Chief Exec's Blog

An update from the Chief Executive

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

by Leave a Comment

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.

Another one bites the dust

by 6 Comments

During the past year I’ve mentioned local government reorganisation and last month I speculated the current proposals were going nowhere fast. Well, as predicted, at the recent WLGA Annual Conference in Llandudno it became very clear that the idea of compulsory mergers between councils is well and truly in the bin.  There’ll be no forced amalgamations of councils, but where do we go from here? There’s some logic to the argument there are too many councils in Wales and our council has remained consistently pragmatic on the merger issue.  The way forward now must be through stronger, more accountable and more consistent collaboration between the councils in Wales.  We have a strong record in driving these collaborations but they’re far from perfect.  Many councillors I speak to feel disengaged and distant from the new joint committees that run the City Deal, school improvement and health and social care.  There are no common footprints and our officers spend an increasing amount of time on regional work.  I suspect we’ll be collaborating further on the three footprints identified by the previous Cabinet Secretary, Mark Drakeford.

The current senior management review that was agreed by Council on June 21 will put us in a stronger place to manage the increasing workload resulting from greater collaboration.  My aim is to complete the implementation of the changes by the end of August.

Appraisal review

At CMT we discussed the current arrangements for staff appraisal and performance management.  The existing process and supporting systems are outdated and it’s time for a root and branch review of the whole thing.  I‘ve asked that staff views are fully taken into account in this review so I hope you’ll all contribute to developing a better system.  Annual reviews are helpful but I’m keen to see more regular dialogue between managers and their teams and I know this already happens in some service areas.

We also received a comprehensive report on adult safeguarding from the Head of Adult Services, Alex Williams, before some detailed discussions on the current and future budget challenges.  The need to reduce spend in-year and to manage vacancies is an urgent one and CMT will continue to monitor this over the coming months.  I’d prefer to protect existing jobs from the threat of redundancy rather than employ additional staff who might subsequently find themselves under threat.   Discretionary spend must be contained and I know this will cause difficulties for all of us but there are some major pressures building up in the system which we will have to meet.  This is a situation that all councils in Wales face and it’s likely to get more difficult in the future.

SEQOHS

We’ve just been inspected by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine as part of the re-accreditation process for the Safe Effective Quality Occupational Health Service. Although we’re waiting for the formal outcome, the informal feedback is really pleasing. They recognised many areas of good practice, including our induction arrangements, business continuity plans and the quality of our service. My thanks to everyone involved.

Lagoon – regional talks

Last week I mentioned we’re continuing to look at options for the lagoon and on Monday the City Deal Joint Committee will be considering them.  I’ll keep you updated as these discussions progress.

Lost in Penyrheol

On Wednesday Penyrheol Primary School received a visit from our local songstress Bonnie Tyler.  It came about because the reception class chose to learn about Bonnie for Welsh Week. When she learned what they’d done she offered to visit and even sang Total Eclipse of the Heart, accompanied by the entire school during assembly. She then presented the reception pupils with signed photos and CDs. Well done to everyone involved.

Events

Despite the poor weather on Sunday this year’s Wales Airshow was another great success.  After spending the day on Swansea beach the clouds were a blessed relief.  On Sunday evening I went to the site to see how the clean-up operation was going and was astonished to see that it was almost complete.  Thanks to all involved for delivering this for the city.

This weekend sees the return of Dance Days which is one of my favourite annual events.  The programme, organised by the Taliesin Arts Centre, takes place in and around the National Waterfront Museum and is a must for fans of dance.  Apparently this is my 100th blog so thanks for taking the time to read it.

A bitter blow

by Leave a Comment

On Monday the UK Government dealt a bitter blow to the tidal lagoon with their decision not to support the scheme by subsidy.  No major energy project has 100% popularity but the support from the community of Swansea and our region was overwhelming.  The war of words that continues is testament to that.

Personally I’m deeply disappointed, it’s a lost opportunity to create a new industry and to translate the Future Generations legislation into real outcomes for citizens.

