Most of you will remember last year we had a Panel Performance Assessment (PPA) and we’re now looking at putting its feedback into action across our services. One of its key messages to us was that we have a strong vision, but we need to tell its story more consistently and clearly to you, our partners and our wider communities. The vision matters because it spells out what your collective effort is setting out to achieve for our residents and communities. The vision is about us and what we do; it’s your story we want to tell. So please take a few minutes to read about it here and help us share it in the coming weeks and months. If you’ve got ideas about how we can do that better, please speak to your manager or get in touch with me.
Doing all we can to deliver on our vision for Swansea to be a thriving community with a strong local economy is one of the reasons why the future of the Ospreys matters to us. We don’t want to lose first-class professional rugby in Swansea because of its economic, sporting and reputational benefits for our city. As a council, officers and Cabinet Members have been lobbying its owners and the WRU and we’ll continue with that work in the weeks ahead. You may also have seen that last night Council unanimously supported a notice of motion also in support of the Ospreys. We are pulling out all the stops to get a solution. I’ll keep you posted.
Our Child and Family Services team has been praised by Rocio Cifuentes MBE, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales for its work ensuring children and young people have the chance to help shape the way we design and deliver services. On a visit to meet the team and reflect on their work, Rocio welcomed our commitment to children’s rights and our honesty about where we can keep improving. Examples shared by staff showed how participation is becoming part of everyday practice. Her visit underlined the strength of our partnership and the difference children’s voices continue to make across Swansea.
A big thank-you this week to the nine schools from across Swansea who participated in Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations at Swansea.com stadium. It’s always a poignant and solemn occasion and this year’s theme – bridging the generations – is especially relevant at a time when many of the survivors of the Holocaust are passing on. It is always an honour to attend this event and my thanks also to Joanne Jones and her team for organising it.
I mentioned last week that exciting plans are being drawn up for the future of the Civic Centre, now it’s been closed to the public. Officers, along with Urban Splash, arranged a public drop-in session this week at Y Storfa which was well received. You can find more information here and there’s a chance to give your views.
As one flagship regeneration project begins, another regeneration story is nearing its conclusion. Earlier this week we took a ‘lessons learned’ report to the Swansea Bay City Region Joint Committee about 71/72 Kingsway. A project of this size and complexity will always have challenges and issues we can learn from for the future. But I was pleased to report the final product is exceptional and will be a tremendous asset in the years ahead. So many council teams were involved in its delivery, and I want to thank them all. They should be proud of their achievement.
Finally, congratulations go to Rhys Harries and the Trading Standards team for collecting yet another award for their work keeping consumers across the country safe. This time they gained a Highly Commended prize in the Chartered Institute of Trading Standards Hero awards at the House of Lords. The accolade was in recognition of their leading role in Operation Grinch and Operation Grinch 2.0 – Swansea-based investigations that led to the seizure of counterfeit toys and illegal vapes worth millions of pounds in London.
Leave a Reply