Swansea Council has launched its budget consultation which aims to pave the way to deliver transformed services and savings of £90m over the coming years.
Views and ideas are wanted for areas like cultural services, social services and waste services as the council looks to tackle a major funding deficit and continue to meet the priorities of the people of Swansea.
All feedback received by Monday January 25 will be considered before a report is prepared for Cabinet’s consideration on February next year.
Some of the wider proposals for cultural services include:
• Seeking interest from existing not-for-profit leisure providers to run the county’s community leisure centres
• Seeking interest from a third party operator to run Plantasia on a sustainable basis
• Seeking charitable or not-for-profit partners to run Swansea Museum and the Olga, Canning and the Helwick lightship heritage vessels
Other proposals include transforming the museum tramshed in Dylan Thomas Square into a commercial premises for lease and transforming the collections centre in Landore so it can be used as a visitor centre as part of the regeneration of the Hafod Copperworks site. This will involve a full review and relocation of the Swansea Museum collection, which is mainly stored at the collections centre.
Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Development and Regeneration, said: “No-one wants to see these cultural services cease, so our proposals are not about stopping them – they’re about delivering them differently for future generations to enjoy.
“Some of the proposals include seeking interest from existing not-for-profit cultural and leisure organisations, as well as commercial operators, to find out whether they can maintain the range of services we currently provide at significantly less or no cost to the Council.
“This will involve an extensive exercise over the next year to find the right kind of organisation to work with us who can bring expertise and investment to the partnership and sustain the services in future.”
Swansea Council is also looking to increase recycling performance from 58% to 64% over the next three years to meet Welsh Government targets. This is why the consultation is asking residents for their ideas to help the council reach the target while reducing costs at the same time. Residents are also being asked for their ideas on how to best tackle the issue of visitors to household waste recycling centres often bringing waste in black bags containing recyclable material.
For social services, residents are being asked what their priorities are for the provision of residential care, day care and home care in the years ahead. Residents are also being asked for their ideas on how the council can meet older people’s aspirations to live as independently as possible in their own homes as an alternative to residential care.
Other cultural services proposals include subsidised events like the annual Fireworks, Christmas Parade and World Party being run by another organisation at no cost to the council. It’s also being proposed that tourist information should be provided through online platforms and other attractions rather than at the current Tourist Information Centre on Plymouth Street.
Cllr Mark Child, Cabinet Member for Healthy City and Wellbeing, said: “The major financial challenges we’re facing are not of our making, but they mean continuing to run many services in the same way is no longer an option as we look to prioritise the funding we do have on education and social care.
“We’re looking to find new, innovative ways of delivering our cultural services and other services to protect them for the benefit of Swansea residents and visitors in years to come. The next step is to seek the views of as many people as possible to help shape final proposals to be considered by Cabinet in the New Year.”
It’s also being proposed that the council continues to review the best way of delivering and developing the library service in future.
Residents can have their say online at www.swansea.gov.uk/budgetsurvey
Drop-in sessions will also be arranged and thousands of consultation booklets are being made available at libraries and district housing offices.
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