Christmas

The show must go on

January 4, 2018 by Martin 2 Comments

I hope those of you who took time off over the festive period had a great break. For those of you who worked through it I want to repeat my thanks. There were a number of incidents to deal with during the holiday period, many caused by the horrible weather we experienced.

I must say a huge thank you to all those involved in responding to the crisis caused by water leaks at the Grand Theatre. There are too many people to mention but staff at the theatre and colleagues in corporate building and property services and ICT went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the theatre re-opened within 24 hours of the leak. It was a tremendous effort and demonstrates their total commitment to the old adage that “the show must go on”.

Hats off also to all the front line officers who helped clear up after this week’s storms and floods. Keeping the city moving and safe in the face of violent storms is no mean feat but they achieved it once again and we should all be grateful for that.

Corporate Management Team

On Wednesday CMT met to discuss a number of issues including an update on this year’s budget monitoring. Whilst we’ve made significant progress we’re still heading for an overall overspend this year and so a reminder that the current spending restrictions remain in force is timely. We also considered a report on corporate risks, including financial ones, and we’ll be working with Cabinet Members to agree these next week. We also discussed the current challenges of regional collaboration and the potential for a change of direction by Welsh Government that will need some detailed discussion with councillors over the coming weeks and months. The Leader and I are meeting the new minister next week so I’ll update you on any developments.

On Thursday the Leadership Team worked on a range of topics including our Organisational Development and Commercial strategies. I’ve mentioned previously that the best way to protect jobs and sustain frontline services is to become a more commercial organisation and to look for new ways to generate income.

New Year’s Honours

I was delighted to hear Sue Hollister, former Head Teacher at Cefn Hengoed School, was awarded the MBE. It’s a well-deserved recognition of her outstanding achievements in education and her contribution to improving outcomes for thousands of our children and young people. I was also delighted that Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott, Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor and Professor of Microbiology at Swansea University, was awarded the OBE for services to microbiology and the advancement of women in science and engineering. I’ve worked with Hilary on a number of projects including the Swansea Science Festival and the Soapbox Science events I’ve mentioned in previous blogs.

Congratulations

You may have read on StaffNet that Laura Collins and the Foster Swansea team held a collection for food banks at the Child and Family staff development day in December. They collected enough food to feed 375 people this Christmas which is a fantastic achievement. Thanks to all who took part.

Merry Christmas

December 20, 2017 by Martin Leave a Comment

As we head into the Christmas break I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all staff and councillors for their work in the busiest year I can remember for Swansea as a city and as a Council. In my next blog I hope to recap on some of the events of the year but for those of you who’ll be on leave over Christmas I hope you enjoy your well-earned break. I’m sending my blog out early this week as I’m conscious our offices close at noon on Friday and some people will be taking leave to finish their preparations for the festivities.

However, a number of our staff won’t be relaxing over the coming week because they’ll be working to maintain vital services during the holiday period and I’m immensely grateful to them for this.

City of Culture

On Tuesday I met Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport at the Welsh Government, following the disappointment of missing out on the UK City of Culture 2021 title. Tracey McNulty and I shared with him the feedback I mentioned in last week’s blog. There were a lot of positive messages from the panel on the Swansea bid and a plea from the UK Minister for Culture to continue with elements of our proposed programme, irrespective of the decision. We outlined the huge amount of support for our bid, as demonstrated by the excellent social media campaign. We also explained that our strategy for culture remains in place and we’re keen to work with Welsh Government to develop an approach for Wales that would see Swansea at the forefront of its cultural agenda.

Lord Elis-Thomas expressed his support for this and has invited us to develop our proposals further over the next few weeks, so we’ll be working in earnest with councillors on this. It’s clear the Welsh Government is willing to help us to resource this which is great news for us all. Watch this space!

City Deal

The City Deal discussions are moving very quickly now and the Joint Working Agreement between us will be signed early in the New Year. Our teams in Place, Finance and Legal have worked hard on this for many months so thanks to them for their efforts. The Shadow Joint Committee received an update on Monday re progress with the 11 projects and details on how the digital strategy for the region will be delivered. The aim is to put Swansea and the region in pole position for the roll-out of 5G technology after 2020 and to become one of the UK’s leading Smart Cities and a test-bed for the Internet of Things. It all sounds a bit weird and far-fetched but just over a decade ago no-one could predict the impact, for good or ill, that smartphones would make to our working and our personal lives. The next generation of digital technology will be at least as disruptive as the last so we’d best prepare to make the best use of it for the benefit of the city and our citizens.

Early intervention

Our Early Intervention staff at Swansea Children’s Centre in Penlan and our Jig-so midwives saved a four-week-old baby’s life last week. The baby stopped breathing during a group session at the centre and our staff performed CPR and then the air ambulance landed within 10 minutes of the call. Their intervention helped to make sure that the baby, who is now able to breathe unaided and is improving, got to hospital safely. Fantastic work! Further congratulations to our Early Intervention team who led the Mr X Scheme again this year. They have put in a huge effort along with community volunteers to ensure that over 4,500 children and young people received gifts this Christmas.

