Swansea Bay City Region

Good news, but pressures remain

October 21, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

We’ve received a provisional indication of the likely budget settlement for the 2017/18 financial year. Overall the news is positive, although the slight increase announced will be offset by a number of major unavoidable budget pressures. It’s likely that we’ll need to find reductions of around £15 million to achieve a balanced budget and CMT is working closely with Cabinet to consider the savings options needed. The proposals will be considered at Cabinet in November and we will then go to public consultation on the specifics with a view to agreeing a final set of proposals in February. During the consultation period we also plan to hold staff roadshows at various venues – more details to follow.

City Deal

Work continues apace on the submission of the Swansea City Deal. Last week the four regional councils in the South West agreed a set of projects as part of the Internet Coast proposal, which has now been submitted to the Welsh Government and UK Government for consideration. The next few weeks are likely to be busy for all involved as the UK Government challenges the proposals in formal sessions with representatives from the region.

If we are successful then 11 projects stretching from the Pembrokeshire Marine Energy Scheme through to our City Digital District will see a £1.3bn investment to improve skills, infrastructure and innovation. We hope that the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, will indicate his support in the Autumn Budget statement on November 23. Thanks to all who have worked so hard on this.

In a further bid to bring investment to Swansea, the Leader and the Lord Mayor are flying out to China today to meet key Chinese officials in the cities of Wuhan and Nantong. Further strengthening the links we already have with these cities, the intention is to secure deals that will boost economic development, tourism and education here in Swansea. Largely funded by Chinese partner organisations, the delegation visit will also include representatives from Swansea’s business and academic communities as we look to tap into the lucrative Chinese marketplace.

Survey

Thank you to everyone who completed the recent staff survey. We’ll be analysing the feedback and identifying the key issues for staff. Once we do that we’ll put together an action plan to address issues both corporately and in specific areas. I’ll update you in the coming weeks.

Awards

Last night I attended the freedom ceremony for Wales football manager Chris Coleman in the Guildhall. It’s the highest honour the Council can confer on an individual or group, so Chris was humbled to join an exclusive club that includes the likes of John Charles, President Jimmy Carter and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

I’m sure I speak for everyone at the Council when I say Chris is a terrific ambassador for Swansea who’s thoroughly deserving of being recognised in this way by his home city.

Footballers are not normally associated with eloquence but Chris spoke emotionally and fluently about his love for and gratitude to the city, family and community. Group leaders all praised his contribution to the nation and City and Councillor Clive Lloyd paid a personal tribute that raised a laugh and a round of applause. I can remember his first appearances for Swansea City in the 1980s so it was a real pleasure to talk to him.

I’m delighted we’ve been shortlisted for Service Transformation Project of the Year at this year’s ITSM Industry Awards for our work on the ICT service desk automation with Assyst. This is an award based on submissions from across the UK in both the private and public sector and we have reached the last four. The winner will be announced at the Awards Dinner which takes place during the ITSM16 Conference on 21st November. Thank you to everyone involved for their efforts.

Aberfan

At 9.15 this morning, workers in the Civic Centre and Guildhall observed a minute’s silence to mark the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster. It’s important we all take time to reflect on one of the worst tragedies Wales has ever known as we join other public sector organisations across the country in paying our respects to those who lost their lives back in 1966.

Well done

It’s now been nearly a week since the redeveloped Glynn Vivian Art Gallery re-opened to the public. I was lucky enough to be at the attraction’s official re-opening last Friday night, so I’ve seen for myself the huge amount of hard work that’s gone into transforming the building into a destination art gallery of international significance. Figures show almost 4,000 visits to the gallery within the first few days of its re-opening which is a great achievement.

Well done to staff in tourism, who have just launched their autumn crossover campaign for Swansea Bay to help attract as many visitors here as possible over coming months. Called Legendary Adventures, the campaign includes a stunning video that’s already been watched and shared hundreds of times on social media.

