Transformation

Bridging the budget gap

November 11, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

Directors and Cabinet have been locked in budget discussions this week as we look to bridge our £14m budget gap.

We’re trying to do it in a way that minimises disruption to services and protects jobs, but this is obviously going to be tricky given the size of the savings and previous budget reductions. By the end of today we should have a series of proposals which will form the basis of consultation with staff, councillors, trade unions and the public. Our budget proposals will reflect our corporate priorities, particularly education and social care. The discussions have been quite challenging and a huge amount of work has been done to generate savings ideas, many of which have come from individual employees. They also include ideas that are cross-cutting which shows we are moving away from the silo approach. The budget proposals are due to go to Cabinet on December 12 so the report will be published in early December. We have a series of staff roadshows planned and I’d encourage everyone to attend so that we can update you on the budget and Sustainable Swansea.

Big deal

Another big issue for me this week has been the City Deal. Yesterday the Leader and I went to Cardiff with colleagues from the City Region to make a pitch for the Swansea Bay City Deal to First Minister Carwyn Jones. He was joined by Cabinet colleagues Mark Drakeford (Finance and Local Government) and Ken Skates (Economy and Infrastructure). Our Leader, Rob Stewart, made the presentation, clearly and confidently setting out the reasons why the Welsh Government should support the bid, click here for details. This was followed by 90 minutes of in-depth challenge from the assembly members present. The purpose of the pitch was to explain the challenges and ambitions facing South West Wales and to seek Welsh Government support for the 11 regional projects over the next 20 years. The next step in the coming weeks will be a similar exercise with the UK government in London. Following that we’d hope for an announcement prior to Christmas. Financial support from both governments is essential.

Remembrance

Today at 11am we’ll be observing the two-minute silence to remember the sacrifices of our armed services down the years and in the present day. Please observe the occasion. My thanks also to the team organising Silence in the Square in Castle Square this morning.

Coming to the rescue

We often say our employees go the extra mile, but this week three members of staff performed heroics. Tim Orrell and Ellen Richards, who work in in the Nature Conservation Team, were on the second floor of the Civic Centre when they saw a lady in distress on the beach. She had a suspected broken ankle, having been knocked over by a dog. They realised she was getting cold so went and got a space blanket to try and keep her warm. The ambulance couldn’t reach the lady so they contacted their colleague Sean Hathaway, who had access to a 4×4 truck, and he took the lady from the beach to the ambulance. My thanks to Tim, Ellen and Sean for all their care and efforts.

Child care

We’ve been chosen as one of six trial areas for a new Welsh Government pilot initiative that aims to provide families with 30 hours of early years education and childcare a week. We’ve been chosen because of our impressive record of innovation in this area of practice which is already transforming education attainment opportunities among families in some of our city’s most deprived areas. This kind of recognition is great for our reputation as a forward-looking local authority and my thanks go to the teams involved and particularly to Sian Bingham who co-ordinated the bid.

Hillary is a Jack!

Hillary Clinton may not be heading to the White House but that hasn’t stopped our archives team tracing her Swansea family tree. Their research shows that her great-great grandfather, Edwin Howell, worked for a decade in the metal industries of South Wales in the 1870s – five years of which were spent in the Landore area of Swansea. One of Edwin’s sons, Benjamin Alfred Howell – Hillary’s great-great uncle – was born in Landore in 1872 in an area called Maesydd, according to his birth certificate, which archivists estimate to be the area around Mysydd Road in Swansea. At the moment there appears to be no Swansea connection with Mr Trump.

Regeneration latest

There’s been progress this week on our regeneration plans for the Civic Centre and St David’s development sites. We’ve now advertised for an indoor arena operator for the St David’s site, with an outline planning application for the overall scheme set for submission in March next year. We’re also in discussions with Swansea University and Trebor Developments, the company we’ve appointed to manage the regeneration of the Civic Centre site, about an interactive science gallery that could, along with a public aquarium, form part of the hydro hub planned for the site. This gallery would present examples of cutting-edge Swansea University research through hands-on exhibits. I’ll continue to keep you updated.