Many will be confused by the arguments over the level of financial support required and whether the decision was based on the pilot project rather than the pipeline of similar schemes proposed.  The comparison with off-shore wind generation and the reduction in cost following pilot schemes is unavoidable.  Presumably, if the legal requirement in relation to non-disclosure of commercially sensitive information is released we will have a clearer picture of the facts.

But we are where we are, so the question is what do we do now?

The Leader and I are adamant we mustn’t give up on the lagoon project.  The requirement for zero carbon, reliable and sustainable energy will increase in the coming years.  Energy security is a real concern for future generations. The community, business and cross-party political support in South Wales for this is something we must build upon and we’ll continue to look for ways to deliver it. The Leader and I have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the people of Swansea and the region for this project, grateful to the work of all the staff who dealt so effectively and efficiently with the planning application and full of admiration for the communications team who’ve run a first class Love the Lagoon campaign.

City Deal

On Monday the Leader and I met the Secretary of State for Wales, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport to discuss progress on the City Deal projects.  It was pleasing to explain the work that’s been done in Swansea and across the region in the run up to the signing of our Joint Working Agreement next month.  This means we can draw down cash from UK and Welsh Governments to deliver our key projects in the city centre; the Digital Village, Digital Square and Arena and Box Village and Innovation Precinct.  Our team is currently working on the extensive and exhausting five case business model and my thanks go to all involved.

The First 1,000 days

The Core Group of the Public Service Board met again this week.  Along with revisions to governance and action planning we heard a presentation on the First 1,000 days from colleagues at Public Health Wales. 

The first 1,000 days, during pregnancy and up to a child’s second birthday, represent a critical part of childhood when we form attachments to our caregivers, learn how to safely explore and trust the world around us, and start to communicate. It is when we see the most rapid phase of brain growth and development and where the foundations are laid down for our future health and wellbeing. This critical period has a long lasting impact on individuals and families. They shape the destiny for children as they grow up: their educational achievements, their ability to secure an income, their influences on their own children, and their health in older age.

The PSB agreed to sign up to the First 1,000 days partnership agreement and committed to improved joint working in this critical area.

Congratulations

Nicola Fredrickson, Deputy Head at St Helen’s Primary School, has won a silver award in the UK teaching awards.  She’ll now attend the National Awards in October. Jack Branford, a teaching assistant at the school, and one of Nicola’s ex-pupils, was also awarded a certificate of excellence for his role.  The school was also awarded a certificate of excellence in the school of the year. Congratulations to all.

Congratulations to the team at Swansea University for another successful Soapbox Science event last week.  Once again there were some great presentations on work done by female researchers in STEMM subjects ranging from the impacts of video games on the brain to monitoring diseases using printed sensors.

More planes than you can shake a stick at

Well it’s the Wales Airshow for me this weekend as I join the throngs on our annual pilgrimage to Swansea beach for one of the UK’s most-loved events.  Thanks once again for all those providing the logistics that enable this huge and complex event to happen.

Eid

A word of thanks to to everyone who got involved in the Eid in the Park celebrations last Saturday at Singleton Park. It was organised by us in collaboration with the Welsh Islamic Cultural Association Swansea and Swansea University and more than 5,000 people came along.

Farewell and thank you

Last week I mentioned a long list of long-serving staff who are leaving. Unfortunately, I missed out Neil Sewell who works in Audit and has 34 years’ service. My best wishes to Neil and all our other leavers, many of whom are having a farewell drink today.

Fingers-crossed for City of Culture bid

by Leave a Comment

City of Culture

We’ll learn at about 10.30 tonight if Swansea has been shortlisted for the UK City of Culture 2021 competition.  We’re all keeping our fingers crossed as this would open up some great opportunities for the city and its citizens.  My thanks to Tracey McNulty and her team who have put all their effort into getting our bid over the line.

