Archives for March 2025

In Swansea in recent years there has been a lack of high-quality office accommodation to meet the needs of existing businesses and help encourage new investment to the city.

This has impacted on the opportunity to create new jobs for local people and has meant some of our businesses have had to consider relocating elsewhere as they look to grow and flourish.

It’s a challenge the council and our partners have met head-on, so I was encouraged to attend the official opening of the Innovation Matrix at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s SA1 campus earlier this week.

Designed to drive digital innovation, entrepreneurship and industry collaboration, this new development has already attracted nine businesses to its high-quality working spaces to create a dynamic cluster with direct links to university expertise and research.

Part-funded by the Swansea Bay City Deal, the Innovation Matrix will support local businesses and enable the development of local skills and talent.

The project will also complement other office schemes in the city which are either close to completion or planned. These include our development at 71/72 The Kingsway and the Princess Quarter scheme being led by Kartay Investments.

They’re examples of a regeneration programme worth over £1bn that’s unfolding in Swansea to support existing businesses, create more jobs for local people and attract even more investment to further boost our local economy.

The coming months will see work starting at a number of other sites, too. These include our plans to revamp Castle Square into a greener and more welcoming space, as well as a Beacon Cymru project to transform the former Castle Cinema building into flats and commercial units.

We’re supporting that project with funding via the Welsh Government but it’s just one example of the support we’re providing to many businesses throughout Swansea.

As part of our business support anchor project through the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, 220 grants have already been awarded to local businesses and many more will soon follow suit thanks to a new round of funding that’s recently been agreed. Representatives of many local businesses were at an event in 71/72 The Kingsway earlier week to find out more, so my thanks to Paul Relf, Clare James, Matt Callaghan, Stephen Williams and all officers involved.

As well as transforming our economy and infrastructure, one of the council’s key objectives is reducing our carbon footprint and helping to tackle climate change.

Along with schemes like the Mumbles coastal protection project that the council is leading on, plans continue to progress for a major renewable energy scheme on land close to Swansea Port. Led by a company called DST Innovations, the project includes proposals for a tidal lagoon, a high-tech battery manufacturing plant, a hyper-scale data centre and a renewable energy transport hub.

In the wake of the Severn Estuary Commission recently endorsing tidal lagoons as a source of renewable energy, the Leader and I are meeting with the company early next week to discuss project progress and we anticipate positive announcements in due course.

Preparing for eventualities of the future is a key part of the council’s forward planning processes, so I’d like to thank Ben Cromie and all other officers involved for their work at an emergency exercise held in the Swansea.com stadium on Wednesday. The exercise enabled emergency responders like the police, fire and rescue, and ambulance services to test their preparedness for an emergency and work effectively together to keep the public safe.

I’d also like to thank Huw Evans, Gareth Borsden, Alison O’Hara and team for their work in organising a by-election in Penllergaer yesterday. It’s important that residents exercise their democratic right to vote, so I’ll be working closely with the comms team in the coming months to help raise awareness of why people should head for their local polling stations during times of elections.

My best wishes for a happy retirement to six members of the housing and public protection team. Maria Thomas, Dave Thomas, Nicky Phillips, Darren Harrison, Mark Arnold and Danny Richards have clocked up a combined 230 years at the council between them. They leave with the best wishes of their colleagues and my thanks for all their tireless work over the years.

I’m pleased to report that yesterday Cabinet endorsed our updated unreasonable customer behaviour policy, and I’d urge you to take a look. The policy sets out what unreasonable behaviour can look like and empowers you, your manager, and the council to take action much more easily than the previous policy would allow. We have never tolerated unreasonable, aggressive, or violent behaviour by our customers or members of the public towards our staff and councillors and we will also now review the violence and aggression policy which will further strengthen the protection of staff and councillors. If this issue is happening to you, please speak to your line manager in the first place.

Our reputation as a destination of choice as a place to do business is continuing to grow. This week I was proud to welcome more than 150 professionals from around the UK to the Chartered Institute of Building’s (CIOB) annual conference held at Swansea Arena. Its members are influential in their field and know a brilliant venue when they see one. So, it was really heartening to hear they loved the arena and Swansea as a whole so much they want to return next year for their annual conference. It just shows how we can continue to build our reputation, as those who attend such events share the word about our city’s vibrancy and the council’s ambition for the years ahead with the people they do business with.

Today I am attending our Community Safety Forum at Guildhall. It is an important opportunity for our teams across the council to get together to collaborate on challenges and opportunities and ensure we have a joined-up approach so we can ensure residents feel safe where they live and in the places they visit. My thanks to all the departments across the council who continually deliver on this important agenda and for their contributions today.

Congratulations to the team at Bonymaen House for a fantastic Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) inspection. It is great to see inspectors agreeing with what we already know – that what the team does at Bonymaen House helps change people’s lives for the better. It enjoys a great reputation among professionals and in the communities, it serves, and it is well-deserved. My thanks to all involved.

Well done also to all our teams involved with improvements taking place at Coed Gwilym Park in Clydach. The Friends of Coed Gwilym were so impressed with your efforts that they wrote to us to express their appreciation. In a similar vein, the Swansea Bowls Association has also praised our parks team for the standard of pitch preparation ahead of the new season. It’s not easily done, but our experts say this year’s pitches are the best they’ve seen for many years. My thanks to the team for their enthusiasm and effort.

This week we are saying goodbye to Janis Brophy, who is retiring after 25 years of supporting people referred to us through the National Exercise Referral Scheme (NERS). NERS is a brilliant initiative that supports individuals with a variety of medical conditions to improve mobility and confidence through exercise after a period of inactivity. Thank you, Janis and good luck, for the future.