The Leader and Tracey McNulty, our head of cultural services, were at the restored and redeveloped Glynn Vivian Art Gallery yesterday for a Ministerial visit. Ken Skates, the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, was hugely impressed with the attraction, which has welcomed more than 10,000 visitors since re-opening on October 15. Well done to everyone involved.

Give your vote

A fantastic community project that helps people with learning disabilities needs your help. Staff in our day services team have been raising money for the past 18 months for the Trewarren garden project. It now features in the Aviva Community Fund awards which provides money to those projects with the highest number of votes. To learn more about the project and to vote please follow this link

Nominations are now open for the Swansea Sports Awards 2016, being run by our sport and health team. Visit this link to get your nominations in to recognise outstanding sporting achievements made by both our local and high profile sportspeople this year.

That time of year again

November 3, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

As we’ve come to expect at this time of the year the budget is once again the biggest issue facing us. Corporate Management Team spent most of Wednesday morning discussing the revenue budget proposals for next year in advance of the challenge sessions with Cabinet next week. In last week’s blog I explained the headlines from the Welsh Government’s provisional settlement and that we needed to find £14 million of savings to deal with unavoidable service pressures. Whilst we will focus on the need to generate income and improve efficiency it’s inevitable that some tough decisions will need to be taken on reducing or stopping services. As I mentioned in my last blog the whole of next week has been allocated for Cabinet and the Corporate Management Team to close the budget gap.

The medium-term financial position was set out very clearly at Council on Tuesday evening by our Section 151 Officer and Director of Resources, Mike Hawes. Reading finance reports can sometimes be a great cure for insomnia, but Mike’s report set out in detail the likely scenario for the next three years. Although we’re uncertain about the scale and timing of budget announcements from the Government, the question is not if there’s a budget reduction, but how much of a reduction? We’re working on assumptions of at least 2% reductions in each of the next three years, but we’re also mindful it could be more! Mike’s report makes it clear that along with additional spending pressures, the gap between what we receive in funding and what we spend will continue to grow. Therefore, we have to focus on providing different services and providing services differently, maximising digital solutions and a radical commercial agenda among other changes if we are to avoid sweeping service cuts on a scale not seen previously.

Following the technical financial questions there was a lively political debate about future plans, including the Leader’s announcement on the school improvement programme and other projects in the medium term. It included feasibility work starting shortly on plans for new schools for Blaenymaes, Portmead, YGG Tirdeunaw and on the former Daniel James School site. The plans could see a new English medium school on the former Daniel James site, potentially for pupils from ages 3 to 16. This will also provide the opportunity for the current Welsh medium primary school at YGG Tirdeunaw to relocate to a new build co-located at the Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe. Blaenymaes Primary would be completely rebuilt and Portmead Primary would see significant investment.

Regeneration

This week the Leader and I met with Ken Skates, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure. Although it was an introductory meeting we discussed some current important issues including the City Deal and the broader regeneration of Swansea city centre. We also raised the issue of electric vehicles and the need for a national approach to charging points and I hope we will be having further discussion on this in the months to come.

Gower’s still the best

This week the Royal Town Planning Institute announced that the winner of their Wales’ Best Places competition was Aberaeron, with Gower securing a creditable third place. Thanks to all who voted for Gower, the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Britain, and still my favourite place in Wales.

Appeal

Thanks to the efforts of the Early Intervention Team within Poverty and Prevention, the Council’s contribution to the Mr X scheme will continue in its 57th year.

The appeal is designed to enable residents to help local, less-privileged children this Christmas by collecting donations of gifts for children aged up to 18. These gifts are allocated to families that may otherwise not receive many, if any, gifts at Christmas. If you would like to donate a gift then please contact Donna Rowley Donna.rowley@swansea.gov.uk

Congratulations and thanks

Thanks to everyone who took part in our first Redeployment Day this week. Almost 300 employees attended, along with managers and trade unions. The HR Operations Team is currently sending out information to staff who are interested in positions on the bumped redundancy list. They will then contact staff with details of the next steps in the process. In the meantime, if you have a query, please contact your Departmental HR Officer.

