Swansea
Leader Issue 99
September 2015 inside
Newspaper of the City and County of Swansea
your city: your paper
Proms Rebecca Evans stars in BBC’s landmark event plus
page 3
City centre • OUR DIGITAL CITY: Pupils at schools in Swansea have been working with the DVLA to brush up on their digital skills and Swansea Council is playing its part in encouraging adults to get online too. More on page 7
CITY residents are being urged to join in the continuing debate about the future of their council’s services. The council’s transformation programme Sustainable Swansea – Fit for the Future has helped achieve savings of around £16m and a range of other benefits in the past year alone. But there’s still lots to do and the council will be turning to residents to listen to and learn from them about their ideas on developing and improving services in the coming months and years. Rob Stewart, Leader of the Council, said: “The priorities of the people of Swansea are our priorities. Tackling poverty, Safeguarding the vulnerable, supporting pupil attainment, developing the city centre and building stronger and safer communities is what we do. “Over the coming years we’ve got to make savings of at least £81m due to increased pressure for services and a
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Get set to join debate on future of city’s services THE Sustainable Swansea – Fit for the Future programme is at the heart of the council’s improvement drive which will see services transformed and savings made. Consultation and engagement with staff and residents about the programme has gained positive feedback over the last two years and it’s now been endorsed by the Welsh Government’s financial watchdog, the Wales Audit Office. In its recent Corporate Assessment Report of the Council, the WAO praised the council for its performance so far and for the clarity and the sustainability of its plans to meet the challenges of the future.
reduction in our funding. But even if we didn’t have to face up to that challenge, we would still be wanting the council to move with the times, working with residents to make sure we focus resources on services people want and need.” Over the last two years the council has transformed services like adult social care, children’s services and education. It’s saved millions of pounds on back-office costs and, thanks to the support of residents, improvements in recycling rates is helping save on waste management.
The Council is also boosting its online presence so more people can do more business with the council more of the time with the introduction of new opportunities like renewing resident parking permits to add to other services like quick and easy ways to report littering, potholes and street light failures. Cllr Stewart said: “The council is also becoming more commercial by offering extra services above and beyond those we normally provide. We’ve already started doing that with a new Japanese Knotweed treatment service and there’s
more in the pipeline. “The idea behind this to use the skills and talents our staff already have to provide paid-for services, the proceeds from which we’ll be able to use to offset the cost of other services. “We are also looking at the possibility of developing affordable housing as part of a new strategy and projects involving community energy generation, one of which was approved in June. “There’s still lots to do and we need our residents, staff, local businesses and other organisations to look ahead and join in the debate about what the council should be doing in years to come. “Together we need to think about what services we can stop providing, where there is a sound basis for doing so. “We also want ideas from residents about what residents and communities are prepared to do for themselves and others, rather than always expect the council to do it and what role other agencies might play as well.”
We’re in the market for investment page 5
Potholes PATCH team fixing streets across city page 8
Why education is one of our top priorities page 9