Category: People & Place

  • Focused on our Performance – how are we doing?

    Focused on our Performance – how are we doing?

    We have to put together annual reviews of our performance across a number of areas, looking at all of the areas where the council works – things like education, adult social care, the environment, highways, the economy and others.

    And the results of those reviews are published in our annual Focused On Our Performance reports.

    The Focused On Our Performance report for 2018/19 is now available to view, and will be discussed by our Executive Board next week.

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    It measures our performance against the objectives in our 2018-19 Council Plan, and the four important themes it sets out – economy, people, place and organisation.

    It’s not an all-round check-up on everything we do, but instead looks at how we’re performing in key areas.

    This year’s Focused On Our Performance report will be discussed at the Executive Board on Tuesday, October 8.

    Let’s take a look at a few of the key areas set out in the report.

    Where we’re doing well

    The report points out a number of areas where we’re doing well, which are rated green.

    Some of the improvements outlined in the report include:

    • more than £5million worth of investment in the physical regeneration of our markets and town centre;
    • 84% of all commercial property in the county borough occupied;
    • More than 11,000 recorded businesses operating in the area – including 72 new business start-ups in the last year;
    • More than 10,000 recorded visits to our leisure facilities – a big increase on last year;
    • 93 new units of affordable housing, and 35 empty properties brought back into use;
    • High percentages of council homes meeting the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS)
    • 66 per cent of all waste recycled

    That covers things like how much visitors are spending in the county borough; the amount of commercial properties occupied; the number of carers we’ve worked or engage with; the amount of visits to our leisure centres; the amount of empty properties we’ve brought back into use – and many others.

    Where we want to improve

    There are other areas in the Focused On Our Performance report where we haven’t made the improvements we want, or need to do better, and are rated either amber or red in the report.

    • On average, it takes about 206 days to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant, allowing home improvements to help people live more independently at home.
    • In the most recent Perceptions of Safety survey – the results for which will be published soon – only 35 per cent of respondents said they felt safe in Wrexham town centre.
    • In the same survey, about 72 per cent of respondents said they felt safe in their home areas
    • The percentage of A-roads in poor overall condition is 3.3 per cent; while the number of B-roads in poor condition is 2.6 per cent.

    Some of the above areas are heading in the right direction – but we still want to work hard to make improvements where we can.

    To watch the debate on the Focused On Our Performance report, watch the live webcast from the meeting of our Executive Board at 10am on Tuesday, October 7.

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  • Our Capital Programme: What gets spent, and where?

    Our Capital Programme: What gets spent, and where?

    We’re having to make a lot of decisions with regards to our financial position, and how we’re going to spend and invest in the near future.

    We’ve recently outlined our financial position, and the sort of cuts we might have to make in the coming years.

    But we also wanted to set out how we’re going to make investments and spending in the coming years as well.

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    Take a look below for more info…

    The Capital Programme

    The total capital expenditure in 2019/20 – including the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which allows us to make improvements to our housing stock – is estimated to be £89million; about £8.5m more than the amount approved by the Executive Board at its meeting in July.

    The main increases are down to increases in spending to non-HRA projects and the HRA capital programme

    Our main Capital Programme is made up of borrowing – supported by the Welsh Government – grants, contributions, capital receipts we earn from sales, prudential borrowing and interest-free loans from the Welsh Government and Salix.

    The Capital Programme is part of our usual financial processes – in order to make sure we know what our spending priorities will be in the near future, we plan out any major investment and put it for discussion at our Executive Board.

    Future spends planned for 2023/24

    As well as reviewing our current spends, we’ve also planned out capital spending for the coming years, with the help of the Corporate Land and Buildings Strategy Group.

    We’ve taken a look at some of the spends we can make in 2023/2024 – and our Executive Board will discuss whether or not to approve them on Tuesday.

