City centre – Page 4

Celebrating diversity

March 3, 2017 by Martin Leave a Comment

Our Abertawe

On Saturday we’ll be staging our new “Our Abertawe – Celebrating Swansea Together” event. This is an opportunity to celebrate Swansea and what it means to us all as individuals and together, whether a Jack by birth or habit; disabled; young; or old; whatever our sexual orientation, beliefs, culture, language or abilities. Many communities make up our diverse City and the events will focus on bringing people together to celebrate Swansea and what it means to us all.

It will be held at Castle Square from 11am till 6.30pm, ending with a parade from Castle Square to the National Waterfront Museum. The main exhibition marquee will be located on Princess Way and will include various information, activity and cultural stands as well as an exhibition celebrating the history of Swansea’s cultural diversity.

There’ll be stages for performances at Castle Square and Portland Street, along with busking sites throughout the city centre. Cookery demonstrations and workshops will take place in a marquee on Princess Way and there’s a treasure hunt at our fantastic Swansea Market for children.

The Big Screen will show two special videos. ‘My Swansea’ – produced by students from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the second video has been developed by Chinese students from Swansea University capturing what Swansea is all about.

Also part of the event is the returning AberDewi festival which includes a Twmpath, St Davids Parade, choral sing along of Calon Lan and the rhythms of Samba Tawe.

Local schools are involved in the day with a number of junior schools entering the dragon competition to head the parade. The senior schools are taking part in an “Apprentice”-style competition, which involves raising money on the day for two charities for the homeless.

The Saturday event is unique which will celebrate both our Welsh heritage and Swansea’s modern, multi-cultural make-up.

I’m indebted to all who have helped to organise this fantastic event, but particularly grateful to Riaz Hassan, our Regional Community Cohesion Coordinator based in Poverty and Prevention, who has worked tirelessly on it.

For the latest information take a look at this link.

Pontarddulais School

A few weeks ago I visited Pontarddulais Comprehensive School for the first time. I was shown around the building and its grounds by four enthusiastic pupils who were excellent ambassadors and a credit to the school. I was impressed by the genuine respect for pupil voice at Pontarddulais and the commitment to working together as a team for the benefit of the whole school community. This was underlined in the discussion that followed with the pupils and the head teacher, Jan Waldron. Jan was very clear about how the approach had helped to create a positive learning environment for the school and this is certainly borne out by the excellent results being achieved by the students. Thanks to Jan and all at Pontarddulais for the warm welcome and a highly interesting and informative afternoon.

It came as no surprise, therefore, when I learned that Pontarddulais Comprehensive, along with Cefn Hengoed Community School, St Helen’s Primary and Penllergaer Primary schools received “Excellent” inspection judgements from ESTYN. I understand that on March 9 ESTYN will be holding an awards evening for schools, colleges and other providers who received ‘Excellent’ inspection judgements for current performance, prospects for improvement (or both) in the academic year 2015–16. This event will focus on the common factors that lie behind excellence and improvement and how inspection supports this. Congratulations and thanks to all.

Pentre’r Graig School

On Tuesday I attended the opening of the newly-refurbished Pentre’r Graig Primary School in Morriston. The school has undergone extensive remodelling under our 21st Century Schools Programme with £2.7m of investment funded jointly by us and the Welsh Government. The work was undertaken by our Corporate Building and Property Services team and I’m delighted to say they’ve done an excellent job in what must have been very difficult circumstances. It can’t be easy to deliver a complex refurbishment project whilst keeping the school running, but aided by our Education team and the patience and support of the school staff and pupils, the job is almost complete.

The pupils welcomed the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, local councillors and governors and conducted a whistle-stop tour of the new facilities, including the “Learning Street”. We also had a couple of songs and some highly entertaining discussions with the pupils.

I was sad to hear that the head teacher, Julie Tucker, will soon be retiring because she’s done such an excellent job not only seeing the school refurbished and transformed but also achieving “green status” in the schools categorisation in the process. Congratulations to Julie and her team.

Culture bid

We’re bidding for UK City of Culture 2021. After reaching the shortlist for the 2017 title, we hope to go one step further this time. A successful bid will provide a significant boost to the city’s regeneration as we set out a commitment to not only deliver a 12-month festival of world class arts and cultural activity, but also to create long-lasting benefits for residents, the economy and visitors to the city.

