Chief Exec's Blog

Some great news for all of us this week – we have been named one of the UK’s best councils in this year’s Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards. We’ve been shortlisted by them for the top award – Council of the Year. There was a record number of entries and judges said we stood out because we’re a professionally led transformational council that demonstrates we are making a difference in our communities. The awards are regarded by our peers as the local government Oscars, and we’ll find out in June if we’ve won. In the meantime, I want to thank you all for your efforts. Getting to the shortlist in a competitive field is testimony to your hard work.

Cabinet has agreed our budget plans for the 2025/26 financial year. There will be a final decision on the proposals by Full Council on March 6. It’s a process that started last October and I’d like to thank again everyone who’s contributed, particularly Ben Smith, Sarah Willis, Liz Rees and their teams in Finance.

Yesterday cabinet and CMT took part in a workshop to test out what we would do if our services came under a sustained cyber-attack. It reinforced the message that every member of staff has a responsibility to be vigilant every day against criminals aiming to do us harm by stealing our data. It takes just one successful attack to do untold damage so find out more about what you need to do here.

Last week I mentioned the launch of a key part of our induction programme where there was an opportunity for all new starters to meet with our corporate management team. The launch page includes an opportunity to watch the first welcome event hosted by me and our directors. Similar events will take place four times a year and I will be reviewing the feedback to decide on how we roll out future sessions. But  all staff can now review the recording and my apologies for the technical glitch when it was posted last week

On behalf of us all, the Leader and I have signed-up to a new charter setting out how we’ll act to support those bereaved by a major public incident like Hillsborough or the London bombings. Such things are thankfully rare but it’s important our residents know we will be there for them.

Feedback from the staff survey highlighted your wish to know more about staff achievements and long service. This week I’m delighted to congratulate Elaina Brutto from our housing team. Elaina (fourth from the left in the back row) has been recognised though our reward and recognition scheme for transforming their approach to training, development, upskilling, personal growth and career support for housing staff.

I also want to say well done to Matthew Watts and Kathy McGibney of the East Side housing team for helping a vulnerable tenant find an appropriate home. A family member was so impressed by their support and compassion that he wrote to the Council Leader to say thank you. I add my thanks to theirs.

And it’s farewell to Nigel Fletcher, Contracts and Projects Manager with the waste team, who retires this week. Next month Nigel is collecting a top award from the Welsh Blood Service for donating more than 75 pints to the lifesaving cause. Giving blood is an issue close to my heart so I thank Nigel for his contribution both to the council and to our community.

You also said in the staff survey you wanted CMT and heads of service to be more visible, meeting and learning direct from staff in their workplaces. So, I want to say thank you to the Pupil Referral Unit for hosting a meeting of CMT this week and taking the time to brief us on a revitalising service which makes a real difference to the lives of some of our vulnerable young people. We’re very keen to do more visits of this kind, so please get in touch if you’d like to host a visit either for myself or our collective CMT.

I’m very proud to say that this afternoon I headed over to Kingsway for the official opening of 71/72 Kingsway – our brand-new high-tech business venue. As most of you will remember the site used to be home to the Oceana nightclub and before that it was a cinema. Now it’s a truly landmark building, a powerful statement of our confidence – and business confidence generally – in the future of a city centre with a vibrant, forward-thinking future. We have already got two major signings as tenants – flexible workspace provider IWG will take up about 20,000 square feet at the development, with travel and leisure company TUI taking up approximately 7,000 square feet. Their presence further cements our ambition that 71/72 Kingsway will be a catalyst for increasing footfall and supporting retail business.

Many individuals and teams have contributed to this success story, and I want to thank them all, especially Lee Richards, Catrin Kim and Elizabeth Morris. It has been an amazing journey. Congratulations to everyone who’s helped see this vital project through. It’s yet more evidence of our reputation as a council that delivers for its residents and businesses.

Yesterday I accompanied the Leader to Baglan in Port Talbot for the official opening of another regional business landmark – the High Value Manufacturing digital factory hub launched by CATAPULT. It’s a research and innovation centre open to manufacturers across Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, supporting them to improve how they do things. The investment is another vote of confidence in our partnership approach to protecting and creating jobs for Swansea people.