    ProjectRequested Allocation

    2023/24

    £000

    Proposed Allocation

    2023/24

    £000

    21st Century Schools Band B1,0001,000
    Highway Infrastructure Improvements1,000750
    Wrexham Town Centre Conservation Area Townscape Heritage Scheme (THS)359200
    Window Replacement – Rhosnesni High School422200
    Window Replacement – Clywedog High School2,215200
    Disabled Facilities Grant1,200950
    6,1963,300

     

    Investment has also been outlined for the Heritage & Community Well Being Bids for the same financial year, as follows:

    Heritage & Community Well Being BidsRequested

    Allocation

    2023/24

    Proposed

    Allocation

    2023/24

    Projects£000£000
    Wrexham Town Centre (THS) – Heritage Regeneration as part of a larger Town Centre scheme (see HE 4 table 1 above)10050
    Monument Repair Conservation and Redisplay at Ancient Monuments within the Borough10050
    Total200100

     

    Our Executive Board will meet to discuss the report on Tuesday, October 7.

    You can watch the debate live via the webcast.

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  • Thinking of starting your first business? We can help….

    Thinking of starting your first business? We can help….

    If you’re ready to start your own business but could do with a helping hand to get it off the ground then this could be ideal for you.

    Tŷ Pawb and Wrexham Enterprise Hub are teaming up to offer a fantastic programme to help new businesses to get set up in the world of retail.

    The programme will include access to an affordable retail space in Tŷ Pawb’s market hall, ready for successful applicants to open for business this December.

    To help you get set up before opening, Wrexham Enterprise Hub will provide you with a range of bespoke workshops specifically tailored to help support new businesses.

    Topics covered in the workshops will include social media, customer service and knowing your market.

    To find out more, just drop an email to carl@thetownsquare.co.uk or dave.cupit@wrexham.gov.uk

    The deadline for applying is October 31.

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  • Celebrate the launch of Black History Month Wales at Tŷ Pawb this Saturday

    Celebrate the launch of Black History Month Wales at Tŷ Pawb this Saturday

    Black History Month Wales takes place throughout October with celebration events planned across the country.

    Wrexham will be hosting a series of events throughout the month, starting with a spectacular launch at Tŷ Pawb this Saturday!

    This year’s programme of ‘Movers, Shakers and Legacy Makers’ celebrates both historic and present day people making dynamic change for better futures.

    Saturday’s event, organised by CLPW CIC Community Interest Company,  will be free for anyone to attend and will feature all kinds of live performances, arts activities, information stalls and pop-up multicultural food tasting.

    In addition to the presentations, music and dance performances by North Wales based hip-hop artists, community performances by Youth Beatbox Teams, Bawso community children’s dance group, there will also be the launch of the book ‘Portuguese Diáspora from Wrexham’.

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    Live performances

    Performers at the launch event will include:

    • Juka Castro
    • Bloco Swn samba
    • Evrah Rose
    • Noir Dance
    • Voice Box / Spoken Word
    • NTW Team / National Theatre Wales
    • Tania LeCoq
    • Sasha /Bollywood
    • African Djs.
    • African Dance
    • Lizzi£ Squad
    • Pizzo
    • Mister Nino

    Where and when

    • The Launch event takes place at Tŷ Pawb on Saturday, October 5, 2pm-10pm.
    • The event is free and everyone is welcome to attend!

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  • Community Clean Up – Stryt Las Park

    Community Clean Up – Stryt Las Park

    Wrexham Parks Rangers are organising a Community Clean Up of Stryt Las Park on Wednesday, October 16 between 1.30pm and 3pm.

    The clean-up includes litter picking and a general tidy of the site. The clean-up will benefit the local residents that walk in the park and also the wildlife that live there. The park has a SSSI designation for the Great Crested Newts that live there but is also home to many animals and insects that thrive at the Park.

    Cllr David A Bithell, Local Member for Johnstown said, “I would like to encourage everyone to take part in the clean-up. With the help of volunteers we hope to tidy up the park so it’s an inviting litter free place for all of the family to enjoy as well as a safe place for wildlife to live there.”

    If you would like to take part in the community clean up meet the organisers by the main entrance at the Cwm Glas on Wednesday October 16 between 1.30pm – 3pm.

  • Learn how to discover the hidden stories behind medieval objects…

    Learn how to discover the hidden stories behind medieval objects…

    Would you like to learn more about identifying and recording medieval coins and seals?