City Deal

Another bid hopefully coming to fruition is the City Deal. Following the Leader’s recent presentation to a team including Lord Heseltine it looks like we’ll have some positive news next week. Our officers have continued to supply extra information requested by the UK and Welsh governments and Lord Heseltine, and we’re now satisfied we’ve done everything asked of us.

Apprentice scheme

We’re launching our new Corporate Apprentice and Trainee Strategy in an event at Guildhall on Monday (March 6). To coincide with the launch and the start of National Apprenticeship Week, we’ll soon be advertising for new apprentices in our corporate building and adult social care departments. Other apprentice and trainee positions could also soon be made available in departments including IT, waste management, highways, economic regeneration and parks.

Some apprenticeship and work experience placements would be specifically targeted at young people, the long-term unemployed and disadvantaged groups. Opportunities would also link into our corporate parenting role for young people leaving care.

The new strategy is initially being launched as a pilot scheme to help us get a better understanding of realistic targets and sources of funding that may be available.

Recycling success

It’s great to see that changes made as part of the on-going commissioning reviews are having a positive impact. In Waste Management, changes to some of the city’s recycling centres have resulted in us now sending 800 tonnes less waste to landfill sites each month since the changes were made. Well done to everyone involved.

New competition?

leek Geoff Mellor in Housing took inspiration from our Christmas jumper competition for this week’s St David’s celebrations. He claims to have invented the worst St David’s Day leek-tie competition!! Despite his efforts, unfortunately, as the only entrant he won’t be getting a prize. However the bonus Geoff is that at least when it goes out of fashion he can eat it. Thank you Geoff, you made me smile!

May the fourth be with you

February 9, 2017 by Martin Leave a Comment

Setting the Budget

After many months of discussion and consultation, Cabinet yesterday agreed the revenue and capital budgets for the forthcoming financial year. You’ll see from reports that a number of changes were made by Cabinet following the public consultation period.

What isn’t clear from a simple reading of the report is how much work actually went in to its preparation, involving a large number of staff from all levels of the organisation.

Although many people were involved and should be thanked, I’m particularly indebted to Mike Hawes, our Director of Resources, and Ben Smith, Chief Finance and Deputy S151 Officer, who worked tirelessly on the process of preparation of the report. They’ve done an excellent job and I’m very grateful.

The budget now goes to Council for final approval on February 23.

May the fourth be with you

How time flies. This week I met with Huw Evans, Head of Democratic Services, and Alison O’Hara, Electoral Services Team Leader, to review our preparations for the local government elections in May. There’s a huge amount of work that needs to be put in to manage an election. Alongside the mountain of rules there are huge logistical issues in running an accurate, timely and efficient count.

Thankfully in Swansea I’m supported by an experienced and knowledgeable team from presiding officers to counting assistants and the core elections team based at the Guildhall. On Wednesday I discussed progress on the 2017 elections with the Electoral Commission and reassured them that we’re making the necessary preparations already and are ahead of the curve. This includes moving the count on the evening May 4 from the LC to the Guildhall.

We’re currently seeking staff to help in the process of running the election and you can find application details here.

There are important rules that all councillors and officers must observe in the pre-election period, or “purdah” as it is sometimes known. For the 2017 elections this period commences on March 17. There’s guidance available on our website and I’d encourage staff to read it and be familiar with it.

On a slightly different note I’d appeal to you all as voters to exercise your right to vote on May 4. For me this year has further demonstrated the importance of exercising this right, with some momentous decisions being made as a consequence.

Performance

Corporate Management Team met this week to discuss the third quarter performance monitoring data and our corporate approach to performance management. Some interesting suggestions were thrown in and we’ll be reviewing the systems and processes for performance management later this year.

We’re developing some technological solutions to assist data gathering but in the meantime I‘ve asked the directors to make sure the data relating to performance on our corporate priorities is properly interpreted in the report to Cabinet in March. This will probably require the input of a large number of staff across departments and will need to be done very quickly.

Deal or no Deal

We finally have a date for the challenge meeting with the UK Government to set out our City Deal proposals. The four leaders will meet the key ministers in London on February 21, along with other members of the pitch team. Rob Stewart, our Leader, will lead the delegation which will face intensive challenge.