The recent success of some of our social work team was recognised at Council this week. I mentioned in a previous blog that we won awards at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Cymru Social Work Awards. Vanessa Chambers, Amanda Etherington, Martin Chapman and the Foster Swansea Team were present to receive their awards in the Council Chamber.

Congratulations to the West Glamorgan Archive Service, who have successfully applied to the National Archives to become an Accredited Archive Service. This gives an assurance that the public records they hold are well-preserved, safe and accessible.

Helio Covent Garden 3 low res Thanks to our Events team for all their hard work in organising the event that will accompany the Christmas lights switch-on in the city centre next Thursday. The event, which will feature a staged area and illuminated balloon acrobatic acts, is a new and exciting addition to our Christmas celebrations in Swansea.

Well done to Judith Oakley, a marine and coastal biodiversity officer in our nature conservation team, who has been selected to represent Wales at the British and Irish Cross Country Championships in Glasgow on November 12. This follows her silver medal in the Welsh 5k Road Race Championships in August.

Breaking down silos

October 27, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

One of the conundrums facing our council is how we break down silos. This is a topic that’s been kicked about and debated since I joined the council in 1986! The truth is that we’re a large and complex organisation and few people understand in any detail the breadth or importance of what we do. Last Friday I was with the Innovation Community group that’s looking at the challenge of breaking down silos in the organisation. One member of the group explained he has a regular walk from the west hub of the Civic Centre to the reception area and passes dozens of offices without the slightest idea of what the various teams in them do. He suggested that signage might overcome this and the group are considering how best this can be achieved. We also discussed the potential for job swaps across the organisation and using technology to make it easier for staff, councillors and the public to find people in the organisation.

I was also delighted to see that the Innovation Community had taken on board my suggestion for my personal involvement in the “It’s All About You 2” event taking place next month. More on this in the coming week.

Budget

We’ve now had time to reflect on last week’s provisional funding settlement from the Welsh Government. In simple cash terms we’ve got a £1.4m increase which is good news, but, as always, the devil is in the detail. The increase actually masks a 2% cut in core grant funding so it’s not all good news. There’s also no extra cash for the additional commitments contained within the budget announcement. Neither is there any funding guarantee for specific services, which has been a feature in past settlements. Add to this our extra spending pressures of £14m for things like rising demand in adult services, pay awards for council and school staff and the cost of borrowing, and the picture isn’t so bright.

To deal with this Heads of Service have been invited to a series of budget challenge days in November where they’ll discuss with Cabinet Members the pressures they face along with potential service reductions. It’ll then be up to the Cabinet to agree savings proposals that will go out for public consultation before Christmas. I’ll keep you informed of developments but we’ll also be holding staff roadshows to get your views.

Regeneration in Mumbles

On Tuesday Councillor Robert Francis-Davies and I visited the Oyster Wharf development in Mumbles to talk to the developers, Nextcolour, about progress and the timetable for completion. I have fond memories of the Tivoli building from my childhood but it was well past its sell-by date and it’s good news that there’s significant investment under way. The project is on track and the new supermarket is scheduled to open on November 9 followed closely by the Prezzo and Loungers restaurants at the end of the month. Le Bistrot Pierre restaurant will follow shortly afterwards, along with a new venue owned by the company behind La Braseria and La Parilla. The sea views over Mumbles Bay are superb and I suspect this will be a popular haunt for a number of council employees in the years to come. It will be a perfect vantage point for the Airshow, raft race and other bay-based events.

The developers were full of praise for the council officers and Members who have helped to ensure the delivery of this project. It’s been a genuine Team Swansea approach which we’ll build upon as our city centre and wider regeneration schemes progress.

CMT

On Wednesday CMT discussed a range of reports including commissioning gateway reports on the Family Support Services’ Child Disability service and the Parks & Cleansing services. These are massive pieces of work and the staff who contributed have done a great job bringing the information together and developing recommendations to make services more efficient and effective.