And some lucky children had an early visit from Santa, in the form of our refuse collectors, who kindly took it upon themselves to give out selection boxes to the children who get excited to see them on their route each week. Well done to everyone involved.

Farewell

Thanks to Chris Tonkin, head teacher at Townhill Community Primary School, who’s retiring. I wish Chris all the best for the future and we’re grateful for all your work in improving the school and the lives of the children in Townhill.

Budget top of the agenda

December 15, 2017 by Martin Leave a Comment

Our budget proposals were approved by Cabinet yesterday and they’ll soon go out for consultation with the public.

The feedback from the public will be important in helping Cabinet make final decisions around February. It’s also important that staff get involved in these discussions. The recent staff roadshows have been well attended and have given Heads of Service and Directors the opportunity set out our priorities and budget situation. Hopefully managers will be discussing how these proposals affect their teams and services in team meetings in the coming weeks.

I know these proposals mean changes and reductions in services and this will inevitably cause concerns among staff. We’re committed to doing everything we can to minimise the impact on staff, although every year is becoming more difficult to avoid compulsory job losses. If you have any concerns please speak to your manager.

Culture feedback

We’ve had some initial feedback on our City of Culture bid. The judging panel said the quality of the bids was so high that all the cities could have delivered a fantastic year – but fine judgements had to be made in choosing a winning city. On the positives they highlighted our youth leadership as a real bonus and opportunity; Swansea is a great place – and city of culture is clearly the right vehicle for the city – our commitment to youth is good, and they praised the drive and energy of the bid team. They recognised that ‘cultural leadership’ in the council was strong but felt we needed to do more work to build the capacity both within and outside the council which to help deliver something on this scale and create a broader impact.

Appointment

Last week I was appointed to take on the role of lead Chief Executive for ERW, our regional school improvement consortium. The consortium covers Swansea, NPT, Carmarthen, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Ceredigion. The aim is to work together to improve teaching and learning to secure the best outcomes for all learners. I know this won’t be an easy task and from my discussions with teachers and colleagues in our education service I’m conscious that there’s much to be done over the coming months.

Homeless event

Congratulations to all the councillors, officers and volunteers who helped make Tuesday’s event at the Brangwyn Hall such a success. More than 200 homeless and vulnerable people attended and ate a hearty dinner served up by the Leader and his colleagues. Tenancy and health advice were also on hand along with free haircuts. I was particularly pleased to see that counterfeit jumpers confiscated by our Trading Standards team were handed out on the day. Congratulations to Rhys Harries and the Trading Standards team for that. It was also lovely to see an anonymous donation of sleeping bags – thank you, whoever you are! I spoke to a number of people who attended the event and they were universally grateful for the team effort. A number had quite harrowing stories of loneliness, isolation and extreme poverty that reinforced the message that homelessness is not just a problem in winter and at Christmas but an issue for us all year round.

Long service

A number of staff have recently reached 40 years’ service, which is an amazing achievement: Ieuan Pelzer, Gary Cornell, Paul Conipane (all Corporate Building Maintenance), Charles Davies (Glynn Vivian), Julia Incebel (Grand Theatre), Paul Parcell (Construction), Paul Griffiths (Drainage and Coastal Management), Patricia Joslyn (Road Safety), Gethyn Havard (Area 1 Team), Jeanette Lewis (Business Support), Sheila Watts (Cleaning) and Sheila Lewis (Penyrheol Comprehensive). Thank you for all your hard work and support during the past four decades.

Christmas jumpers

Thanks to everyone who took part in the HR annual Christmas quiz. There were some pretty spectacular Christmas jumpers on show and even a visit from Santa! Teams taking part raised almost £300 for Save the Children which is great. The quiz was part of Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day and I’m sure staff across the council will be wearing some outrageous jumpers today.

Just another manic Monday

November 24, 2017 by Martin 2 Comments

I spent Monday in London lobbying for the tidal lagoon and the UK City of Culture 2021.

The Leader and Deputy Leader joined me, along with Nigel Short, owner of Penderyn Whisky. They delivered a letter to 10 Downing Street and took our giant postcard to the Wales Office in Whitehall.

It marked the end of the current phase of our Love the Lagoon campaign and was timed to drive the message home before the Chancellor’s budget speech. We hope the lagoon will be included in the UK Industrial Strategy when it’s unveiled soon.

We then went to the House of Commons for the UK City of Culture reception.

It was a well-attended event with speeches from Geraint Davies MP and our Leader, Rob Stewart. Alun Cairns, the Welsh Secretary, also spoke in support of our bid.

I met one of our cultural champions, Sir Peter Blake, best known, rather unfairly, for the design of the Beatles Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP cover.

His exhibition of illustrations for Under Milk Wood kicked-off our Dylan Thomas centenary events in 2014. His support is greatly appreciated.

