Chief Exec's Blog

An update from the Chief Executive

Good news about Phil and Nick

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I’m delighted to give you some positive news on both Phil Roberts and our Education Director, Nick Williams.

Nick has been on sickness absence for a number of months and he’s now in a position to return to work on a phased basis in early May. I’m grateful to the staff in education who’ve helped cover for Nick during that period, particularly Mark Sheridan who’s been acting Director.

I met Phil earlier this week to check on his progress and recovery. Typically, Phil insisted on getting an update on a range of work issues rather than talk about his own situation. But, again, I’m delighted to say Phil is making good progress and whilst his return is some weeks away, we obviously look forward to him returning as soon as possible.

Our Pupil Referral Unit has had a positive inspection report from Estyn. The report said the PRU is a caring and inclusive community where nearly all young people who attend make good progress and nearly all of them go on to college once they leave. This is an extremely important part of our education provision in an area that requires strong leadership, and this pleasing report is a big step along our improvement journey. Congratulations to headteacher Amanda Taylor and her team for all their efforts.

Pentrehafod Comprehensive, recently refurbished

CMT this week discussed the next phase of school building improvements totalling £150m. There’s a strong link between investment in school buildings and educational outcomes, and some of those schools that have recently benefited from investment have seen better outcomes and behaviours. In the past few years we’ve prioritised investment in additional learning needs (ALN) and education other than at school. The latest Band B proposals include investment in a new special school which continues this commitment. I’ve been impressed by the generally good performance of Swansea schools, but it remains the case that pupils receiving free school meals and those with special education needs and ALN perform less well than others so we need to continue prioritising investment in this way.

CMT also discussed a potential restructure to our ALN service to ensure it’s fit for purpose for the next 3-5 years. The plan is subject to consultation with affected staff but it’s designed to help the service meet the changing needs of young people. I look forward to the consultation having clear outcomes so that we can put the restructure in place.

Current entrance to Home Farm

Given our budget pressures the council has been trying to maximise its return from land it owns or holds. We’ve adopted various approaches and a recent report to Cabinet identified a number of sites where we can go to the market to test whether developers are interested. It has to be a balance between getting the right development and getting the best possible financial deal, and it’ll be interesting to see if our approach can achieve this. Of these sites, Home Farm has attracted greatest attention in the media and on social media. It’s a council depot adjacent to Singleton Park, and although it’s caused a public reaction they’ll have an opportunity to give views if a developer comes forward with a planning application. The proposal does not encroach on the parkland which is a very important point.

Another issue making headlines is High Street which the Daily Mail so generously labelled the worst in the UK! This kind of story affects the community, business and the reputation of our city – so thanks a lot Daily Mail. That isn’t to say the area doesn’t have problems, of course it does. Our Deputy Leader, Clive Lloyd, will be leading work across the council and partners to see how we can work together to improve the street environment and make sure vulnerable people and their needs are taken into account.

Thank you again to all those staff who worked over the untypically glorious bank holiday. Many of our vulnerable citizens would not be able to cope without your support and I really appreciate your hard work.

Finally, continuing the theme of Brexit and parallel universes, I was astounded this week that 21 of the 22 chief executives in Wales spent time discussing whether to fly the EU flag on Europe Day on May 9. The worry is that by flying the flag during the current European election period it could be seen as seeking to influence the outcome of the vote. I expect the regional returning officers will determine it won’t be flown on this occasion. But it’s not something I can get too excited about. I feel I’m in a Monty Python sketch at times!

Budget latest

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Our latest public budget consultation comes to a close today and we’ve received hundreds of responses from staff and the public. It’s never easy going out with proposals to reduce services and change what we do. But we need to reduce our spending by more than £24m next year and by £60m in the next three years.

We’re doing all we can to reduce spending by being more efficient and modernising services but the scale of the cuts means we also have to stop doing things. Our spending restrictions are helping to reduce this year’s overspend and we need to keep the pressure on so that we only spend on essentials.

Many of you attended the recent roadshows and we’ve received lots of feedback since, which is encouraging and always welcome.  Our consultation with staff around the cross-cutting budget savings closes on February 7.  Please don’t stop giving your ideas; you can use the staff suggestion scheme or let your manager know.

Our colleagues in Finance and Access to Services are now busy assessing the consultation responses and preparing the budget reports that’ll go to Special Cabinet on February 14. CMT will be meeting Cabinet on Monday to discuss the latest information and agree the details to go forward. Thank you to everyone who’s participated in the consultation and to those officers now drafting reports for Cabinet.