CMT also discussed progress on the implementation of the Welsh Language Standards including information on outstanding issues, areas of concern and complaints so far received on compliance. Phil Couch, our Equality Policy Officer, explained clearly the state of play, including those areas where more work is needed to achieve compliance and CMT was reassured that appropriate action is being taken.

Sales

Our strategic estates team continue to do great work on making best use of the council’s property and land portfolio. In the last five years more than £19m generated by sales has been re-invested in services for residents.

Now the team is close to agreeing a deal with Swansea University for the Swiss Cottage in Singleton Park. We hope to soon announce details.

Sustaining services

Our drive to sustain our leisure and cultural attractions has taken a step forward. Interest is now being invited from third parties, including not-for-profit and community-based companies and organisations, as part of a formal procurement process. We’re asking to hear from organisations with similar values and a proven track record in delivering quality cultural services for the community. This will enable us to better understand whether attractions including the museum service, Plantasia and community leisure centres can be sustained or generate investment for improvements through new partnerships and models of delivery when compared with transformed in-house models. No decisions have been made and staff will be kept updated.

Redeployment Open Day

Just a quick reminder that the Redeployment Open Day is being held in Committee Room 5 at the Guildhall 3 on Wednesday, November 2 (between 10am and 3pm). You’ll be able to find out about the variety of job opportunities available in areas including Social Services, Building Services and ICT. Current post-holders, managers and HR Officers will be in attendance to answer any questions. In addition relevant job information will be available.

Success story

Well done to staff in Highways who’ve been meeting our promise to fill potholes within 48 hours. Since launching the scheme in July we’ve fixed 1,161 potholes all within the 48hr promise. This is really important as it’s one of the major issues for residents and affects our reputation.

I’ll huff and I’ll puff …..

Some of you may be aware we’re undertaking major refurbishment works at Pentre’r Graig Primary School and last week the site team spent the morning assisting the school in delivering a practical demonstration on building materials and methods. The team was approached by the school to assist with the syllabus, using the “three little pigs” story of building homes. I just hope they were using bricks! Whoever came up with this excellent idea deserves a huge thank you and, if they contact me, I’ll happily provide them with a pair of tickets to watch a match at the Liberty Stadium.

Safeguarding is our top priority

September 22, 2016 by Martin 4 Comments

Looking after children is the most important thing we do as a council.

I stressed this point at the Corporate Parenting workshop held in the Guildhall on Monday. Given the range of services attending, along with a number of councillors, this was a real opportunity to develop a more strategic, multi-agency approach to improving outcomes for our looked after children and young people and care leavers.

I mentioned the importance of placement stability and educational outcomes for our children so I was pleased to see that our performance in these key areas is strong and improving. We’re in the top quartile (3rd in Wales) for the number of looked after children achieving five or more GSCE results, and placement stability has also improved. We will, however, need a greater focus on knowing what happens after our children leave care and plans are also in place to improve this.

I also stressed the importance of listening to the voices of our children. Swansea has adopted the UNCRC and one of the key concerns for us is making sure we listen and discuss issues openly with children and respect article 12 of the UNCRC where children and young people have the right to participate in decisions which affect their lives.

What‘s certain is that we must move away from narrowly focusing on the role of Child and Family Services in this activity and ensure our partners in health as well as our own housing, education and leisure services, among others, understand their role in improving the lives of our children.

Later on Monday I chaired the Public Protection Executive Board which considers safeguarding and the protection of the public in the city. It’s a multi-agency meeting and allows a joined-up approach to tackling some very difficult issues from child sexual exploitation to radicalisation. I was reassured to see how well the agencies are working together but there is a lot more to be done.