Collaboration on the cards

October 6, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

Future of local government

For the past few years all the talk has been about reorganising local government and reducing the number of councils. That was the view until the Assembly elections and since then there’s been big hints of a change of direction. Well this week we got the latest government thinking when Cabinet Secretary Mark Drakeford unsurprisingly announced that he was seeking collaboration between councils rather than full reorganisation. That’s not to say that he wouldn’t welcome any voluntary mergers. So, as it stands, the future for direction for school improvement and social services will be on a regional footing based on the Western Bay map of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend. This will pave the way for stronger collaboration and cooperation between the NHS and councils. It’s also no surprise that the city region footprint of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire will be the basis for greater collaboration on economic development, planning and transport.

It’s still early days so it’s unlikely anything will happen quickly and I’ll keep you posted as regional talks take place. I’m glad there’s now an end to the uncertainty because I know many staff and councillors have been concerned about the future.

More school visits

My programme of school visits has continued this week with Bishopston, YG Pontybrenin and Clase primary schools.

Last Thursday I met head teacher, Gareth Widlake, and his team for a discussion and tour of Bishopston. Although the school buildings are, like many others, in need of modernisation the staff, governors and community are making great strides in improving the learning and outdoor environments for children. I met the school council and the children told me of their aspirations to improve the play facilities by buying new equipment. They asked me a lot of questions, including the impact of Brexit on schools funding in future. I wasn’t expecting that particular curveball!

Following the school council I stood up in front of a couple of hundred junior pupils for a Q&A and sure enough the Brexit question came up again, along with a few more difficult ones including “which is your favourite school?”, “have we got the best teachers?”, “is private education better than public?” and “can we have better wifi?” I managed to wing a few answers and dodge the political questions and in return the children sang Calon Lan beautifully, accompanied admirably by Mr Widlake on the piano.

On Friday I met with Ceri Scourfield, head teacher at YG Pontybrenin. Ceri explained the ethos of the school and the plans for expansion to provide extra capacity in this very popular facility. A tour to each classroom gave me the opportunity to explain to the children what local councils do. I was surprised and encouraged by how much the pupils already knew about the various functions we carry out.

The conversation continued over lunch – my first school dinner for some considerable years. My grasp of the Welsh language is not as good as it should be but I instantly recognised the important words “pysgod a sglodion” and hot-footed it to the dinner hall to have lunch with the children. Thanks to Ceri, all the staff and children for the warm welcome on what was a very busy day for them all.

On Monday I visited Clase primary school. I was slightly early so I took a quick tour of the estate and the redevelopments I’d worked on some time ago. The area is much improved, particularly the environment, and officers and ward councillors have obviously put in a huge amount of work over the last few years. Major works were taking place on some of the houses behind Rheidol Avenue and it brought home the massive investment this council is making to its housing stock to reach the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.

Despite working on the estate for a number of years I’d never been to the primary school so it was a real surprise when I walked into the reception area. It is a very welcoming place with all the clutter removed which gives a sense of calmness which is often difficult to maintain in the often hectic atmosphere of a primary school.

The head teacher, Sharon Hope, introduced me to her staff and again I visited the classrooms to say hello to the children. Sharon explained how the various parts of the Council and its partner agencies work together to support families with children in school and it was great to hear how well this appears to be working in Clase. The relationship between school and community is of fundamental importance.

Clase is a school which encourages creativity and the work being carried out in art and music will be critical for a generation that will need innovation and creativity as core skills in a rapidly-changing world.

I’m picking up some common threads from these school visits, the purpose of which is to make real the discussions we’re having at the Chief Executive’s Improvement Board, which are more tangible when you have seen things at first hand. I’ll be visiting a few more schools before the end of term but at the same time I intend to spend some time with staff in other parts of the organisation and I’ll be making sure there’s space in my diary to do this.