Great news

Bishop Vaughan Catholic School have improved from Amber to Green

We’ve had some excellent news for our schools in the latest Welsh Government’s categorisation system results. It shows improvements across Swansea for the fifth year in a row with more than 95% of all our schools now rated green or yellow compared to a Wales average of 85%. This shows the sharing of expertise between schools and the support experienced teachers are providing to colleagues is paying dividends and is also tribute to the work of our head teachers and staff as well as our education department.

There was more good news for YGG Llwynderw yesterday as the results of its Estyn inspection last term judged it to be good in four of the five inspection areas and excellent in the fifth.

Skyline back

Heads of terms signed by Skyline and Swansea Council last Summer

Senior figures from New Zealand-based Skyline Enterprises will be back in Swansea on Monday. They’ll meet officers and Council Leader Rob Stewart as they continue to consider developing a world-class extreme activities attraction on Kilvey Hill and at the Hafod Copperworks site. They’re also due to meet high-ranking people at the Welsh Government.

Last summer we signed a heads of terms agreement with the business, detailing how we’ll work together to take this exciting project from drawing board to reality. There’s still much work to be done, of course, but we’re doing all we can to make things happen. Skyline would complement our ongoing city-wide regeneration and this well-regarded company’s decision to work with us is a great vote of confidence in Swansea as a tourist destination.

National award

We’ve received a national innovation award for health and safety from Rospa. Our work on managing falls in older people has led to the Stevenson shield for innovation in H&S, finishing third in the UK.  In partnership with ambulance and Western Bay colleagues, we’ve reduced falls and 999 calls by two thirds. And on top of the award, Rospa want to look at adopting the work as best practise across the UK. Well done to everyone involved.

Grit and determination

Thank you to our winter maintenance teams who’ve been salting main roads to help avoid disruption during the cold spell. They’ve been out throughout the night and each time they cover 450km of our road network. And although most of Swansea thankfully didn’t get the snow that other parts had, I know many staff travelled in through poor conditions this morning and I’m grateful for everyone’s efforts.

Safety first

The importance of our services and the staff who run them were highlighted by an incident in Gorseinon. A vulnerable resident was led to safety from a potentially dangerous situation thanks to a combination of equipment we had installed and quick-thinking actions by officers. Well done all!

Brexit no clearer

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Well it’s been a busy week in Whitehall as the politicians share their differences over the nation’s withdrawal from the EU.  With only three months to go until the deadline it feels like there are still so many unanswered questions that the future is impossible to predict. We’re doing our best to plan for any eventuality through our corporate risk management process but the recent macro-economic predictions aren’t easy reading, irrespective of the form of Brexit. It remains to be seen whether the Prime Minister’s deal makes it through Parliament.  I know our elections team are watching developments with interest as some form of vote, be it another referendum or election, seems a possibility to which we’d need to react very rapidly.  We’ll continue to monitor the situation closely.

Budget

Cabinet will today consider next year’s revenue budget and the savings proposals needed to deliver a balanced budget. The proposals affect both the public and staff and we’ll be launching the online consultation later today. We’re also holding staff roadshows in January so that you can have your say. In the meantime, you can speak to your manager about any proposals affecting your area.

CMT discussed the delivery of the potential savings programme and how this can be done in a way that minimises redundancies and maintains services.  This will be a real challenge but we’re determined to work with staff and trade unions to manage the process fairly and transparently.  In the meantime, we continue to press the Welsh Government to improve the settlement, particularly around the unforeseen hit caused by the increased employer contributions to teachers’ pensions.

Cabinet reshuffle

New First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced his new Cabinet. We look forward to working with them.

Education

On Monday I met Geraint Rees, the lead officer for ERW, to prepare for January’s meeting of the ERW Joint Committee.  This will be an important milestone in the improvement journey for our regional consortium and I know Geraint has been in discussion with a number of head teachers in Swansea and West Wales.  We’re also due to appear at the ERW joint scrutiny meeting in early January to update on progress and respond to any concerns they have.

On Tuesday I joined the other three regional Chief Executive leads for the education consortia to discuss with Welsh Government and the WLGA the emerging national accountability framework for schools.  A lot of work has been done in liaison with the OECD to learn from global best practice and apply the lessons to Wales.  I‘ll say more about this emerging framework when I can but there are some proposed radical differences from the existing arrangements which in my view will require extensive discussion and consultation with schools and education colleagues.