At the meeting of the Public Services Board (PSB) on Tuesday we had a presentation from Sophie Howe, the Future Generations Commissioner, which managed to combine the expectations of PSBs, the importance of sustainable development and a few timely quotes from Roald Dahl stories. Sophie praised the work carried out by councillors and officers in Swansea who, I’m delighted to say, have led the way in Wales in this important area.

lagoon On Wednesday the Leader and I travelled to Cardiff for our introductory meeting with the new Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths. It was a positive discussion and we focussed on how the Council, Welsh Government and NRW could work together to tackle the issues of flood risk and air quality, particularly in the city centre. This will be important if we are to deliver our comprehensive regeneration ambitions. We also discussed progress on the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon review and other renewable energy projects. Hopefully the UK Government will make a positive announcement on the lagoon before the end of the calendar year.

Budget

Directors and heads of service have continued to meet as Leadership Team to develop the budget strategy for the next financial year and beyond. Having seen the recent announcements on the financial settlement between UK and Welsh Governments it’s clear that things are not going to get any easier over the next three years. There’ll be a real terms cut of 3.2% in the budget for Wales. The new priorities of the Welsh Government, including spending plans for child care and apprenticeships, will add extra pressure on councils that are already stretched in delivering core and statutory services.

Have your say

We’ve now had more than 900 responses to the staff survey. This is good, but we want more staff to give their views so that we can get to grips with the issues that are important to you. So please take some time out to fill-in the survey and have your say.

Awards

DesignPrint has been named the best in-house plant in the UK at this week’s Association of Print and Communication Managers Awards. The team also finished runner-up in two other awards. This is an excellent result, given that the award has been dominated by Blackpool for the past four years. DesignPrint has undergone major changes to keep up with changing customer and technological needs and this is a great reflection of the work all the staff have put in. Well done to everyone at DesignPrint.

The High 5 Awards take place next week when we’ll be recognising the outstanding achievements of young people. I’m “looking forward” to meeting up with my predecessor, Jack Straw, who’s one of the judges having been the driving force in setting-up the awards. Full details next week.

Events

admiral 10k Last weekend’s Admiral Swansea Bay 10k once again brought with it thousands of runners and the traditional good weather. This major event takes place seamlessly thanks to the planning and delivery which ensures minimal disruption. Well done to colleagues in our Special Events team and also to all the many other staff who play a role in making sure this event is promoted and delivered safely and cleared up quickly afterwards!

Whilst it’s been a hectic summer of events so far, there’s more to come. Our reputation for music events continues to grow and Club MTV, one of the world’s largest music brands, brings its stage and artists to the grounds of Singleton Park this weekend for the first time. It coincides with Freshers’ Week at our two universities and it’s a great introduction for students visiting Swansea for the first time. We’re delighted to have worked in partnership with the Welsh Government and MTV to bring this event to Swansea.

Farewell

Next Friday will be the last working day for Noel Evans, our Bereavement and Registration Services Manager, sometimes referred to rather tastelessly as “Noel the Dead”.

Noel has been a fixture in this Council for what seems like forever but it has actually been 42 years, starting on July 29, 1974, in the Audit Section of the Finance Department. In 1986 he was appointed to the job for which he is best-known and four years ago Noel took on the registration service as well, becoming Bereavement and Registration Services Manager. In his time the service has won numerous awards and Noel has become a Fellow of the Institute of Cemeteries and Crematoria.

He is hugely-appreciated by his peers in other local authorities and, like them, I’ll be sad to see him go but I wish him a long and happy retirement and thank him for all his hard work and wonderfully dry sense of humour. Thanks Noel.

Our transformation programme is making good progress

August 26, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

Transformation

Yesterday the Appointments Committee met to consider applicants for the post of Chief Transformation Officer. This is an important new job in the organisation and a key member of the Corporate Management Team. Following assessment centres and interviews I am delighted that Sarah Caulkin, who is currently acting up in the role, has been made permanent.

Sarah will initially focus on the continued implementation of the business support review but will be responsible for leading the Sustainable Swansea programme and the important work on modernising the organisation and optimising our use of technology to support staff in their jobs.

We are making good progress on the Business Support Programme, a significant part of our efforts to transform the way we deliver services for our residents.