Glynn Vivian

Today I’ll be joining several Cabinet Members for a preview tour of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, which re-opens to the public next Saturday (October 15). A huge amount of work has gone on behind the scenes to reach this point, so my thanks to all staff involved. The redevelopment and restoration project will transform it into a destination gallery of international significance, helping further open up the arts to both local residents and visitors to the city.

Welcome

Rachel Moxey, our new Head of Poverty and Prevention, started work this week and I wish her all the best in this exciting and challenging role.

To Infinity and Beyond

Earlier in the year pupils from Blaenymaes primary school went to Liverpool to talk to the astronaut Tim Peake while he was still on board the International Space Station. The children have now been invited to Techniquest in Cardiff on 13 October to meet and speak to Tim in person. I think it’s the only school in Wales who will make a presentation to Tim and the First Minister on their project work on the space mission. Well done to all at Blaenymaes.

City Deal

Work continues apace to complete the bid for the Swansea Bay City Deal. The Leaders and Chief Executives of the four councils are meeting every Monday evening in Carmarthen to oversee the programme but there remains a lot to do before we submit to the UK Government at the end of the month. Thanks must go to the team in Economic Regeneration and Planning for a major effort to complete this work.

Macmillan Coffee Morning

During my visit to YG Pontybrenin the staff and children were holding a coffee morning to raise funds for Macmillan. They were doing a great job and I’m conscious that similar events were held in a number of our other venues. Our residential rehabilitation facility at Llanfair House held an event and raised £181.51. Llanfair is a very small unit so this is a fantastic achievement. Some cakes were made by the service users in a cooking group held the day before and others by the staff team (and their children in one case!). Congratulations to the team at Llanfair House and all the other staff who raised money for this important cause.

Staff engagement is all about you

September 16, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

It’s great to see so much happening with staff engagement across the council.

Many of you attended last year’s “It’s all about you” engagement event in the Marriott Hotel which was a huge success. We’re now making preparations for this year’s event which will be held in the Marriott on November 24. Everyone is invited and I want managers to support all staff so that they have the chance to attend. More details will follow in the coming weeks.

As a result of last year’s event we’ve been holding mini engagement events in different locations for those staff who weren’t able to get to the Marriott. The most recent one of these was held at Clydach earlier this week where more than 60 Highways staff gathered to give suggestions and ideas and get an update on staff discounts and the work of the Innovation Community. The event also looked at the current commissioning review in Highways.

Given that this was an impromptu event, a lot of good ideas came out of it and it was a great success. Thank you to everyone involved.

Sticking with staff engagement, this year’s staff survey is open and we’ve already had almost 800 returns. Please take some time out to complete the survey as it’s really important that we get as many staff as possible giving their views. Whatever the results, I along with the Corporate Management Team are committed to listening to you and addressing issues.

City Deal

I was in London on Wednesday with the Leader and Sir Terry Matthews, the Chairman of the Swansea Bay City Region Board, where we met with the Secretary of State and MPs to push the case for an ‘Internet Coast’ City Deal for Swansea Bay.

A range of projects were discussed, including the development of broadband digital infrastructure in both urban and rural areas, as well as initiatives to boost the region’s renewable energy, steel and health sectors.

A progress report was then considered by a meeting of the Swansea Bay City Region board in Pembrokeshire yesterday, as we look to finalise the City Deal proposal with both the UK and Welsh Governments in the coming months.

Our aim is to get the City Deal signed next year. If we’re successful it will help generate jobs, change how people live and help businesses gain a competitive advantage if they base themselves here.

Friendly City

I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that one of the important issues facing the Public Service Board is how Swansea to becomes a Dementia Friendly City. This isn’t just an issue for people who work in social care but more an issue of how we as an organisation work in a way that is more supportive to the most vulnerable members of our communities. Part of the plan for a Dementia Friendly City is that all organisations will be training staff in dementia awareness, and I’m committing the Council to a target to train all staff in 2017. This is a significant challenge for us, but if we want to become a dementia friendly city, then the Council needs to demonstrate its commitment. We have a similar commitment in coming months to training in domestic abuse, which is a new legal requirement for us and officers will be doing their best to make sure we don’t duplicate effort for these training sessions.