Many staff are working hard behind the scenes to support this critical project. Final discussions are under way with civil servants in both Welsh and UK Governments so it’s all hands to the pump as we enter the final straight. We’re hoping the detail will finally be ironed out this coming Wednesday when Martin Nicholls, Huw Mowbray and I travel to Cardiff to meet the Welsh Government team.

The Kingsway

It seems like yesterday that I was crossing the Kingsway to get to the Odeon to watch Battle for the Planet of the Apes followed by chicken in the basket and chips at the Burlington restaurant. Actually, it was 43 years ago and as you’ll all be aware much has changed during that time, some for the better and some not so. But if the Council’s ambitions for the city centre are to be achieved then the Kingsway must change more fundamentally. Part of the City Deal programme is about meeting this major challenge.

Future plans for The Kingsway and other key roads within the city centre will be available for viewing over the next few weeks with drop-in events at The Grand Theatre on the following dates between 9.00am and 5.00pm:

Tuesday 14th, Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th February.
Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd February.

You can view the proposals and feed comments back on the project website: www.swansea.gov.uk/TheKingsway

Innovation

The Innovation Group are developing ideas on how we can make sure staff are protected from abuse while carrying out their duties. I was very interested in developing a better understanding of why customers get frustrated, and how this sometimes turns to aggression. In some instances prolonged waiting times and being referred needlessly between departments causes tensions and we need to minimise this. I think most of us have experienced these sorts of frustrations when dealing with large organisations so we must have some empathy when it happens here.

The group also discussed a standard process in the form of a flowchart which will help staff and managers to ensure we’re consistent when dealing with aggressive behaviour by customers. I look forward to seeing these ideas being developed into a plan by the group and sharing it with the rest of the organisation.

Appointments Committee

The Appointments Committee met on Thursday to agree a shortlist of candidates for the post of Chief Education Officer. Interviews will be held next Tuesday and Council will meet to consider the appointment next Thursday. I hope to be able to announce the appointment in next week’s blog.

MJ awards

We’ll be submitting in a number of categories to the Municipal Journal annual awards later this week. I’ll say more about this next week.

Our very own Masterchef

I was delighted to see Sue Reed, our Community Buildings Development Manager, demonstrating how to cook healthy food on Bay TV. She has a regular slot on the programme so I’m relying on her to help me lose a few pounds as long as she keeps the recipes simple!

Congratulations

Liam Jones in our Planning team has been shortlisted for a national award. Liam will be battling it out for the Young Planner of the Year title in the Royal Town Planning Institute awards. The awards take place in June.

Well done Liam, great work!

Exploring our investment opportunities

February 3, 2017 by Martin Leave a Comment

Swansea welcomes visitors

Major companies from the Northern Powerhouse were in Swansea this week to explore investment opportunities.

As part of a programme organised by the Welsh Government, representatives of the north of England companies met with us, Neath Port Talbot Council and Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon. These companies have shown an interest in establishing a presence in Swansea/South Wales, should the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project be given the “green light”.

Included in the programme was a visit to the Meridian Tower for our officers to set the scene for the proposed investments in the city.

This all follows Welsh Government’s visit to Sheffield last year, where during discussions, they learnt that many would consider expanding into Wales and all were keen to explore working with Welsh supply chain companies.

On the back of the news The Right Honourable Charles Hendry has approved the tidal lagoon plans, and with the City Region’s City Deal bid now with the UK Government for approval, this is yet more encouraging news in terms of potential investment in job creation in Swansea in future.

European partnership

It was also great to welcome a delegation from our twin city in Mannheim. It gave us a chance to share the differing approaches to strategic planning, the efficiency agenda and how we set and deliver our respective corporate priorities. There were also workshops on a range of key areas including sustainable Swansea, cultural services, youth and city of music, infrastructure waste management, finance and safety.

The sessions were very successful allowing us to share our respective best practice and learn a few lessons of how the two councils can work collaboratively on the wider European stage.

Both the Mannheim and Northern Powerhouse delegations were invited to the Swansea City FC match against Southampton which the Swans won after a hard fought contest. So I hope our visitors will leave Swansea with positive views of the city and its prospects as well as our club’s prospects for survival in the Premier League.