Sticking with the jobs theme, we have a well-deserved reputation for the quality of our apprenticeships and the gateway they offer to a lifetime of fulfilling employment. And it’s probably fair to say that Nigel Williams, our head of corporate building services (pictured right), has been a great advocate for apprenticeships across the service. So, it was great to see Gower College Swansea present him with a unique Apprentice Employer Champion award at its Apprenticeships Awards event on Monday. It is a fitting tribute, for Nigel who started his career as an apprentice plumber and is retiring in two weeks after 19 years with Swansea and over 30 years with local government. Congratulations Nigel, and good luck in your retirement.

The awards event at the Liberty also saw one of our apprentices, Isaac Fabb, pick up the Exemplary Apprentice award. You can read more about Isaac here, but it’s clear that his apprenticeship experience with us changed his life – and his family’s too. If you know anyone who may be interested in an apprenticeship with us, we are currently recruiting. I am keen to expand the programme and similar initiatives across all areas of the Council as part of our workforce strategy.

Following on from my blog last week about staff survey feedback, I’ve another update about things we’re doing as a result of your views about being kept informed about corporate activity and actions. On Wednesday, 100 new starters attended an induction session with our corporate management team where myself, directors and chief legal officer Debbie Smith offered an overview of our services and responded to questions.

In addition, our manager briefing pack will be getting a refresh and we’ll be looking make internal communication engaging with video and images. There will also be more opportunities to have your say, including adding extra commenting and discussion opportunities on staffnet. We’ll also be talking to you more regularly about our transformation programme. Not all the changes will happen straight away, but you should start to see progress on staffnet, in the staff newsletter and elsewhere in the coming weeks. Please let me know what you think.

Congratulations this week to Liam Davey, who has been given a bravery award by South Wales Police for his courage in trying to save the life of a woman set on fire by her husband outside Singleton Hospital in 2023. You can read more about Liam’s story here.

I have regularly updated you on the budget process so want to confirm that Cabinet is meeting on February 20 to discuss its final budget proposals which will go to Full Council for a final decision on March 6. You can find copies of the revenue and capital budget reports here. It’s always a difficult time to turn the budget around with late decisions made by Welsh and UK governments, so my thanks to Ben Smith, our director of finance, Sarah Willis and Liz Rees for all of their hard work in getting it over the line.

I promised I’d let you know when I had details of the memorial service celebrating the life of Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Wendy Fitzgerald, who sadly passed away recently. If you wish to go along to pay your respects, it’s taking place at 1.15pm tomorrow, Saturday, at St David’s Church in Swansea Road, Penllergaer.

More historic buildings are being brought back to life in Swansea as we continue our work to preserve the city’s rich heritage.

Examples include the Vivian and Musgrave Engine Houses at the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks site which will be conserved and could in future be suitable for a range of uses including restaurants and cafes, exhibition-style space and shops.

Planning approval is now in place for this scheme, which forms part of the Lower Swansea Valley project being funded by the UK Government’s Levelling-Up initiative.

Swansea-based St Mary’s Square Developments has also acquired the unoccupied Mond Buildings in the city centre thanks to a loan arranged with the help of the council.

The company is now working on creating plans for the building, which dates back to 1911 and stands at the corner of Union Street and Park Street.

These transformations follow on from other recent work to bring the Palace Theatre building, the Albert Hall and other buildings at the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks site back into use.

Protecting and celebrating our heritage is important but it’s also crucial that we look to the future.

This is why I’d like to thank the staff who flew the flag for the council at the Gower College recruitment and apprenticeship fair on Wednesday. Departments in attendance included digital services, housing and public health, social services and building services.

They were on hand to raise awareness of apprenticeship opportunities at the council both among Gower College students and the general public.

The value of apprenticeships can’t be understated, so it’s really encouraging that the First Minister was in Swansea yesterday to discuss their importance.

During her visit, she met Joshua Longhurst, Logan Munday and Harvey Thomas – all apprentices in our digital services team – who shared their experiences of the apprenticeship programme, highlighting its effectiveness and success. My thanks to Joshua, Logan and Harvey for being such excellent ambassadors for the council.

Next week is National Apprenticeship Week, so to coincide with that our building services team will soon be launching their annual apprenticeship recruitment campaign to develop the next generation of carpenters, plumbers, plasterers and bricklayers. Other apprenticeships are also advertised on the council website throughout the year.