Foster Swansea

Last Friday I met Donna Houlston and Sarah Thomas from the Foster Swansea team which provides a vital service identifying, securing and managing appropriate placements for children. It’s a nationally respected service and Donna and Sarah explained the importance of effective placement planning, the need to focus on early intervention and prevention and the importance of the Corporate Parenting Strategy. I’ll be going to a workshop on this next week so I’ll probably say more about it in the next blog.

What I hadn’t realised is that we’ve recently become a fostering-friendly employer and this means staff who foster children get certain benefits that were not previously available. Employees are entitled to five days paid leave to support them in their role as foster carers at any stage of the process. More details of this can be found on the council website or by calling 533212.

The team has been shortlisted for Social Work Team of the Year in Wales and I wish them every success.

Seaview Community Primary School

On Monday I visited Seaview Community Primary School and met the head teacher, Julie Dunn, and her team. Julie explained the challenges the school faces and the determination of the team to improve the lives of the children in Mayhill. I was taken on a visit to all the classes and different year groups to see the children learning and they were eager to show me what they were doing. For those who are not familiar with the school it’s an unusual circular design that in itself presents a lot of challenges and needs investment. The lack of green space for the school restricts what can be done and I promised Julie that I’d try to help deal with some of the environmental issues and the spaces available for the children to play and exercise. I’ve asked colleagues to help with this.

Once again I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the team working in the school and their commitment but even more impressed with the atmosphere in the school which was happy, calm and overwhelmingly positive.

Gower

Pretty much all of us know from personal experience what a brilliant place Gower is. It’s the jewel in the Swansea crown, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world every year. Now we have an opportunity to make sure it’s officially named Wales’ Best Place in the Royal Town Planning Institute Cymru awards. The awards are designed to celebrate some of our country’s most attractive and inspiring places and nominated areas include Caernarfon, The Hayes in Cardiff and Tenby.

To vote for Gower just go to this link. My vote is cast and you might want to encourage your friends to Vote Gower too.

Awards

Congratulations to two of our libraries staff who’ve received ‘Outstanding Individual’ Awards from the Prisoners Education Trust for their work at Swansea Prison. Valerie Samuel and Vicky Dickeson both work at the prison library supporting prisoner education and leisure needs. The awards set up as part of the Prisoner Learning Alliance recognise people who go the extra mile to promote and encourage learning in prisons. Prisoners agreed that Vicky and Val had transformed the library into a place of ‘sanctuary and actively promoted its usage for learning and reading, which has had a huge impact on prisoner’s lives.

Finally, it’s the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k on Sunday, so good luck to everyone taking part. My thanks also go to our staff for all their work in organising and promoting the event, which I’m sure will be a big success once again this year.

City Deal has potential to transform our city

September 2, 2016 by Martin 2 Comments

A City Deal for Swansea?

We’re now at a crucial stage in our proposals for a City Deal with has the potential to transform Swansea.

I know the City Deal may not be a hot topic among staff at the moment, but it really is an important issue for us.

City Deals are basically agreements between government and a city that give the city control to take charge of decisions that affect their area, help businesses grow and create economic growth. They’ve been created in England, Scotland and more recently in Cardiff.

The Swansea proposal is being developed by our City Region partnership and championed by our Leader, Councillor Rob Stewart. Yesterday I met the Secretary of State for Wales with the other regional chief executives to bring him up to speed on progress. It was a very productive and challenging meeting and it will help to shape our thinking as the work proceeds.

The proposed Swansea Bay City Deal is titled “The Internet Coast” based on three themes; productivity, efficiency and infrastructure. We’re due to submit a bid to the UK Government seeking investment in our digital infrastructure, energy and health assets, which could create thousands of jobs. This will help to deliver our corporate priority to regenerate the economy and the city centre and support our work as a Unesco Learning City. Swansea Bay City Region Board meets on September 15 to review and endorse the proposals and the aim is to submit the final proposal to UK Government before the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. I will keep you updated on progress.

