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!
Well done Bonymaen house, well deserved !