A number of our current apprentices are also up for awards on Monday at the Gower College Swansea Apprentice Awards, so my best wishes to everyone who’s been shortlisted for recognition and I’ll be going along to cheer them on.

The importance of apprenticeships, traineeships, the social services academy and graduate schemes tie in with our workforce strategy as we focus on growing our own, given the recruitment challenges we face. It’s essential that such initiatives form a key part of this strategy going forward.

I also met yesterday with directors and heads of service for a discussion about how we maximise the use of digital opportunities in future, drawing on the experience of Microsoft and Phoenix – who are both leading experts in their field. This is important because it will allow staff to work more efficiently and provide better services to our residents.

We’re currently identifying areas of the council that would benefit the most from the use of Microsoft Copilot, for example, in advance of this AI software being made available to some staff in the coming months to test out its effectiveness.

Many staff will have completed the staff survey last summer, but it means little if we don’t act on feedback.

That’s why a number of actions are soon being rolled out, based on your recommendations.

They’ll include the monitoring of appraisal delivery to improve the process across the organisation, as well as improved internal communications highlighting key topics for staff like training opportunities and health and wellbeing support.

Acting on the feedback we’ve received, new starters at the council will also be meeting myself and directors as part of the induction process as we look to make the corporate management team more visible to all staff. That process will start from next week, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

A new blog platform is also being explored to enable more two-way dialogue between myself and directors with staff.

Heads of service are working through actions specific to their areas and I’ll provide a further update on that in the coming months. Myself and other members of the corporate management team are also continuing to explore what more can be done across the council to meet the aspirations highlighted by staff in the survey.

Other recent work has included discussions with trade unions to agree a new absence policy for the council. It will shortly be rolled out once a training plan is complete and it’s been formally adopted. The policy will predominantly focus on long-term absence and will mean a revised way of using occupational health, while encouraging more discussion between managers and employees on making reasonable adjustments in the workplace to support good attendance.

During the First Minister’s visit to Swansea yesterday, she also called in to the Swansea Space in Mayhill Community Centre to meet volunteers and service users.

Every Thursday between 1pm and 3pm, residents gather there to catch-up and socialise. Run by the Lifepoint Church, it is one of 80 Swansea Spaces to receive funding this winter to help them continue and expand their provision. My thanks to all staff involved in the network of Swansea Spaces because they make a real difference to the residents they benefit.

My thanks also to the Welsh Translation Unit, who have been nominated by other staff for recognition.

Head of translation unit Huw Portway and his team translate an average of about 55,000 words a week, and their work is key to so many services areas.

I’d also like to thank our countryside access team for their great recent work to create a new section of coast path on Gower at a location that’s been affected by coastal erosion.

Working with a local company, a new 370-metre section of the coast path between Limeslade and Rotherslade was created in just 18 days.

Swansea’s major regeneration programme is continuing at pace for the benefit of residents, businesses and visitors to the city.

The private sector is heavily investing in Swansea to complement schemes led by the council, so it was really encouraging to meet a number of developers and housing associations this week at the Development Advisory Group to find out more about their schemes which are either in progress or in the pipeline. These include the work being led by Kartay Investments to bring a number of empty units on Oxford Street back into use, as well as their plans to remodel the upper floors of the city centre’s McDonald’s building into flats.

As well as regenerating our city, providing support to the most deprived in our communities is at the heart of what we do as a council. At a meeting of Cabinet and the Corporate Management Team yesterday,  Lee Cambule gave an overview of current work to tackle poverty in Swansea. A new tackling poverty strategy is being developed, so the meeting gave the opportunity to discuss what’s being planned ahead of the strategy going out to consultation. My thanks to Lee and the team for developing the strategy but also to all council services who are involved in its delivery on a day-to-day basis. It’s a great example of joined-up cross council working that we wish to continue to promote.

On Wednesday, myself and directors met with representatives from Audit Wales, Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales for our annual risk assessment workshop. It was a positive session where we discussed key risks facing the council, examples of best practice and areas for development and improvement.