A great showcase

Wales’ top social services official, Albert Heaney, visited our Child and Family Services this week to look at some of the great work we’re doing. A number of staff made presentations and gave him an insight into our work with families and young people.

Afterwards I spoke to Albert to get his reflections on the afternoon. He is a tough man to impress but I think he was quite blown away by what he saw.

It’s clear that the Welsh Government, and many other councils, are struggling to get to grips with the pressures within children’s services, particularly with increasing Looked After Children populations.

Albert has significant influence in the Welsh Government and the ear of key ministers, so I’m hoping he’ll pass on his positive views of Swansea. I also hope that we will get the opportunity to showcase our work to the Minister at some time in the near future.

I’m so grateful to all the staff for the work they do every day in this really challenging environment.

And further congratulations to staff in Child and Family Services on a hugely encouraging report from the CSSIW. Based on an unannounced inspection of our flexible home support service, the report includes positive feedback from not only the inspector, but also from the families using the service. Well done to all involved!

Local Government Reform

The Welsh Government has this week published the ‘White Paper: Reforming Local Government: Resilient and Renewed’. This follows discussions with the Cabinet Secretary throughout the autumn and it includes proposals for regionalised services as well as proposals considered in the previous Draft Bill. The unexpected element for me, and I suspect many others, is that the Welsh Government is seeking views on electoral reform, specifically on the lowering of the voting age to 16 and options for councils to determine their own voting arrangements (including the Single Transferable Vote system) and an option to allow councils to return to the committee system.

We’ll be considering these issues in some detail and will bring forward a report to Council to agree our response to the consultation.

A useful background paper from the Welsh Local Government Association can be found here.

Evolve

Last Friday I attended part of the development day held by the Evolve service in Gorseinon. The event was organised to engage staff in considering the options arising from the recent commissioning review into Family Support, and specifically into services offered to young people aged 11-plus. After sitting in on a couple of the groups it was interesting to see people airing their views frankly and clearly about the various options for the service going forward. It’s very important these events are inclusive and I was really pleased to see everyone engaging with enthusiasm. The staff also made some important points about the commissioning process which I’ll share with Corporate Management Team as we seek to improve it in the next round of reviews. They also asked me some tough questions about the tidal lagoon and current regeneration plans.

Thanks to Gavin Evans and all the team for making me feel at home and I look forward to discussing the outcomes of the review with Leadership Team and Cabinet in the coming weeks.

Birchgrove School

On Friday I also visited Birchgrove Comprehensive School to meet with the head teacher, Andrew Owen, who’s been in post since September. Like many of the schools I visit Birchgrove faces a number of challenges but the approach of the head teacher and staff is very positive and the determination to improve education for the pupils is very impressive. We had an in-depth discussion about education inclusion and specialist teaching facilities which Andrew has a real passion about.

I also had a quick tour round the school which has some excellent facilities and Andrew explained future plans to me. I was particularly interested in the practical skills options for students, including work in textiles and construction trades. I hope we can work very closely with the school on developing these skills, particularly in construction, given the massive investment taking place in our housing stock and regeneration projects. I have asked our Director of Place to push this idea forward as quickly as possible.

School performance

Sticking with education, I was delighted to see continued improvement by Swansea’s schools following the publication of the National Categorisation System. The latest Welsh Government school colour-coded categorisation figures published this week show a record number of schools in Swansea in the best performing (green) category and none at all in the most in need of help (red).

Congratulations and thanks to all the teaching staff and those in the education service for their hard work and determination to secure a better education for young people in Swansea. A special thank you must go to Martin Franklin and his team at Morriston Comprehensive School who recorded the biggest improvement in GCSE results of any school in Wales. In 2015 the school had been identified by the Welsh Government as one of 40 secondary schools in Wales most in need of improvement. I visited Martin and his team last year and it’s great to see the hard work they are putting in and making a real difference. These are not issues that can be fixed overnight and the improvement journey is long and hard, but this really is a dramatic improvement in pupil attainment; a core priority for us all.

Senior staff recruitment

Unfortunately we were unable to put forward candidates to Council for the post of Director of Resources and I will be working with HR and the current director, Mike Hawes, to identify a way forward later this week.