Dragon’s Den

I attended the Grand Final of Moving Towards Successful Futures, which promotes entrepreneurship among children.  It’s an important part of the new curriculum and Alison Williams from Craigfelen Primary School invited me to the event after reading my recent blog comments about Be the Spark.

Each school group had to design a product, develop a pitch and sell their goods to the public.  They took over the central tables in Swansea Market for a day, selling products ranging from notebooks and soap to pots of slime, mostly from recycled materials.  I spoke to all the groups and the enthusiasm of the pupils was impressive.

This was a fun event with a serious purpose and my thanks to all the teachers, pupils and staff who have worked so hard on this and particularly to Alison for inviting me.

The winning schools were:

Craigfelen                 Best Financial

Pontybrenin              Best Idea

Craigcefnparc           Best Marketing

Clase                        Best Customer Service

Terrace Road           Best Research and Planning

Ynystawe                  Best Brand

Llwynderw                Best Environmental

Christchurch             Best Sales

Pentregraig               Best Team Work

Blaenymaes              Best Display Stand

Trallwn                      Best Social Media

Oystermouth             Best Pitch

Take Care

We’re one of only two councils selected to work with Save the Children as part of the “Take Care Project” which aims to understand the issues relating to children in emergency or disaster situations. Year Six children from Trallwn Primary gave a presentation and wrote a song giving advice on what to do if you were caught up in a fire. They also made a video, which covered how they’d feel and what they’d want following an evacuation, which certainly provoked thought. The event will help change the way we plan and manage emergencies, such as including children in some exercises which was something they specifically asked for.

High 5s

Don’t miss the deadline of July 21 for nominating for the High 5 awards for inspirational children, young people and young adults. Staff can nominate staff as the age limit is 25 so have a think about the younger members of your teams, volunteers and apprentices you work with and consider if they are worthy of a High 5 Award. Swansea City FC star Leon Britton is our High 5 Ambassador again this year. All details here 

Awards

We won three awards at the Swansea Life Awards. The Airshow was named Best Event so thank you to our Special Events team, Tourism Marketing, Highways and Transportation, Street Scene and Cleansing for ensuring a safe and enjoyable event. Clyne Gardens won the Best Tourism and Leisure Attraction thanks to the efforts of our Parks Operations and Development and Outreach teams, Tourism Marketing and the park’s Friends. The LC won Best Health/Gym/Spa. Well done to everyone involved.

We’ve been shortlisted for four national APSE Awards for the following categories; Highways, Waste Management, Building Services and Construction and the Best Workforce Initiative, which includes our apprentice scheme.  The awards take place on September 7.

The Constructing Excellence Awards are being held today and we’ve been shortlisted for Health and Safety, Client of the Year and also for Project of the Year. Well done to everyone involved and it’s great to see your work being recognised by others.

Farewells

A number of school staff are moving onto pastures new or retiring – Catrin Pugh-Jones, Trui Williams, Jonathan Mead, Gareth Widlake and Sue Hollister.  I’m very grateful for their dedication and commitment to children and young people.

I haven’t met them all but they have all made a real difference to their schools. I’ve met Sue Hollister who’s leadership and community engagement at Cefn Hengoed has had a huger impact on its improvement. The school has been judged twice to be an excellent school by Estyn and attendance rates have risen by 10% to over 94%. For the last four years, every single child has gained at least one qualification before leaving school and a range of other results have risen significantly. I’m grateful for her massive contribution. Diolch Sue.

Sad news

I was sorry to hear that one of our former councillors, Mair Gibbs, passed away this week.  Mair was an excellent ward councillor who made a major contribution to the well-being of Bonymaen and Swansea.  I worked with her on a number of projects and admired her tenacity in pursuing the interests of her constituents.  Mair, a former Lord Mayor, was a great ambassador for our city and she will be sorely missed.