“Dying to work” charter

We’ve signed a workers’ charter to provide further support to staff facing terminal illness. We already support key elements of the charter, including ensuring employees with a terminal illness have access to appropriate counselling and financial advice, and that we deal with terminal illness in a sensitive and supportive way.

Thanks to all the councillors, officers and trade unions who’ve been involved.

Leading the way

Congratulations to everyone involved in Monday’s event to celebrate our role in placing children’s rights at the heart of education. Schools have taken part in the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools initiative and more than 48,000 children and young people, 2,050 teaching staff and 1,320 non-teaching staff have played their part.

We’re the first council in the UK to embed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) at the heart of everything we do and that’s real cause for celebration.

Linked to this, the #IAMME Young People’s group collected their prestigious Diana Award, and were a credit to our looked after children. The awards’ roll of honour now states: “#Iamme are an incredible group of young people who have made a significant contribution to ensuring that the voice of looked after children is represented.” This is a fantastic achievement and I’m very proud!

Pontlliw Primary School

During a visit to Pontlliw Primary school I was delighted to see a clear focus on the STEMM subjects and a real commitment to promote science. The school will be visiting Valencia as part of the ERASMUS project to see how science and technology is taught elsewhere. Despite the uncertainty over Brexit and its impact on ERASMUS, I hope these exchanges continue. Thanks to headteacher Alison Norman, her team and the pupils for the warm welcome and I hope you bring back some great ideas from Valencia.

Well-being

In 2016, Swansea’s Public Services Board (PSB) started a conversation about well-being in the local area. People told us Swansea’s a great place to live but we need to work together to make sure everyone can live well, benefit from and be proud of Swansea.

Based on this we’ve developed a draft Local Well-being Plan, but we need your views to make sure we’ve got it right. I hope you can let us have your views by completing the survey here.

Christmas

I went to the fantastic Christmas Parade in the city centre along with 40,000 other people – the biggest crowd we’ve had at the lights switch-on. Congratulations to our events team for staging a successful parade and for getting Waterfront Winterland open on time.

Our cleansing team was on the case straight after the event – ensuring the city centre was back to normal for the start of the week.

We’ve already had loads of enquiries from people and organisations wanting to take part in next year’s parade and that speaks volumes. Thanks and congratulations to the many staff involved from all the departments who contributed.

Children in Need

Fund-raising events for Children in Need were held across the council. Just one example saw the Highways and Transportation team at Clydach raise £88 by selling cakes and dressing down.

Well done to all and here’s a picture of Lee O’Hara entering into the dressing down with gusto!

White Ribbon

A White Ribbon Day event will be held at Swansea’s Domestic Abuse One Stop Shop today as part of a national campaign. We’re working with Swansea Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Partnership to spread the message that domestic abuse and violence are unacceptable. You’ll find further information about the campaign here.

Sad loss

Grenville Phillips, Honorary Alderman and former Lord Mayor of Swansea, has passed away. Grenville was also Honorary Burgermeister of Mannheim and founder of the Portmead and Blaenymaes Community Centre. I worked alongside him as he strove to improve the lives of his constituents in the Penderry ward.

He was a deeply committed and fair politician and I‘ll always be grateful for his unwavering support, particularly through the challenging PRC homes project which saw the demolition and redevelopment of a large part of the Blaenymaes and Portmead estate.

Happy New Year

December 29, 2016 by Martin Leave a Comment

Moving on

Our Chief Education Officer, Lindsay Harvey, will be leaving us next year to join Bridgend Council.

He has been appointed as Interim Director of Education and Family Support. Whilst I’m delighted for Lindsay, he’ll be a great loss to Swansea. Anyone who’s met him will know he’s a larger than life character who always brings a positive outlook.

He’s worked in Swansea for over seven years; first as a school improvement adviser then as our Chief Education Officer. He’s led on a number of important initiatives for us, such as the radical overhaul of our Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) service.

This is a very important post and we’ll be seeking to fill the gap as soon as possible.

Well done and thanks

Safeguarding is the council’s top priority, so it’s really satisfying to see the latest CSSIW report praising our child and family teams for their pioneering work supporting vulnerable children and young people to understand their role and rights in potentially daunting and complex court proceedings. The report can be found here. My thanks and congratulations to the team.

Well done to Carole Billingham who won our Christmas jumper competition. Carole works in the library in the Civic Centre and will receive tickets for the panto at the Grand. A photo of Carole is the first picture in our gallery. Thank you to everyone else who sent in photos – I’m sure you’ll agree it was a tough choice. I know that a lot of money was raised for charity by our staff, so thank you.

Carole Billingham from Libraries

Thank you to everyone who worked or was on-call over the Christmas period.

I know some staff will be doing the same over the New Year break and I’m really grateful to you. I hope it’s not too busy and you can enjoy the arrival of 2017!

It promises to be a very busy year. In February we will be setting the budget and there’ll be much to do following the decisions of Council. In early May there’ll be local government elections. We will also hopefully hear some positive news about our City Deal and the Tidal Lagoon. We can also expect some further statements from the Welsh Government on regionalisation.

I wish you all a Happy New Year, Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.