Chief Exec's Blog

An update from the Chief Executive

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

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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.

Tough times

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Virtually every year of my working life in local government I’ve heard colleagues describe the annual budget settlement as the most difficult on record.  But 20 years ago we couldn’t have foreseen just how challenging things would get.

There’s been coverage of the problems facing Northamptonshire and East Sussex councils and last week the Municipal Journal highlighted the serious financial difficulties facing Birmingham Council.  There are many more on the margins of financial viability and some who now only operate the minimum core statutory services. The situation in Wales has been slightly easier, given the Welsh Government’s relative protection for councils. But all 22 Welsh councils are now facing problems, as shown by the number of councils breaching the notional 5% council tax cap for the first time in their 2018/19 budget.  The situation is compounded by growing demographic pressures, particularly in adult social care, and the agreement of unfunded national pay awards with councils ending up footing the bill.  Public sector pay restraint during austerity has hit staff and their families, there’s a clear trade-off in all councils between the levels of pay and the number of jobs.

There’s no doubt in my mind next year will actually be the toughest on record and we’ll face some difficult choices.  On Wednesday the Corporate Management Team considered our medium term financial planning ahead of the forthcoming budget meetings with Cabinet and Council.  Once again the aim will be to protect services and jobs but this will be really challenging.  We must continue our transformation journey through Sustainable Swansea and CMT are reviewing the programme for discussion with councillors over the coming weeks.  We’ll share this with staff as soon as possible and your views will be important in shaping it.

Despite these difficulties our staff continue to work hard to improve performance. The first quarter performance monitoring report will show 76% of Corporate Plan performance indicators met their targets and 61% improved compared to Quarter 1 last year.  Our staff deserve real credit and thanks for their commitment and efforts in making Swansea a better place.

Recruitment

The Appointments Committee met this week to agree the shortlist for the post of Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Resources.  Council will meet next Tuesday to consider the recommendations of the Appointments Committee and I’ll keep you informed of progress.

Security

There have been a spate of car crimes in Swansea and our staff car parks are not immune to this threat. An employee’s car was stolen from the Civic Centre this week. Please be vigilant and take some practical steps to improve security such as not leaving valuables on display or leaving files, laptops etc in your car. Our security staff will be increasing patrols in car parks and stepping-up CCTV monitoring.

Exam results

Congratulations to all those pupils who sat A-Levels and other exams this summer. Our overall pass rate of 97.6% is the same as 2017 and above the Welsh average. And we have more pupils passing with either A* or A grades – an increase of 1.6% on last year. I’m grateful to everyone for the effort they’ve put in.

Tidal Lagoon

It’s been a couple of weeks since I mentioned the tidal lagoon but a lot has been happening behind the scenes.  We’ve worked with Swansea University on the commissioning of a report by Holistic Capital which outlines the case for taking the lagoon forward.  The Leader has convened a task force to drive forward the project.  The task force met yesterday and agreed how it will consider options for delivering this project. I’ll update you as things progress.

High 5 judging

This week I chaired the annual High 5 awards panel to identify the winners of this year’s competition in preparation for the awards ceremony at the Liberty Stadium in October.  As usual it was a difficult process as all the entries were worthy of recognition.  Thanks to Mark Gosney for supporting the process and to those who submitted the 130 nominations.  The resilience and achievement of our young citizens inspired all the judges.

Nant y Felin

Thank you to all the staff involved in moving our children’s home at Ty Nant Ty Nant to a new base in Pontarddulais. The new home offers better accommodation, while old site in Blaenymaes will be developed into a supervised contact centre, with services for children and families.

Welsh

We have still have some work to do in ensuring the recent Welsh Language Standards are embedded in our everyday work. But as a starter here’s a simple guide every member of staff should follow.

Armed forces

It’s great that our efforts to support the armed forces have been recognised with a gold award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. We’re the only council in Wales to have received this award which is organised by the Ministry of Defence. Well done to everyone involved.

