie Smith offered an overview of our services and responded to questions.

In addition, our manager briefing pack will be getting a refresh and we’ll be looking make internal communication engaging with video and images. There will also be more opportunities to have your say, including adding extra commenting and discussion opportunities on staffnet. We’ll also be talking to you more regularly about our transformation programme. Not all the changes will happen straight away, but you should start to see progress on staffnet, in the staff newsletter and elsewhere in the coming weeks. Please let me know what you think.

Congratulations this week to Liam Davey, who has been given a bravery award by South Wales Police for his courage in trying to save the life of a woman set on fire by her husband outside Singleton Hospital in 2023. You can read more about Liam’s story here.

I have regularly updated you on the budget process so want to confirm that Cabinet is meeting on February 20 to discuss its final budget proposals which will go to Full Council for a final decision on March 6. You can find copies of the revenue and capital budget reports here. It’s always a difficult time to turn the budget around with late decisions made by Welsh and UK governments, so my thanks to Ben Smith, our director of finance, Sarah Willis and Liz Rees for all of their hard work in getting it over the line.

I promised I’d let you know when I had details of the memorial service celebrating the life of Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Wendy Fitzgerald, who sadly passed away recently. If you wish to go along to pay your respects, it’s taking place at 1.15pm tomorrow, Saturday, at St David’s Church in Swansea Road, Penllergaer.

More historic buildings are being brought back to life in Swansea as we continue our work to preserve the city’s rich heritage.

Examples include the Vivian and Musgrave Engine Houses at the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks site which will be conserved and could in future be suitable for a range of uses including restaurants and cafes, exhibition-style space and shops.

Planning approval is now in place for this scheme, which forms part of the Lower Swansea Valley project being funded by the UK Government’s Levelling-Up initiative.

Swansea-based St Mary’s Square Developments has also acquired the unoccupied Mond Buildings in the city centre thanks to a loan arranged with the help of the council.

The company is now working on creating plans for the building, which dates back to 1911 and stands at the corner of Union Street and Park Street.

These transformations follow on from other recent work to bring the Palace Theatre building, the Albert Hall and other buildings at the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks site back into use.

Protecting and celebrating our heritage is important but it’s also crucial that we look to the future.

This is why I’d like to thank the staff who flew the flag for the council at the Gower College recruitment and apprenticeship fair on Wednesday. Departments in attendance included digital services, housing and public health, social services and building services.

They were on hand to raise awareness of apprenticeship opportunities at the council both among Gower College students and the general public.

The value of apprenticeships can’t be understated, so it’s really encouraging that the First Minister was in Swansea yesterday to discuss their importance.

During her visit, she met Joshua Longhurst, Logan Munday and Harvey Thomas – all apprentices in our digital services team – who shared their experiences of the apprenticeship programme, highlighting its effectiveness and success. My thanks to Joshua, Logan and Harvey for being such excellent ambassadors for the council.

Next week is National Apprenticeship Week, so to coincide with that our building services team will soon be launching their annual apprenticeship recruitment campaign to develop the next generation of carpenters, plumbers, plasterers and bricklayers. Other apprenticeships are also advertised on the council website throughout the year.

A number of our current apprentices are also up for awards on Monday at the Gower College Swansea Apprentice Awards, so my best wishes to everyone who’s been shortlisted for recognition and I’ll be going along to cheer them on.

The importance of apprenticeships, traineeships, the social services academy and graduate schemes tie in with our workforce strategy as we focus on growing our own, given the recruitment challenges we face. It’s essential that such initiatives form a key part of this strategy going forward.

I also met yesterday with directors and heads of service for a discussion about how we maximise the use of digital opportunities in future, drawing on the experience of Microsoft and Phoenix – who are both leading experts in their field. This is important because it will allow staff to work more efficiently and provide better services to our residents.

We’re currently identifying areas of the council that would benefit the most from the use of Microsoft Copilot, for example, in advance of this AI software being made available to some staff in the coming months to test out its effectiveness.

Many staff will have completed the staff survey last summer, but it means little if we don’t act on feedback.

That’s why a number of actions are soon being rolled out, based on your recommendations.

They’ll include the monitoring of appraisal delivery to improve the process across the organisation, as well as improved internal communications highlighting key topics for staff like training opportunities and health and wellbeing support.

Acting on the feedback we’ve received, new starters at the council will also be meeting myself and directors as part of the induction process as we look to make the corporate management team more visible to all staff. That process will start from next week, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

A new blog platform is also being explored to enable more two-way dialogue between myself and directors with staff.

Heads of service are working through actions specific to their areas and I’ll provide a further update on that in the coming months. Myself and other members of the corporate management team are also continuing to explore what more can be done across the council to meet the aspirations highlighted by staff in the survey.

Other recent work has included discussions with trade unions to agree a new absence policy for the council. It will shortly be rolled out once a training plan is complete and it’s been formally adopted. The policy will predominantly focus on long-term absence and will mean a revised way of using occupational health, while encouraging more discussion between managers and employees on making reasonable adjustments in the workplace to support good attendance.

During the First Minister’s visit to Swansea yesterday, she also called in to the Swansea Space in Mayhill Community Centre to meet volunteers and service users.

Every Thursday between 1pm and 3pm, residents gather there to catch-up and socialise. Run by the Lifepoint Church, it is one of 80 Swansea Spaces to receive funding this winter to help them continue and expand their provision. My thanks to all staff involved in the network of Swansea Spaces because they make a real difference to the residents they benefit.

My thanks also to the Welsh Translation Unit, who have been nominated by other staff for recognition.

Head of translation unit Huw Portway and his team translate an average of about 55,000 words a week, and their work is key to so many services areas.

I’d also like to thank our countryside access team for their great recent work to create a new section of coast path on Gower at a location that’s been affected by coastal erosion.

Working with a local company, a new 370-metre section of the coast path between Limeslade and Rotherslade was created in just 18 days.