Budget planning for 2026/27 starts now

This week our work started on our budget plans for the budget for 2025/26 with a meeting between CMT and Cabinet. The budget proposals are at a very early stage but there were initial discussions on the challenges and opportunities in social services and education – the places where, necessarily,  the majority of our budget goes. More discussions about them and other departments will follow in the coming weeks and we’ll be picking up thoughts from heads of service as well. If you have views and ideas, please share them with your manager initially. Council takes the final decision next March and both staff and public will be consulted before any final decisions are made. In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted.

On a related subject, along with senior colleagues, I caught up this week with Audit Wales for one of our regular discussions about their overview of our governance arrangements including financial management and performance. They make an important contribution towards providing reassurance that our arrangements are appropriate and transparent, identifying areas for improvement. Audit Wales provide a valued external challenge to how we operate but it’s also our opportunity to demonstrate good practice to an influential external regulator, and I’m pleased to say we agreed a constructive way forward.

This week, along with the deputy leader Cllr Andrea Williams and senior officers, I also met colleagues on the Registered Social Landlords group including Pobl and Beacon, formerly Coastal Housing. It’s a quarterly meeting to discuss areas of common interest around housing supply, homelessness and how we manage our stock. We’re the biggest social landlord in the city and our housing teams are making a difference to people’s lives every day. These regular meetings ensure all of us play our part to support our tenants at a time when there is intense pressure on the housing market.

On Monday, the Leader and senior officers met with business representatives, public bodies and others in what’s called the Development Advisory Group. It might appear a bit dry and high level, but its members include some of the major private sector players with influence, interest and financial muscle to support the ongoing regeneration of our city. Sharing ideas, insights and working together has helped attract hundreds of millions of pounds of private and public sector investment as well as build our reputation locally and further afield as a place for business and investment.

Staying with reputation and regeneration, I want to congratulate everyone involved in the recent Placemaking Wales Charter fifth anniversary event at 71/72 Kingsway, which showcased our leadership in creating places that put people and communities first. Delegates were given a walking tour of the city centre to show off some of what’s been achieved. Hosting this milestone event was recognition of the council’s commitment to partnership, innovation, and a shared vision for our city’s future. My thanks to our placemaking and heritage team including Steve Smith, Krystyna Williams and Toby O’Connor. 

I’m always pleased to hear of occasions when our staff go above and beyond the norm to support our residents. This week I want to thank rents officer Lisa Cox for her quick and compassionate thinking while speaking to a diabetic tenant in distress. Thanks to her prompt actions an ambulance and a friend were able to get to his home with the support he needed in good time. And while I’m about it, tune in to BBC1’s DIY SOS show at 8pm tonight where you’ll see the heartwarming story of local man Dan Richards and the role we and others played in supporting him following a freak surfing accident. Our teams helped make the show possible and my thanks again to them for that.

There are farewells this week for two members of staff, Ray Foulston from Trading Standards and Barrie Gilbert from the transport team, after a collective 65 years’ commitment to serving our residents. Thank you both for your service and we all wish you well in retirement. Also, congratulations to Louise Gough, project support officer in the development and physical regeneration team, for clocking up 40 years’ service with the council. Thank you for your continued dedication, Louise.

Don’t forget it’s the Swansea Arts Weekend tomorrow and Sunday. Led by our cultural services team, the entire event is free of charge, so why not check it out here and choose the things you want to see. My thanks to the cultural services team, special events, highways, and other council staff for their commitment to making it a success.

And finally, a reminder to join the conversation about the council in our 2025 staff survey. It’ll only take a few minutes so click on the link now. Thank you.