We’ll be reporting to the shortlisting committee next week on the recruitment of a Chief Education Officer, as you’ll remember that Lindsay Harvey will be leaving us to join Bridgend Council in March.

Green school

Well done to staff and pupils at Craigfelen Primary for helping the school gain a Platinum Eco Award. In recognition of the school having won three Green Flags, the award shows the school covers topics like energy, litter, recycling and healthy living both in class and extra-curricular activities.

Congratulations

Well done to all staff involved in the upgrade of the Matthew Street blocks of flats in Dyfatty. This major project will boost the health and wellbeing of residents, while also improving the appearance of a key gateway in and out of the city centre. More than 2,400 council homes will also have new kitchens and bathrooms in the 2017/2018 financial year in areas including Cwm Felin Fach, Bonymaen, Llanllienwen, Caemawr, Clase, Birchgrove, Clydach, Craig Cefn Parc, Pontarddulais and Penllergaer. This follows on from similar works that have been completed in areas including Penlan, Gendros and Waunarlwydd.

Happy New Year

December 29, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

Moving on

Our Chief Education Officer, Lindsay Harvey, will be leaving us next year to join Bridgend Council.

He has been appointed as Interim Director of Education and Family Support. Whilst I’m delighted for Lindsay, he’ll be a great loss to Swansea. Anyone who’s met him will know he’s a larger than life character who always brings a positive outlook.

He’s worked in Swansea for over seven years; first as a school improvement adviser then as our Chief Education Officer. He’s led on a number of important initiatives for us, such as the radical overhaul of our Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) service.

This is a very important post and we’ll be seeking to fill the gap as soon as possible.

Well done and thanks

Safeguarding is the council’s top priority, so it’s really satisfying to see the latest CSSIW report praising our child and family teams for their pioneering work supporting vulnerable children and young people to understand their role and rights in potentially daunting and complex court proceedings. The report can be found here. My thanks and congratulations to the team.

Well done to Carole Billingham who won our Christmas jumper competition. Carole works in the library in the Civic Centre and will receive tickets for the panto at the Grand. A photo of Carole is the first picture in our gallery. Thank you to everyone else who sent in photos – I’m sure you’ll agree it was a tough choice. I know that a lot of money was raised for charity by our staff, so thank you.

Carole Billingham from Libraries

Thank you to everyone who worked or was on-call over the Christmas period.

I know some staff will be doing the same over the New Year break and I’m really grateful to you. I hope it’s not too busy and you can enjoy the arrival of 2017!

It promises to be a very busy year. In February we will be setting the budget and there’ll be much to do following the decisions of Council. In early May there’ll be local government elections. We will also hopefully hear some positive news about our City Deal and the Tidal Lagoon. We can also expect some further statements from the Welsh Government on regionalisation.

I wish you all a Happy New Year, Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.

It’s All About You

November 25, 2016 by Martin 2 Comments

Yesterday I spent most of the day at the It’s All About You 2 event at the Marriott Hotel which was a massive success. Thanks to all the staff who attended and particularly those who spoke to me while I was wandering round or in the “Confidentiality Booth”. It was great to see so many people there, particularly from staff based at the depots as well as office based employees. We received a huge number of innovative suggestions about how services can be improved, how staff can be better involved and supported, and ways in which we can save money and generate income. A comprehensive list will be prepared for the Corporate Management Team to consider over the coming weeks.

The event may have appeared chaotic but was incredibly well organised and my thanks go to all involved including Leanne Cutts, Bob Fenwick, Ann Smith, Anne Sennett, Rebecca Tribe, Mark Gosney, Lee O’Hara and Katja Davies. Congratulations also must go to the former Swans striker Lee Trundle who outscored the entire Corporate Management Team in his knowledge of unusual council statistics, including what types of animals have been left in council houses and how many thousands of tons of sand had been shifted to create dunes at Swansea Bay. A report of the day will be posted on Staffnet shortly.

This event along with the staff survey feedback and the upcoming staff roadshows show our determination to engage staff.

We’ll be holding staff roadshows in the next few weeks to update people on the budget and Sustainable Swansea. There are roadshows next week for senior managers followed by a series of events for staff starting on December 5 for two weeks. I’d like as many staff as possible to go along so please make every effort to attend.