I also managed to catch up with Paul Orders, CEO at Cardiff, to discuss the lagoon projects in Wales and our joined up approach to the emerging thinking on the Shared Prosperity Fund, the post-Brexit replacement for European Structural funding programmes.

On the topic of the lagoon, we’ve had a really encouraging response to our recently-published invitation for companies to express an interest in delivering the project. We’ve had responses ranging from multi-national companies who want to deliver the entire scheme to those who want to play a specific role in it. The task group led by our Leader Rob Stewart will now consider the responses before deciding the next steps.

City Deal

The Leader and I met Swansea University to get a better understanding of the current issues following press reports on the City Deal Delta Lakes scheme.  Although none of our joint projects with the university are affected by the recent events the Leader is commissioning an internal audit review into the processes involved and this will run alongside the recently announced UK and Welsh Government independent review.  We’re also continuing to engage with the governments on our city centre projects to ensure that they’re not held up by these events.

Well done

This week Estyn published their findings following their visit to Penyrheol Comprehensive and they rated the school good in all five inspection areas and praised the quality of teaching, the support provided to pupils and the behaviour and attitude of the pupils themselves. Congratulations to all involved.

Thank you to Ian Rees in Cultural Services who went the extra mile for the United States-based parents of a baby boy whose ashes they scattered in Bracelet Bay following his sad passing 14 years ago. Ian took time out on his day off to fulfil their request for a photo of his name written in the sand and sent them this picture. Needless to say they were overwhelmed with gratitude.

Christmas

Unfortunately I couldn’t attend the staff choir’s Christmas event at the Civic Centre yesterday, though I hear it went very well. The staff choir is a great thing to be supporting and if you want to participate you can find out more here.

You can support JR Events’ ‘Together at Christmas’ event in the Brangwyn Hall on Wednesday, that includes a free, two-course dinner for people who are vulnerable, feel isolated or may be homeless. You can donate unused toiletries to Lindsay Sleeman in Room 152 of the Guildhall.

If you’re looking for a gift with a difference the council has a range of ideas from show tickets at the Grand to hanging baskets and adult courses. You can also adopt a bench or flower bed in a loved one’s name. Find out more at: www.swansea.gov.uk/giftideas

 

Education changes and budget blow

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Yesterday I travelled to Cardiff to attend a conference on the future of education in Wales and the delivery of the National Mission. The Cabinet Secretary, Kirsty Williams, introduced the event which was particularly focused on accountability through the new evaluation and improvement framework. The main message for councils was that the drive to increase regional working will continue through the education consortia but there’ll be changes to how they function and how Estyn operates. I hope to circulate the presentations to schools and education colleagues when they are available. It’s clear the emerging accountability system will be based on self-evaluation, peer review and a wider range of evaluation indicators.

Earlier in the week we had even more difficult news elsewhere on the budget when we learned that council contributions to teachers’ pension costs will likely rise from 16.48% to 23.8% in 2019, a sum far greater than previously indicated. This will add a further £4 million to the budget gap with no sign of help coming from Westminster at this stage. CMT will discuss the implications of this next week but it seems inevitable that more savings will need to be identified.  Here’s the latest warning from the WLGA.

Leisure staff

Next Monday six of our community leisure centres and the LC will be operated by not-for-profit trust Freedom Leisure. This is an exciting new partnership for us. The facilities will remain council venues offering council services – and the same friendly staff (transferring from the council and Bay Leisure) will help customers stay healthy and active. This change will help contribute towards our budget challenges. Freedom Leisure has a proven track record and the ability to deliver leisure services effectively and sustainably. Thank you to everyone involved for making this a smooth transition.

Great effort

Corporate Building Services came to the rescue when Penllergaer school was forced to close due to a burst water main. They got the call on Tuesday and completed the repairs on Wednesday. The school re-opened on Thursday which meant pupils only lost one full-day of education. My thanks to Andrew McFenton, Barry Morgan and Mike Boat for their great work.

Guildhall transformed

The Guildhall has been transformed into a scene from World War One as part of an exciting production. Created by Swansea-born artist Marc Rees, Now the Hero is the headline piece for the 2018 Swansea International Festival. The production uses three interweaving stories of war inspired by an epic poem, an intimate portrait of a serving Swansea soldier and the Brangwyn Hall’s British Empire Panels. The production has spread across the Guildhall as you’ll see from these photos. Well done and thank you to everyone involved.