ParkLives

If you’ve not tried it yet you may want to make the most of our ParkLives scheme which is offering 36 hours of activities each week for adults and children in the summer holidays. Thanks to Sarah McCoubrey and the team for their hard work on this programme

A busy week for appointments

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My blog is being published slightly later than usual today as I want to update staff on the senior management appointments that have been made this morning.

It has been a busy week on senior staffing appointments and my thanks go to the HR team for their excellent support throughout and to the members of the Appointments Committee and Council who have ensured that the review has been implemented rapidly to prevent any instability in the organisation.  This has meant six separate Appointments Committee meetings and an extraordinary Council.

This morning Council appointed Dave Howes to the post of Director of Social Services, Nick Williams as Director of Education and Ben Smith as Chief Finance Officer.  This has been an exhausting week for the candidates following assessment centres, competitive interviews and presentations to members while they continue to focus on their day jobs.  I am delighted with all these appointments and I know that the successful candidates will help us to tackle the difficult challenges ahead.

The Deputy Chief Executive will be appointed on 21st August.

Lagoon

You may have seen in the media reports that the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon can be delivered without UK government funding.  A report and addendum prepared by financial experts Holistic Capital said a Swansea Bay tidal lagoon is a fundamentally strong proposition and an ‘exceptional’ project that could provide clean power for generations to come.

A task force is being set up to take the lagoon concept forward. The aim is to adopt a new approach to procurement by bringing on board well-established construction partners and looking at ways to fund the project without the need for UK Government financial support.

I will keep you posted on developments as we try to find a way to deliver this innovative and sustainable project with our local and regional partners

High 5s

This year there’s been 135 nominations and there has been a real diversity in where the nominations have come from. There are 39 nominations from friends, family and sports clubs, 14 nominations from schools and many from council staff.  Judging takes place over the summer and the awards ceremony is in the autumn.  Thanks to all who have nominated

Awards

I’m delighted that we have four finalists in this year’s APSE Service Awards, a key reflector of public service excellence.  They are our apprenticeship and training programme (in the workforce initiative category), Team Around the Family in Schools (innovation / demand management initiative), corporate building service review (construction and building services team) and Trading Standards (environmental health, trading standards and regulatory service team). Winners will be announced in mid-September.  Well done to all involved!

Clyne Gardens has been shortlisted in the Leisure and Tourism category at the Swansea Life Awards  2018.  The awards night takes place on September 14 at the Brangwyn Hall.  Clyne Gardens is a proud Green Flag holder and has hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

Swansea Crematorium

Staff at the Crematorium have been praised by the Federation of Burial and Cremation Services for their dedication and commitment to the service. The federation’s role is to ensure services adhere to statutory requirements.  In their report inspectors said the grounds were in excellent condition. They were impressed with the presentation of the service at the crematorium and felt the staff should be congratulated for providing a high-quality service to the bereaved.

Cruise

The 193-metre long MS Amadea docked at the city’s port last Friday carrying 620 German passengers.  Our staff worked closely with Cruise Wales and Associated British Ports (ABP) to attract and arrange the visit.  Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Innovation, Regeneration and Tourism, presented a plate to the ship’s captain to mark the occasion.

The feedback we received was exceptional – there were many smiling faces and the passengers complimented our tourism team on the welcome they received.  Thanks to all.

Summer holidays

The council is putting on 200 events over the school summer holidays in libraries, leisure centres, Swansea Museum, the Prom, Dylan Thomas centre and much else besides.

This weekend our teams are involved in the White Lady Festival in Mumbles and the Clean Air Roadshow in Castle Square on 28th. Details at: www.enjoyswanseabay.com or www.swansea.gov.uk/holidayactivities

If you’re heading to Oxwich Bay on August 4 you’ll be the first to get a glimpse of our Tourism Team’s brilliant new ‘Swansea Bay Surfari Bus’ on the opening date of a four-week tour of Wales and Ireland. The bus is a converted iconic VW Camper van complete with Visit Swansea Bay-branded livery. Funded through the Welsh Government Rural Development Programme, its purpose is to show visitors and potential visitors face-to-face what our brilliant coastline has to offer.

