LDP

As we come to the end of the year it is a good time to reflect on the events of the last 12 months.

Despite the best attempts of our officers and elected members the future of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon remains uncertain. In January we celebrated the anniversary of the publication of the Hendry report but by June the UK Government confirmed that it would not be supporting the project. We continue to explore different ways to deliver the scheme and 2019 will see us redouble our efforts to move forward.

In February we held our Smart City event at the Swansea tech hub and this has proved to be an important milestone in moving our digital strategy forward. Investment by Openreach into the City and the recent submission of our Local Full Fibre Network bid have followed as the City Deal digital projects get underway. 2019 will see more work on the ground as we futureproof Swansea for the impact of fifth generation technology.

March saw the unveiling of the latest local government reform proposals and the suggestion that ten councils were the right footprint for Wales but by July these had been consigned to the dustbin of history. This was also the month that we completed and opened the first council housing scheme built in the City for a generation which was a real highlight of the year for me.

In April we opened Wales’ first fully integrated family centre and primary care centre at Mountain View in Mayhill and in May we successfully hosted the Radio 1 Biggest Weekend, demonstrating our continuing commitment to culture. More events followed, including the Wales National Airshow along with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Skyline project at Kilvey Hill.

In July we were visited by the Care Inspectorate Wales as they inspected our approach as a corporate parent, our progress on safeguarding and the performance of our Children’s Services. In October they issued their report which was highly positive and complimentary about the work our social services teams are doing.

In August our schools celebrated another excellent set of results. The Senior Management Review was completed with the appointment of my deputy, Adam Hill.

September was a difficult month following the provisional budget announcements from Welsh Government and we completed the penultimate stage in approving our Local Development Plan with the inspectors confirming that there would be no further public hearings.

In October we made significant progress on our Regional Education Consortium, ERW, with an agreement by the Joint Committee to make structural changes and revisit the collaborative approach. This will be driven forward again in January so that we can ensure that schools get the school improvement support in a more consistent and coherent way. We also celebrated the best High 5 awards to date with inspirational young people from across the City.

My highlights for November were the opening of Lon Las School by TV presenter Huw Edwards and the first signs that the Welsh Government were responding to our concerns about the budget settlement. I was very grateful to Ben Smith for his support in my submission to the Welsh Assembly Petitions Committee and I hope that it brought home to policy makers the impact of the scale of cuts on the ground.

December was marred by the news that the City Deal Delta Lakes scheme in Carmarthen had some major problems but the Joint Committee, chaired by Councillor Rob Stewart took rapid and decisive action to ensure that the other City Deal schemes could continue to progress smoothly.

So what can we learn from the year’s events? We are a diverse and complex organisation that provides essential services for our citizens and we do it well. We deal efficiently and effectively with the challenges thrown at us and this is because we have a talented and committed workforce. I know morale is not helped by the constant pressure of austerity but we have demonstrated a resilience that other councils would envy.

So thanks to all of you for your hard work this year. I don’t doubt that next year will be equally challenging for us all but I know you will deal with it as you have consistently done; with innovation, determination and commitment.

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda. Happy New Year.

The first round of budget discussions between CMT and Cabinet took place this week. Ben Smith, our chief finance officer, set out the likely forward financial position for the next three years although we’ll have a clearer picture in three weeks’ time when the Welsh Government announces the provisional financial settlement for local government. The UK government has already indicated that it will be providing some funding towards teacher pay increases in Wales which is a good start. We’ll continue discussing the detailed options for balancing the budget over the next two weeks and making it clear to the Welsh Government that the service pressures we’re facing, particularly in social care, need to be recognised in the settlement. In the meantime we’re discussing a number of options to avoid compulsory redundancies, including looking at staff terms and conditions. This is a conversation that we’ll have with staff as soon as we can.

Apse success

I’m delighted that we’ve had great success at this year’s Apse Awards with our Corporate Building Service winning the Best Workforce Initiative Award. The service has undergone a major staff training and development programme, creating future capacity and skills for the team. To win this UK-wide award in such a prestigious competition is fantastic achievement and one we can all be proud of. And on top of this we were also shortlisted in three other categories – construction and building services; environmental health, trading standards and regulatory services and best innovation and demand management. Congratulations to all the staff involved and thank you for all your hard work.

LDP

Thank you to all the staff who’ve put in a huge amount of work to progress our Local Development Plan (LDP), the blueprint for where and how land will be developed across Swansea over the next 10 years. It’s been a very long and complex process with lots of competing demands, so it’s excellent news that we’ve now reached the point where the planning inspectors appointed to ‘examine’ the plan have said no further public hearings are required. We now hope to put the plan before Council for final approval early next year.

Emergency help

Staff now have a new resource to help them plan for emergencies and business continuity. Our emergency management service’s web pages are now live, providing a range of guidance and advice on issues such as flooding and terrorism and links to other agencies. Further information will be added in the coming weeks. The links are

Internal: http://www.swansea.gov.uk/staffnet/emergencymanagement
External: https://www.swansea.gov.uk/emergencymanagement

Estyn

Congratulations to Craigfelen and Cwmrhydyceirw primary schools and Bishopston and Olchfa comprehensives who’ve all been invited to attend Estyn’s annual awards due to their excellent school inspection reports. They’ll be presented with a framed certificate recognising the hard work and commitment behind their achievement by Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams.

Saddle up

Staff can get a 50% discount off the popular Santander bike rental scheme that’s recently been launched. The scheme has already clocked up 2,000 rentals from people making the most of the cycles along the waterfront and beyond. To take advantage of the discount go here https://www.santandercycles.co.uk/pricing

Get involved

Staff can take part in a ground-breaking production as part of the World War One centenary. Artist Marc Rees’ production, Now the Hero, begins on Swansea beach and culminates in a participatory feast in the Brangwyn. It’s staged from September 25 to 29 and Marc’s looking for adult community performers to play family and friends at the wedding party. If you’d like to participate please contact, Ami Marsden community@nowthehero.wales

Benches

You may have seen some of our park benches featuring stunning artwork depicting a World War One soldier and poppies. The benches have been painted by a local artist to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of WW1. Councillors have used their environmental improvements grants to fund the cost for benches in their own wards. Some have recently been completed around the rotunda at the Guildhall

10k

Our annual 10k takes place this Sunday and I’d like to thank our staff who’ve put in a huge amount of effort to prepare for this highly-regarded event. Also, good luck to any staff who’ll be running.