 

 

Reassurance on our high-rise blocks

by Leave a Comment

Update on our high rise blocks

This week we continued our work on tenant reassurance at our high rise blocks. It’s been a difficult week, starting on Saturday morning when I received notification that four blocks had failed the UK Government tests. By mid-morning on Sunday our magnificent staff had implemented all the required measures and more and the Housing team had delivered reassurance messages to all 672 tenants.  This was a massive piece of work and I’m indebted to staff in Housing, Corporate Building and Communications for their brilliant response.

Four of our high-rise buildings – three at Clyne Court and Jeffreys Court – contain Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) and were tested at the request of the Welsh Government. Our other seven sites have not been tested because they do not contain ACM. The tests failed and we’ve been seeking further advice from the Welsh and UK Governments. So far all cladding tested from buildings in England and Wales have failed the tests.

However, we were advised on Tuesday that additional tests on the full system that we’ve been asking for over the last fortnight had been carried out by BRE on panels that are identical to the ones used in Swansea.

These additional tests – known as BR 135 – confirm the panels are fully compliant with building regulations. This provides further reassurance to tenants about the safety of their homes because it confirms the cladding will not contribute to the spread of a fire should there be one.

We’ve communicated this to our tenants and we’ve shared the information with Welsh Government as we hope they’ll confirm our understanding of the situation as soon as possible in order that tenants are fully reassured.

And yesterday there were more developments. Firstly, the Welsh Government requested a review of school buildings before the end of term. And then the UK Government finally announced new testing of the entire cladding system – something we’ve requested for the past two weeks.

Leadership Team

At Leadership Team Directors and Heads of Service considered ways of increasing the number of staff who reply to our annual staff survey. This’ll be the fourth year we’ve done the survey and we want as many staff as possible to complete it. We have to use different methods to reach different staff, especially those who don’t have access to IT in work. If you have any ideas please let me know.

We also had a demo of the new contact portal that we’ll be introducing to our switchboard. Staff can use voice-activation when using the switchboard from September and then we’ll roll it out for the public. Other councils and organisations use it successfully and with more than 20,000 calls into our switchboard every month this should help make us more efficient in dealing with staff and customer calls.

Poverty Forum

Reducing poverty is one of the five corporate objectives and we can use our power as an employer, developer, landlord and investor to achieve this. Opportunities like Welsh Housing Quality Standard, City Deal and tidal lagoon don’t come round every day so we must exploit them to the full.

This week I chaired a meeting of the Poverty Forum Network, an internal officer group, to take stock on where we are, think about how we will monitor progress and agree some key projects to work on.

The recently revised poverty strategy and delivery plan and scrutiny work makes this the right time to reignite the corporate approach through the poverty forum and I’m going to put my personal time and commitment into this and I’d like all staff to do the same.

Congratulations and thanks

The Wales Airshow last weekend was the best yet with 250,000 people enjoying the event.  We owe a huge vote of thanks to all those involved in the logistics of this event.  Our traffic team managed the required road closures, the special events team were a model of efficiency as were all the staff and volunteers who helped with running the event and clearing up afterwards.  The Council even got a round of applause at the end!  I’m very proud of all who contributed because it is a massive challenge to deliver this event.  Well done all.

I’m delighted the city centre has retained its prestigious Purple Flag status. It was first awarded the status in 2015 in recognition of the excellence of its evening and night-time economy.

Rhys Harries in our Trading Standards Team received the Special Individual Achievement Award at the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) Awards. Rhys was instrumental in an investigation that resulted in £1 million of counterfeit goods being seized.

Events

Following on from the Airshow, there’s a lot happening in the next few weeks. The Soapbox Science  returns to the city centre on Saturday to promote cutting edge research and encourage children to take an interest in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) subjects.

On Sunday the ‘Eid in the Park’ event is being hosted by Swansea University in Abbey Meadow on the Singleton Campus from 11.30am to 4.30pm. It’s a great family event.

Swansea’s International Dance Festival, Dance Days, also returns this weekend with a mix of free dance performance for everyone.

And the annual Swansea Beach Soccer Festival returns to Swansea Bay on Saturday, July 8 to promote sport and the area as a hub for sport and activity.