Finally, as you may recall from a previous blog, I am supporting a charity close to my heart, namely Blood Cancer UK in arranging a fundraising event on the evening of March 29 called Walk of Light. It is an opportunity to try and support ongoing research and to shine a light on blood cancer. We have about 100 people now registered to take part. It would be great to see anyone who fancies joining us for an evening stroll along the Prom. You can find out more about Walk of Light here. In the meantime, I’m hoping for good weather a week tomorrow!

The work we’re doing to revitalise the city centre continues to gather pace. This week, I paid a visit to Y Storfa to catch up on the progress of a project that will see big changes for some of our staff when they move over to provide face-to-face services to the public in the heart of Oxford Street. The progress in turning the former BHS store into a modern, attractive home for the central library, the West Glamorgan Archive Service, and much more is very impressive. Next week, initial site investigations are starting near the former St David’s Shopping centre ahead of building work on the public sector hub project. And in the next few weeks we’ll see the transformation of Castle Square gardens underway. All this on top of the recently-completed 71/72 Kingsway.

These results of our ambition for the future of the city centre are having a positive impact on retail business morale in the city centre, as I learned at Swansea BID’s board meeting yesterday. The board, which includes city centre businesses and other key partners, will also be looking at the council’s new Placemaking Strategy in the coming weeks. Currently in draft form, it will set out the strategic context and planning framework for city centre development over the next decade, so it’s important that BID members and other partners have the opportunity to help shape views. More work and further consultation are being done over the coming months, and I’ll keep you updated on progress. In the meantime, my thanks to the council teams involved for what’s been achieved so far.

Another key project our officers are leading on is the Regional Transport Plan. Whether it’s walking, cycling, taking a bus, catching a train or driving, transport is something that affects everyone in South West Wales. The draft plan is out for public consultation right now, so find out more about it and have your say here.

Last night five of our corporate building services’ apprentices picked up prizes in this year’s Skills Competition Wales event at Swansea Arena. It’s run by Skills Excellence in Wales and supports apprentices, trainees and students to improve their skills. Congratulations to Keiron Reddin, Kori Williams, Ciaran Evans, Josh Stock and Carlton Price. It adds to the APSE awards the council and our apprentices picked up in Glasgow last week. Well done to all involved.

Finally, it’s farewell to Karen Betts, who is retiring later this month after 21 years with the council. Karen is best known around the council for our advertising and sponsorship programme, as well as her enthusiasm and drive. Thank you, Karen and good luck in your next chapter.

Last night Council agreed final budget proposals that will see £584m in revenue budget spent on delivering services to our residents over the coming year. Although the amount being spent is a record figure, there is also an ongoing requirement to deliver on our agreed savings and transformation programme outcomes as well. As such I’ll be reviewing our spending restrictions policy with the section 151 officer and will look to reissue them in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, my thanks to all of you for your continuing support and, in particular, to Ben Smith and his team for seeing the budget across the finish line.

This week in Leadership Group, we looked at one of the key cross-council challenges we face in the next 12 months and beyond – homelessness. Steve Porter from housing and Helen Williams from child and family services took us through our response to the housing crisis and updated us on important work we’re doing to help young people leaving care into supported accommodation. My thanks to Steve, Helen, and Sarah Jordan from housing for their leadership in this area which is about trying to improve outcomes for some of our most vulnerable citizens while also hopefully making a positive impact on the associated budget.

In response to the staff survey Leadership Group has committed to getting out to see you more. So I was very pleased to visit the One Stop Information Shop at the National Waterfront Museum this week and speak to our staff teams and a number of partners who support this event. Thanks also to the Partnership and Involvement team for giving me a tour of the temporary Collaboration Station in the city centre. It is a great space to engage with the public, and I look forward to hearing more as it develops in the future.

Yesterday, I joined hundreds of businesses and visitors at this year’s It’s Your Swansea conference at the arena. Events like these are great for business networking and showcasing the best of Swansea’s talent to outsiders. They’re also a reminder of the vibrancy and innovation of companies operating on our doorstep, many of them backed by our business support teams.

This morning I’m joining a number of chief executives, leaders and independent facilitators, including the Wales Centre for Public Policy and Cardiff University, to look at the future sustainability of local government in Wales. We’re looking at some of the biggest questions we face, such as the appetite for reform in the face of challenges like financial constraints, the relentless rise in demand and climate change. I’ll keep you posted.

In the staff survey you said you wanted to be updated on staff achievements and on opportunities for learning and development. So I’m delighted to do a bit of both in congratulating 10 of our managers who’ve just achieved ILM Level 6 awards, the equivalent of a BA or BSc with honours. The reward for you are qualifications you can apply in your jobs. The benefit for the council is how your success supports our work to continuously transform what we do to improve services. There’s more on other actions being taken in response to the staff survey here.

Some great news about two of our apprentices, Isaac Fabb and Ashleigh Johnson, who were shortlisted for coveted Apprentice of the Year awards at the prestigious APSE Awards in Glasgow last night. Isaac scooped the overall 4^th Year Apprentice of the Year award – the first time the council has gained an individual APSE apprentice award. Ashleigh was named a finalist in the 2^nd Year Apprentice of the Year category. Congratulations to both.

It’s International Women’s Day tomorrow and this afternoon senior members of the council and invited guests will be unveiling a plaque to honour Swansea pioneering businesswoman and novelist Amy Dillwyn at the park we’ve named after her alongside Swansea Arena.

The following day is the UK’s annual Covid-19 Day of Reflection. To coincide with it, we’ve announced a permanent memorial will be created in Swansea to honour and remember our communities’ sacrifice and commitment. One of my abiding memories of that time was the way you stepped up. You were truly indispensable, your dedication was inspirational and you undoubtedly saved lives. Thank you.