    Maybe you have some objects you’ve found yourself and would like to know more about their history?

    If so then this FREE Medieval Finds Workshop at Wrexham Museum will be ideal for you!

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    Making an impression – Medieval Seals

    This first session will provide an introduction to the form and function of seals in the Middle Ages, and will then focus on identification and recording, and how these small but powerful objects can be used for public engagement and outreach as well as research.

    The session will be led by Dr Elizabeth New, a Senior Lecturer in medieval history at Aberystwyth University, and Co-Investigator for the AHRC ‘Imprint: a forensic & historical investigation of medieval seals project’. She is interested in all aspects of medieval and post-medieval seals and sealing practices in Britain, and has published widely in these areas.

    ‘Identifying medieval coins’

    Can you tell your Edward I from Edward II or your Richard I from your John? This session will help you do that be providing a basic introduction to English medieval coins from 1180-1544. This session will also provide a basic history of the English coinage and the development of the classifications we use today.

    This session will be led by Carl Savage, who specialises in the medieval coinage of England and Scotland, with a particular interest in the Scottish coinage. He has identified medieval and post medieval coins for PAS for the past eight years. He also assists the Scottish Treasure Trove team with identification of coins from Scotland. He is currently working on his PhD at the University of York and National Museums Scotland on the interaction of the Scottish and English currencies in the Anglo-Scottish borders from 1136-1603.

    Book your place now!

    • The workshops take place on Thursday, November 7, 10.30am-4.30pm.
    • This event is free to attend, but space is limited therefore you are advised to book your place.
    • If you have any medieval seals, or coins you would like help identifying, you are welcome to bring them along.
    • Lunch is not provided.
    • Tea and coffee provided.

    For more information and to book a place, contact susie.white@wrexham.gov.uk

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  • Winter draws on

    Winter draws on

    It’s almost time to turn the clocks back and we are now turning our attention to winter weather 🙁 🙁

    As always, our Environment department is hoping for the best but planning for the worst case scenarios of snow, ice, gales, or whatever may come our way.

    We want to make sure we have all the arrangements in place to help us all deal with poor conditions and be able to get about with minimum disruption.

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    We have a very well maintained fleet of gritters and 30 hardworking volunteers from Streetscene who step in to drive the gritters.

    We have 10 gritting routes along with 8,000 tonnes of grit which is topped each time we grit the roads.

    We also have plans in place to cover extended periods of severe weather which includes plans to grit housing estates (where it is safe to do so) before bin collections and to keep areas such as sheltered accommodation and school routes as clear and safe as possible.

    “To grit or not to grit?”

    This is the question faced several times a day by our experienced supervisors. To grit too soon may mean it gets washed away by rain. Too late – and you could be in for a slippy ride.

    If you want to know if the gritters are going out you can keep an eye on our Twitter account – or watch out for #wxmgrit.

    twitter.com/wrexhamcbc

    We also send out reminders via the MyUpdates system which emails updates directly to subscribers.

    When very poor weather is expected or we are experiencing a particularly long bout of cold, freezing weather we’ll keep you updated about where to find information including bin collections and school closures via this blog, our website at www.wrexham.gov.uk and our social media accounts so please keep an eye on them.

    🚗 Remember to check your vehicle before you go out during or before poor weather. The Met Office has some excellent advice but always remember to allow extra time for your journey and stay safe.

    Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We are as ready as we can be and drivers have already been checking their gritting routes to make sure they are aware of any potential problems. We value this service and we want to ensure that we keep everybody moving during adverse weather which is essential to the local economy. Please take extra care during the winter and look out for alerts and weather advice and take all necessary action.”

    “Help where you can”

    You should also look out for your elderly relatives or vulnerable neighbours. Poor weather can mean they face greater difficulties when carrying out every day basic tasks such as nipping to the shops or post office. Please offer help where you can – it could make all the difference to someone who can’t get out on their own.

    Cllr Joan Lowe, lead Member for Health and Adult Social Care, said: “We all struggle during bad weather with transport and day to day tasks so imagine what it must be like for someone who has poor mobility and cannot get out at all. Please don’t underestimate just how much of a difference you could make by helping with shopping, taking a hot meal or just calling in for a chat.”