As part of the legal requirements placed on all councils, we are also arranging a Panel Performance Assessment (PPA) of the council for June as we strive to continuously improve for the benefit of residents and our staff. This will see an independent panel appointed by us to carry out a peer review on a range of areas. These will include how we can best work together as one council to encourage more collaboration across departments and also how we build some resilience within our workforce. Councillors also had the first overview or the programme last night so work will continue in the coming weeks and I’ll keep everyone up to date.

Earlier this week, I visited the Revenues and Benefits team in the Civic Centre to see first-hand the great work they do. From the collection of council tax and business rates to hardship payments and assessing eligibility for free school meals, their work is hugely varied and I was really grateful for them spending the time taking me across the department and meeting many of the staff involved in this key area of work. If you’d like me to visit your team to see the fantastic work you’re doing, please get in touch.

Our social media pages are also a great way to keep updated with the work your colleagues across the council are doing. More than 300,000 people saw two of our corporate communications team’s recent Facebook posts – one detailing our improvement work on a coastal path near Rotherslade, the other highlighting new public art as part of our Mumbles coastal protection scheme. A video showing the lighting bollards that have been installed on the promenade has also been watched over 50,000 times since Tuesday evening.

My thanks to staff involved in the organisation of the Holocaust Memorial Day event held in the Guildhall this week where pupils from schools across Swansea joined faith and civic leaders. It was a moving event to commemorate those who have lost their lives in acts of genocide across the world as people of all ages come together to help create a better future.

Finally, I’d like to wish Alan ‘Chalkie’ White my best wishes for a long and happy retirement. A maintenance labourer at our Heol y Gors depot, Alan has given 44 years service to the council.  Alan and his wife, Tina, have recently bought a small property in Spain, so his time in the sunshine is richly deserved.

It’s really pleasing to see so much progress being made on transforming our city centre this year. Earlier this week Urban Splash – our city centre development partners – hosted workshop discussions with members and senior officers on its masterplan for the future of the Civic Centre. As you know, it’ll be a big change as staff make way so the landmark can become a multi-purpose visitor destination, creating jobs and boosting tourism. Work on the project will continue over the next six months before proposals come to Cabinet.

The project follows the work being done this year at Y Storfa and the public sector hub in the city centre which will also see staff moving to them. Along with 71/72 Kingsway opening soon and the transformation of Castle Square beginning this year too, 2025 promises to be a very busy year for our regeneration aspirations and our ambition to boost city centre footfall aiding its future viability. My thanks to all those involved in these vital projects and I will update you in the coming months on any arrangements that may affect you.

At CMT this week a range of items were discussed, including the current in-year budget position and the emerging New UK and Welsh Government public procurement legislation. Procurement may sound a bit dry, but it’s the way we ensure we get value for money for the millions of pounds we invest in ordering and buying all kinds of goods and services. Staff training is starting, so please look out for it.

CMT also got an update on recent emergency management matters that have affected Swansea and Wales, including responses to serious flooding events in the valleys and lessons learned. You’ll remember our staff responded to Storm Darragh magnificently and the discussion was quite topical given that Storm Eowyn has been in the news in recent days. We have been on a yellow Met Office warning for the storm, so my thanks to the teams involved in the response as the storm moves through today.

On Tuesday I was delighted to attend the official opening of the refurbished SPARKS Centre in Blaenymaes. Once a hub for young people, it’s been turned into much-needed safe, energy-efficient and affordable homes for rent. The project is part of our More Homes delivery programme which aims to deliver 1,000 new homes for residents in a decade. My thanks to all those involved in its delivery  from our housing and building services teams as well as frontline teams supporting vulnerable people in search of a place to live.

Congratulations to two of our apprentices Isaac Fabb and Ashleigh Johnson who have been shortlisted for awards in the UK APSE building and housing apprentice awards, 2025. Good luck to you both at next month’s final.

If you’re a manager please join our survey about how we can improve your monthly manager briefing. It will only take two minutes, the improvements will help ensure you have the most important corporate stories you need to share with staff at team meetings and you can find the link here.

Finally, on a personal note, I’d welcome your support for a blood cancer fundraising campaign I’m backing called Walk of Light which is taking place on the evening of the 29^th March in Swansea. As you know I have blood cancer and I’m glad to say it’s now in remission but want to try and support ongoing research and to shine  light on blood cancer. You can find out more about Walk of Light here to take part or get in touch with me directly.