Budget update

Even though we’re relatively early into the financial year we’re projecting a year-end overspend across the council. So at Leadership Team yesterday Directors and Heads of Service agreed a series of measures which include reiterating the council-wide spending restrictions and HoS identifying the actions they can take in the services to reduce spending in this financial year.

Leadership Team also had a presentation on the new online appraisal system. It’s a simpler and quicker way of doing appraisals. Managers will be invited to workshops in the coming weeks to test out the system and we can then roll it out later this year.

High 5s

This afternoon I’ll be chairing the judging panel for this year’s High 5 Awards celebrating our young people who achieve against the odds. This will be a real challenge for the eight judges given that we have had nearly 130 nominations, all of which deserve recognition. The awards ceremony will be held on September 29 at the Liberty Stadium.

Success story

After A-Levels and record-breaking GCSE results comes yet more good news about education attainment in Swansea. The Welsh Government has just released annual all-Wales stats on reading and numeracy which show pupils in Swansea are the most-improved in both skills compared to their peers across the country. Our education team in collaboration with regional partners have put in a lot of extra work over the last few years to raise attainment in our schools and it’s good to see consistent evidence of continuing improvement. Thank you to everyone involved.

Events

I hope you all enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend – the weather was a bit mixed but it ended on a high and there was certainly plenty going on from the Beer and Cider and Festival which attracted thousands in the Brangwyn Hall to the arrival of the EPIC structure at Rhossili as part of the Visit Wales Year of Adventure campaign. There was a lot of positive social media activity about both of these events and this certainly won’t harm our positive destination profile.

As if we haven’t already had a great summer of events, September’s set to be one of our busiest months yet with another great line up of events;

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at Singleton Park tonight, Sept 2
Olympic Fun Day at Brynmill Park, Sept 3 (12-6pm)
Gower Triathlon & Gower Fancy Dress Tri, Sept 3
The British Science Festival 2016, hosted by Swansea University, Sept 6-9, followed by a Family Weekend, Sept 10 & 11,
Luna Outdoor Cinema at Oystermouth Castle (Back to the Future, Sept 14) (Grease, Sept 15)
Admiral Swansea Bay 10K, Sept 18.
Club MTV in Singleton Park, Sept 24
Swansea Big Weekend, Sept 30

As always, pay a visit to www.enjoyswanseabay.com – our one stop shop for event information.

BraveShave Finally, well done to David White, who works in the Townhill team of Child and Family Services, for shaving his head to raise money for charity. Taking part in MacMillan Cancer Support’s Brave the Shave campaign, David and his colleagues are also contributing funds to the Swansea Palliative Care Team. So far, the team has raised over £500 through a number of activities.

Big Boots

June 2, 2016 by Martin 6 Comments

Welcome to my new blog. I think it is only appropriate that I start my first blog with a note of thanks to our previous Chief Executive, Jack Straw, and to wish him all the best for the future. A huge number of staff turned out last Friday to say farewell to Jack and to hear me describe his major achievements (and a few less positive stories of course). I owe a great debt to Jack for his leadership and friendship during the 27 years we have known each other and I wish him well in whatever he chooses to do in the coming years. He has certainly left big boots to fill!

The leaving party was an emotional event. Jack was certainly quite “emotional” by the end of it. The highlight of the evening for me was the video message from Swansea City FC midfielder, Leon Britton, Sue Hollister, the head teacher at Cefn Hengoed School and most importantly from some of the young people who had won High 5 awards. Although he was grateful for all those messages I know the words of thanks from the young people meant more to him than anything Leon, Sue or the rest of us could ever have said. One of the roles I most look forward to inheriting from Jack is the leadership of the High 5s.