Implementing the programme is a major milestone in transforming council services. By taking a fresh approach to the way we do things we’re able to focus on our priorities cost-effectively and improve performance at the same time.

The team is on schedule to launch the new operating model for the new Service Centre in September and good progress is being made in ICT, particularly with the automation of previously manual processes, self-serve, agile working and telephony technology.

You can find out more about the programme’s four priorities here and if you want to get more involved in the programme email the team at sustainable.swansea@swansea.gov.uk

Staff survey

The annual staff survey is one of the most important consultation and engagement documents the council produces. Its findings have a direct impact on what we do; the innovation group and the anti-bullying network were set up as a direct result of what you said in response to previous surveys.

This year’s staff survey is officially launched early next month but staff members who receive pay slips at home will have received information this week. I very strongly endorse the survey and I’d urge you to get involved now by filling it out at home on www.swansea.gov.uk/staffsurvey or in work on Staffnet – you’ll also see where you can pick up paper copies.

Olympics

Congratulations to the GB Olympic Team, and particularly to the Welsh representatives. By my calculations Wales, which stands at 137 in the population tables, would have come 20^th in the medals table if it had not been a part of the GB team. Our staff in special events and sports development did a great job during the Olympics with the fanzone in Castle Square. The fan zone didn’t just give people an opportunity to grab a seat and watch the action on the big screen – it also allowed visitors to try out various sports. Let’s hope this will encourage more people than ever to join local sports clubs, visit our Active Swansea leisure centres and sign up for the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k. As a keen walker, I know exercise is a great way of boosting people’s health and well-being.

Wuhan

The council has now signed an agreement with a visiting delegation from Wuhan, China, that will see both cities co-operating on areas including economy and trade, transport and logistics, culture and sports.

The agreement was signed during a Chinese delegation visit to Guildhall. Other areas of common interest Swansea and Wuhan will co-operate on include health, medicine, education and tourism.

Wuhan, the most populated city in central China, is the capital of Hubei province. The visit was also organised to mark the 150th anniversary of Union Hospital in Wuhan, which was founded by Griffith John, a 19th century Swansea missionary.

Resilience

I mentioned resilience in a recent blog. The Strategic lead at CMT for resilience is Martin Nicholls, Director of Place. We remain equally committed to the joint agreement with NPTCBC as part of the Joint Emergency Management Service (JEMS) but are reinforcing our arrangements locally. The Resilience & Business Continuity service is now being directly managed by Craig Gimblett, manager of the Corporate Health, Safety & Wellbeing Service Their role is to provide specialist technical support to the authority in building and improving business continuity, resilience and wider emergency planning for the organisation and the communities of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

Exam results

Another year’s exam season came to an end this week with the GCSE results which showed that the pupils of Swansea continue to out-perform their peers across Wales. The headline figure of 72.7% of entrants here scoring A* to C grades – well above the comparable figure for Wales of 66.6% – is something to be particularly proud of. Our Olympic medallists are always saying they might be the winners but it’s the support teams that get them to where they are. The pupils are rightly congratulated for their fine achievements but I’d like to add my thanks too to the teams in our Education department and in city schools themselves for the work they do every day supporting young people to achieve their potential.

Bank Holiday

There is a lot going on this weekend in Swansea, not least the Swansea Beer and Cider Festival at the Brangwyn Hall and the F18 catamaran sailing championships taking place in Swansea Bay over the three days of the Bank Holiday. I hope you get time to enjoy the extra day off. But I’d also like to thank those who will be working over the holiday period for their continuing commitment.

Farewell

I’d like to thank Steve Protheroe, our specialist parks manager, whose last day at the council after a staggering 46 years’ service is today. Steve started with the parks service on August 3, 1970, and has worked his way up to become responsible for the Botanical Gardens, Clyne Gardens and the plant displays at Plantasia. Steve’s passion for horticulture is second-to-none. He’s very well-respected, having also developed an excellent working relationship with the Friends of the Botanical Gardens, who are also very sad to see him leave.