We’re improving

The Wales Audit Office Annual Improvement Report (AIR) was presented to Council by Steve Barry from the WAO last night. The report concludes the Council has continued to improve in its priority areas and its arrangements are likely to support future improvement. This is excellent news and the report was well received by the members of Council. This report reflects the work done by officers and councillors in this authority and I’m delighted that your efforts have been reflected and praised by the WAO. Having said this, there is still more to do and the WAO make further recommendations on how we might improve the effectiveness of decision making, the external reporting of performance, performance management, delivery of savings and service business planning. The Corporate Management Team have action plans in place to respond to these recommendations so that we can maintain the pace of progress

City Centre

The Leader was at Meridian Tower on Monday to give a presentation of the progress of plans to regenerate the city centre to to Swansea’s business community. He was joined by representatives of Rivington Land, the company managing the regeneration of the site. The was the launch of the first stage of pre-application consultation on the proposals for Swansea Central (the development of the St David’s and Oystermouth Road sites in Swansea city centre). This was an important part of the planning process and around 50 people attended.

A new indoor arena, new shops, restaurants, a boutique cinema, a hotel and a broad footbridge over Oystermouth Road are among the ideas and concepts, which have now gone out for consultation. All feedback received will help inform the submission of an outline planning application in March, 2017. You can have your say by visiting or by going along to a public exhibition next to New Look in St Mary’s Square on Thursday December 1 (10am to 8pm), Friday December 2 (10am to 4pm) or Saturday December 3 (10am to 4pm).

A second event is being held at the Grand Theatre on 16 December.

Chancellor’s Autumn Statement

This week’s budget statement contained a number of headlines but I think it was hugely significant that the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, recommitted the Government’s support for the Swansea Bay City Deal. The Leader and I will be visiting London in the next week or so to meet with the Secretary of State, Alun Cairns, along with the business leaders who are supporting our bid. Wales will also get an extra £400m over five years to spend on capital projects, although it is not yet clear what this money will be targeted on.

Corporate Health Standard Gold Award

Congratulations to all involved in the recent visit by the assessor from Public Health Wales who was inspecting our work on wellbeing and as part of the revalidation process under the new Wales Government criteria for Gold Awards. We were successful in this, receiving significant praise from the assessor for the all the pro-active work and innovation. They recognised our commitment, strategy, innovation and investment in the staff wellbeing. Helping Hands was also praised for the idea, growth, its quality, staff engagement, diversity and support it offers. A report will be submitted shortly highlighting our strengths, improvements and development points for the future. The Welsh Government will receive the recommendation to issue us with the new Gold Award shortly.

White Ribbon Day

Today (Friday November 25) is White Ribbon Day, where we’ll again be highlighting the issue of tackling male domestic violence against women. To mark the day, an event is taking place at the domestic abuse one-stop shop on Singleton Street, opposite the Grand Theatre, from 10am to 3pm.

Sparkle

Swansea Diversity Seminar takes place today to raise awareness of the diversity present within the transgender community and provide an opportunity for networking across a number of agencies. It’s held in the Guildhall Council Chamber from 9am-1.30pm. and Swansea’s fifth Transgender Sparkle Event will be held at the National Waterfront Museum tomorrow. There’ll be information and retail stalls and evening entertainment from 7pm, including local performers and a resident DJ.

Amazing staff stories

We all felt the terrible weather earlier this week but thankfully our staff responded magnificently. Our highways teams were worked through the night to keep our city moving and our call centre were kept busy across all services, with one member of the team taking 175 calls in a day! These are just a few examples so thank you to everyone who responded so brilliantly.

Talk about going the extra mile to benefit residents! Sue Walters in our registrars team was conducting a wedding at the King Arthur Hotel on Saturday when she slipped and broke her leg. But unaware of the extent of her injury, Sue soldiered on in great discomfort to conduct another two weddings after her accident. Well done Sue and I hope you recover quickly.

And finally, our events staff do a terrific job every year in organising the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k. Now we can help them get the recognition they deserve by voting for the race to be named the best 10k in the UK at the 2017 Running Awards. Please get your vote in for the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k here and vote by the end of the month.

The race came in second place earlier this year, so this is a chance to make sure it gets top spot next year.