Lee Wenham gave Jack a bound copy of all his blogs as one of his leaving gifts and he really appreciated that. A number of colleagues have asked me to continue to write a weekly Chief Executive’s blog and, although I cannot promise that it will be on a par with Jack’s, I am committed to continuing to do so. So here goes.

Following the Senior Management Review I am pleased to announce that Mike Hawes has been appointed as our Director of Resources from 1^st June. I have known Mike for many years and his appointment will help to stabilise the management of the organisation following the departure of Jack and Dean Taylor. On Tuesday Mike and I attended the Budget and Performance review group where, along with senior councillors, we consider the main issues relating to finance and service performance that face the Council. It’s certainly a challenging time for everyone and Mike’s knowledge and experience will be essential in developing and driving the budget strategy for us. I will keep you up to date with developments.

Yesterday I received a briefing on the Counter Terrorism Local Profile along with Chris Sivers, Director of People and future Chair of the Western Bay Contest Board. The board is charged with making sure all agencies plan and work together to combat the threat of terrorism and make sure that appropriate arrangements are in place.

A related issue is the impact and disruption of the recent school bomb hoaxes in the region. There have been many examples of this across the UK and the police take hoaxes extremely seriously because they divert police resources and cause disruption and alarm to the public. Last week saw the evacuation of 400 pupils from Gwyrosydd Primary School. All reports indicate that this was handled in an exemplary way by the head teacher, Jonathan Atter, his team and the pupils. A big thank you to all involved in the evacuation and in helping to reassure the children and parents. Guidance has been sent to all schools in the city and this includes the procedures that must be followed in the event of any future incidents.

The coming weeks and months will be critical for Swansea. The crisis in the steel industry is a major concern. Although Tata’s major facilities are not within Swansea’s boundaries most of us know at least one person or family that would be affected by closure, many of whom live in Swansea. The steel industry contributes 5.8% of the output of the Welsh economy and many other businesses in the city and the region will suffer if the rescue package currently being prepared is not successful. The Leader and I have been supporting the Swansea Bay City Region Board, led by Sir Terry Matthews, to do what we can to help shape the case for continued steel production in Wales.

On a similar note the Leader and I will be meeting the Chairman of the Government Independent Review into tidal lagoons, the Rt Hon Charles Hendry, next week. Our job will be to explain the importance of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon to our city and the local economy. More on this in future blogs.

It’s always nice to have some good news, so I’m delighted to offer my congratulations to County Archivist Kim Collis who’s been awarded the prestigious Distinguished Service Award by the Archives and Records Association of the UK and Ireland for services to archives in Wales.

Similarly, a number of our attractions and events are up for a Swansea Life Award next month. They include the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k, Swansea Museum, Christmas by Candlelight at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea Market, the Wales National Air Show, Proms in the Park, Waterfront Winterland, Singleton Botanical Gardens, Clyne Gardens, Plantasia, Penyrheol Leisure Centre, Swansea Grand Theatre and the Swansea Library Service. Well done to all the staff involved in these.

Go to SLVOTE16 to vote by Wednesday June 8. Please encourage as many people to vote for these as possible. Our recent customer feedback shows how highly these events are thought of by the public.

The Brangwyn Hall has again been awarded a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, the world’s leading travel website. Brangwyn customers have given the venue a 93% average satisfaction rating on TripAdvisor. Over 65% of visitors also gave the attraction the top five-star rating, making the Brangwyn Hall Swansea’s favourite venue for concerts and shows. Thank you to all the staff.

And finally thanks must go to all the officers and councillors who have worked tirelessly on the Hafod Copperworks Project. Earlier this week the Heritage Lottery Fund announced that the Council has been successful in the first round bid for a £3.75m funding bid that could see restoration of historically significant buildings and the Penderyn whisky company invest £4.2 million in the expansion of their business into the city with a new distillery and visitor centre at the former Hafod Morfa Copperworks site. Judging by the amount of whisky people bought Jack on Friday night it will not come a moment too soon.