A 20-destination tour includes visits to Gower, mid and North Wales and then it’s across the sea to Dublin and Kilkenny. The Swansea Bay Surfari Bus is being supported by a Welsh Government grant and is part of the 2018 ‘Year of the Sea’ tourism campaign.

I will be on annual leave for the next two weeks so my next blog will be on 17th August

Are we a good parent?

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The Care Inspectorate Wales have been with us again this week and I met with them on Wednesday to talk through our approach as a corporate parent, our progress on safeguarding and the performance of our Children’s Services.

Thanks to Gemma Whyley and Julie Thomas for their support and guidance as the inspection process is an important one if we are to improve our services further.  Amongst the areas I felt confident but not complacent about was our performance as a corporate parent and the work done across the organisation to ensure children in our care have the best start in life and are able to realise their ambitions.  This is a reflection of the work done for children in care by staff across the council which I’m very proud of and grateful for.  This was particularly important as children in care was a key theme for the inspectors.

A good corporate parent should think the same way about the children in its care as any other parent should do.  Are they able to achieve their ambitions, experience a good education, feel safe and secure, live free from poverty and enjoy life?  There were a number of examples beyond the direct work of social services that I was able to give to demonstrate this commitment, including the measures we’ve taken on housing, education, council tax, the apprenticeship strategy, Beyond Bricks and Mortar and cultural event invites, all of which benefit children in our care and care leavers.

We won’t know the outcome from CIW for some weeks yet but thanks to all the staff involved in the inspection. I hope to thank them in person this afternoon at an event to mark the end of the three-week inspection.

Regionalisation

We’re waiting to hear the next steps in relation to local government reform following the scrapping of compulsory merger proposals.  It sounds like another working group is on its way and I’ll be seeking to be represented on it.  In the meantime, I’ve spent this week in joint committee meetings for ERW and Western Bay and at the City Deal programme board.  The workload associated with all this collaboration is growing massively and following the senior management restructure I’ll be looking at the best way to ensure we’re represented at the various meetings that have filled up my calendar.

There are some significant challenges in relation to ERW which I’ll be working with regional colleagues on and there’s much to be done on the Western Bay collaboration in preparation for Bridgend Council’s departure next April.

Your home, your health

I’ve been working with colleagues in housing, social care and the health board to organise a symposium on housing and health at the Liberty Stadium in October.  The links between good housing and good health outcomes are strong and I hope the symposium can help us develop our strategies and investment programmes to help promote independence for older people, combat the scourge of homelessness and tackle the impacts of welfare reform and fuel poverty.  I’ll say more about this as the date approaches but if you are interested then you might wish to mark October 5 as a date in your diary.

High 5

The nominations for this year’s High 5 Awards are closing today. Thank you to everyone who’s been involved and to those who’ve nominated young people. I look forward to the judging process and planning the awards night in the autumn.

End of term        

As the end of the school year approaches I’d like to thank all the teachers and support staff for their efforts during the year.  I’ve been impressed with the performance of schools across the city and this has been evidenced in a series of ESTYN inspection reports throughout the year.  Have a well-earned rest and come back refreshed after the summer break as the next cohort of learners will be arriving.  Thanks to all.

Best wishes

Another long-serving employee is leaving with Clare Watson setting out for a new life in Brittany. Clare has worked as a specialist teacher for 20 Years and has 37 years’ experience working with pupils with additional learning needs. Based at YG Bryn Tawe during the last 14 years, Clare has provided support to pupils from Welsh medium schools as well as providing essential training across Swansea.

