Cabinet yesterday considered the revenue and capital budget monitoring report for the first quarter.
We’re facing some serious financial pressures, particularly in Social Services and Education, and it’s likely that further spending restrictions will need to be introduced in the coming weeks in order to balance the budget.
These will be issued shortly and the Corporate Management Team will be developing additional savings proposals for Cabinet to consider.
I know in recent years spending restrictions and budget cuts have almost become the “norm” in terms of the way we have had to work but I’m really grateful for the way staff respond in these difficult circumstances and the efforts you make to reduce spending whilst maintaining services.
Targeted resources
On a more positive note it’s good to see that we’ve been able to target resources at two issues that have a big impact on residents and our reputation as a council.
Our highways team has launched a blitz on potholes with a pledge to fill them in within 48 hours of being reported by the public. It’s a tough challenge and teams have been working into the evenings to get the job done. In the first week they filled in more than 100 potholes.
And well done to our NEAT team for their efforts in tackling weeds in the city. They’ve been making a difference in the marina area and places where the public and councillors are reporting a particular problem.
Business support programme
Our business support programme is making good progress in delivering its current top four priorities and the programme team is really picking up the pace on delivery.
Just to remind you, the four priorities are:
- Digital strategy and self-service portal.
- Payroll, payables, debt recovery.
- Customer contact and single internal help desk.
- Training, learning and organisational development.
A more detailed update is planned in the next week so please look out for it. Also, we’re interviewing for the Chief Transformation Officer post next week. This is a crucial post as we look to push ahead with this project and modernise the way we work.
Congratulations
It’s always great when our employee’s efforts are recognised by the public or through awards and there’ve been quite a few examples lately. Pupils at Pentre’r Graig primary presented our capital works team with a “Seren y Wythnos” award along with chocolates and a cake following the latest work in the school refurbishment scheme.
Our Family Information Service is celebrating after gaining the Families First Quality Award for helping local families get the information they need to make the most of their lives. And congratulations to Teifion Davies who’s a supervisor at Clyne Gardens and was a Finalist in the Green Flag Employee and Volunteer Awards Wales. Also Christine Thomas won the Volunteer of the Year award.
Our apprenticeship scheme is a big success story and one of the latest trainees to graduate is Rhys Palmer who’s now a qualified electrician. Rhys is working in street lighting and is their first apprentice to qualify for a few years – well done.
Congratulations to all of our young people who received their A-Level results yesterday. The overall pass rate of 99% is almost 2% better than the Welsh average and performance in the highest grade – A* – was also better than for Wales as a whole. Thanks to all the teachers and staff who have helped to give these pupils the best possible start in life.
And congratulations also to Ian Floyd, a member of the Engineering team in Highways, who has shaved his hair, and beard, for Macmillan Cancer Support and has raised £1,200. He last had a haircut was when he was 11 years old!
Finally, good luck to Sarah Thyer, one of our legal executives, and Diane Clement, who works for our Family and Friends Fostering Team, who are cycling 250 miles in the Ride to the Somme event to raise money for the armed forces charity SSAFA. The pair met in our Helping Hands walking group and they’re now taking on this challenge despite only recently starting to cycle. For further details visit this link