   

On a similar note, a true story about a team of young rugby players from India who took the under-14 Rugby World Cup by storm is being filmed in Swansea in November and December. We’ve been involved in supporting the production from the outset and it’ll showcase our city to huge new audiences across India, the world’s biggest movie market, so my thanks go to the team who’ve made it possible. And if you want a walk-on part in ‘The Jungle Cry’ you can to sign-up as an extra in the movie.

Awards

Congratulations to our highways and transportation team for winning the Value Award at this year’s Construction Excellence Wales ceremony. The award is linked to the development of the Morfa distributor road which opened last year.

Retirements

There are a couple of notable retirements this week, including Jenni Spencer Davies who’s leaving after 18 years’ service as the curator at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. Jenni successfully oversaw the £8m gallery refurbishment and established partnerships with Tate Britain, The British Council and Artes Mundi. Also, Julia Incebel who’s worked at the Grand Theatre as an usherette for 42 years. Julia started on Boxing Day with her mum because they were short-staffed and stayed ever since! Best wishes to both Jenni and Julia and all our other retiring staff.

Dead in the water? No.

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Another week passes and the future of the tidal lagoon looks in severe doubt following the announcements from the UK Government this week.  Following the decision to press ahead with the nuclear power facility at Wylfa, the Secretary of State for Wales has clearly stated his concerns over the forecast cost of energy from the Swansea Bay project.  Personally, I feel this would be a short-sighted decision by the UK Government and based on criteria that do not reflect the long-term nature of large scale energy infrastructure projects.  We’ll continue to work with the Welsh Government and Tidal Lagoon Power to deliver this scheme along with other renewable projects, given our commitment to sustainable development and future generations.

Skyline

This week we welcomed Skyline, our partners from New Zealand who are working on our scheme at Kilvey Hill.  We were able to formally agree the heads of terms and the company spent the week appointing consultants and advisers to manage and deliver the project.  Huw Mowbray and the property team have been working hard to secure this investment for the city and if we can deliver it we’ll have an attraction that is unique to the UK and a potentially massive boost for our tourism sector.  We we’ll continue to work closely with Skyline on pre-application for planning, land assembly and logistical support. We held a dinner at the Mansion House yesterday evening to review progress and agree the actions we’ll each undertake over the coming months.

Local Government Reform

On Monday afternoon the Leader and I travelled to Llandrindod Wells along with our counterparts from the other 21 councils in Wales to meet the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government, Alun Davies.  The meeting was arranged by the Welsh Government to share views on merger and transformation of public services as councils prepare to respond to the recent Green Paper.  This was never going to be an easy discussion and it’s clear there are some very strong and conflicting views on the subject.  My personal prediction, and it’s just that, is that it’s highly unlikely that mergers will take place on a national level, if at all. The debate has been underwhelming and the case for a reduction to 10 councils has not been convincingly made.  I met group leaders this week to get their views on the Green Paper and we’ll be reporting our proposed response to Council in a fortnight.  I’ll add a link to my blog so you can see it for yourself.

University meeting

We recently established a joint Executive Board with Swansea University to help manage the delivery of joint projects including the regeneration of the city centre, the provision of accommodation, digital infrastructure and energy strategy.  The Leader chaired the meeting and it was pleasing to see agreement on these as priorities for collaboration, which will now be developed into specific projects.

Western Bay

On Tuesday I was interviewed by IPC about progress made on the Western Bay Health and Social Care collaboration.  Given the impacts of austerity on public finances, the confusion over regional collaboration footprints and the lack of clarity over funding responsibilities between councils and the NHS it’s a difficult backdrop for partnership working. However, I think some very good progress has been made but we need to focus on better joining up of services.  We await the decision of the Welsh Government on the future geography for ABMU Health Board, with or without Bridgend Council following consultation, but I hope the review by IPC will come up with some positive recommendations that all partners can subscribe and commit to.

Congratulations

Well done to staff at the Glynn Vivian which has been awarded a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence. The Gallery has undergone a major refurbishment and is one of Wales’ leading venues. This follows hot on the heels of five other council venues receiving the same accolade.

Thank you to staff in Finance who’ve been working for months on closing our accounts. It’s a painstaking task which has to be done every year. I won’t mention everyone by name, but well done and thank you for all your efforts.

I was delighted to see former Cefn Hengoed Community School headteacher Sue Hollister at Buckingham Palace this week to collect the MBE for services to education. During her 10 years at the helm the school’s fortunes were transformed and rated excellent in all 15 aspects of its last Estyn inspection.