 

High 5s are open

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We launched the 2018 High 5 Awards at Seaview School this week.  It was a lively event with excellent contributions from our Ambassadors Leon Britton from the Swans and Siany from The Wave.  As usual Cyril the Swan made a typically erratic contribution leaving me with a sense of impending doom as he paraded round the school hall.  Thankfully we avoided any mishaps and were treated to a video made by the school of what winning the award has meant for them. It’s the seventh High 5 competition and it was clear that winning last year had made a huge impact on the children and teachers at the school.  In fact, I hardly recognised Seaview from my last visit two years ago.  Julie Dunn, supported by her team, the pupils, our NEAT team and a dedicated group of officers across the Council have transformed the outdoor environment.  One of the teachers, Sian Davies, explained enthusiastically what a difference this has made to teaching and learning activities in the school and the appreciation of the environment by the children.  Everyone involved in this work at Seaview should feel proud and I’m very grateful. I’ll be pushing for nominations for this year’s awards so please try to think of young people who’ve inspired you by their achievements, particularly (but not exclusively) those who have to overcome obstacles in doing so.

Senior Management Review

Over the coming weeks I’ll be in discussions with senior colleagues about our senior management structure and the need to make changes given the new challenges we face and the need to make further reductions in management costs.  I’ll say more about this following our initial consultations. You may also be aware that Chris Sivers, our Director of People, is leaving to become Director of Children, Adults and Health at South Gloucestershire Council. Chris will probably be with us until late July. She’s been a really valued member of CMT and a trusted colleague and I’ll pay full tribute to her as we approach her departure.

Prevent

At Leadership Team this week we received a presentation on Prevent and the kind of issues that many cities face from extremism. We need to work with other agencies to stop radicalisation in its many forms. It’s another one of those issues where our front-line staff may become aware of potential problems. Many of our school-based staff have been trained and it’ll be good to raise awareness among all our staff.

Jobs blow

Whilst at Leadership Team the news about Virgin Media closing its Swansea call centre began to break and I held discussions with their Head of Public Affairs. The loss of 770 jobs is awful news for those involved and the local economy. They’ve been in Swansea since 1991 and I have to say this is a short-sighted decision at a time when we have the City Deal skills and digital projects coming forward. We’ll be doing everything we can to persuade Virgin Media to reverse the decision during the 45-day consultation. Failing that, we’ll be working with the Welsh Government and our major employers in the city to try to find jobs for the affected staff.

Top marks

This week Estyn published its inspection report on Olchfa School and it makes for very impressive reading. It praised the school’s inspirational leadership, innovative and quality teaching and its consistent focus on developing pupils as confident and ambitious leaners. Olchfa is our second comprehensive school to be judged excellent in all five inspection areas this year, following on from Bishopston. I’d like to congratulate long-serving headteacher Hugh Davies and his leadership team, as well as all the staff, pupils and everyone associated with the school.

Pride

Swansea’s first Spring Pride is taking place on Saturday with a parade and entertainment at the National Waterfront Museum.  Foster Swansea and our own Staff LGBT+ Group will be taking part.

Lord Mayor’s Awards

I’m looking forward to next week’s Lord Mayor’s Summer Ball where a number of our citizens will be recognised for their contribution to our city’s well-being.  On Tuesday a number of us recorded testimonials at the Mansion House which will be played at the event next Thursday.  I hope many of you are able to join us for the evening which will raise money for the Lord Mayor’s Charity.

Honours announced so far are:
Services to sport – Enzo Maccarinelli, Anne Ellis
Services to trade & investment – Chris Foxall
Services to theatre – Ria Jones
Services to music – Dave Cottle
Services to broadcasting – Mal Pope
Services to political life – Ali Thomas
Services to media – Blanche Sainsbury
Services to tourism – Professor Terry Stevens
Lord Mayor’s choice – Brett Johns
Services to charity – Nizar Dahan
Services to children – Terry Bravin
Lord Mayor’s entrepreneurial award – Dawn Lyle of Icreate
Services to regeneration – Debbie Green, Coastal Housing
Services to Swansea’s brand – Nigel Short
Swansea’s international ambassador – Alun-Wyn Jones