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  • Becoming a dementia friendly community – Holt

    Becoming a dementia friendly community – Holt

    Local business owners, staff, PCSO’s and members of the community took part in a dementia friends session at the Peal O’Bells in Holt recently.

    The one hour dementia friends sessions, run by a dementia champion from Wrexham Council, aim to give people more awareness on what it is like to live with dementia.

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    A dementia friends session has also been completed with the Holt Community Councillors. So, Holt is well underway to being recognised as being a dementia friendly community.

    Thank you to everyone who supports these sessions.

    There are 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK and this number is expected to rise to 1 million by 2021.

    It is crucial that we plan ahead and look at ways on how we can support this growing number of people and how to continue to raise awareness of what it is like to live with dementia and the impact this may have on carers.

    Dementia Friends is an Alzheimer’s Society initiative and has just celebrated reaching 3 million dementia friends across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

    If you would like to get in touch to either receive dementia awareness training please contact – commissioning@wrexham.gov.uk or if you are interested in entering the care industry to help care and support those living with dementia please contact workforcedevelopment@wrexham.gov.uk

    Photographed:

    Jeremy Hughes and Julie Croft – NISA stores, Holt Brian and Sue Payne, Anna Evans, Polly Griffiths, Marlene Ayling, Jane and Becky Griffiths – Secret Spa Holt. PCSO’s Lisa- Marie and Sue and Pauline Amphlett

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  • Celebrate National Poetry Day in Wrexham

    Celebrate National Poetry Day in Wrexham

    Celebrate National Poetry Day in Wrexham with a showcase of poets, talks and workshops from 10am-9pm on October 3 at Tŷ Pawb.

    Voicebox is hosting a full day of performances, talks from prominent poets and publishers in the area, and workshops to get the community involved. The day will highlight local authors with an independent bookstall and host the infamous Voicebox Open Mic throughout the day. On the big screen there will be videos of headliners and open mic performers from the last five years of Voicebox from our YouTube archive.

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    This year is the 25th anniversary of National Poetry Day and the first time Voicebox has hosted a full-day of activities in the town centre. The theme this year is truth, and the public can join in a workshop or contribute to a community poems collection, which will be added to throughout the day.

    Voicebox is an organisation in Wrexham, highlighting and showcasing performance talent from the area and bringing national names to the town for the last five years.

    The day will be hosted by poet and performer Natasha Borton, who said: “We’re really excited to bring National Poetry Day to Wrexham. Voicebox has been a champion for literature and performance arts in the area over the last five years. National Poetry Day is the perfect excuse to dedicate a whole day to celebrating poets, authors, writers and the community.

    “We’re grateful to Tŷ Pawb for hosting the event this year, and I hope this is the first of many events in town.”

    On the day, there will also be a series of performances from members of the Voicebox Collective and a headline set by Ben Wilson.

    Ben is a spoken word poet and performer and part of the Voicebox Collective. He uses heavy rhythms, percussive speech, rich imagery and storytelling to subvert issues in ourselves and our society such as masculinity, cultural norms, memory, identity and mental health. His influences range from the surrealist Lewis Carroll to poet and rapper Dizraeli. His debut chapbook ‘anamnesis’ is a visual exploration of spoken word and rhythm, stringing together incomplete memories and breaking barriers of apathy through storytelling.

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  • We need to review our Libraries Services – let us know what you think

    We need to review our Libraries Services – let us know what you think

    We know just how popular our Libraries Services are, and how important they are to their local communities.

    We have had to make significant budget cuts to all of our services over the last five years amounting to more than £33million – and have had to cut more than £62m from our overall budget since economic austerity measures were introduced by the UK government  in 2007/8.

    Due to our financial position after more than a decade of austerity, and the likely financial challenges we’ll have to face in the coming years, we have to make cuts of £300,000 to Wrexham Library Service over the next two years.

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    So we need to look ahead at the types of changes we’re going to need to make to libraries.

    Not all of the changes we’ll make to the services will be down to cuts alone – some of them will be changes we’ll make in order to modernise the service, to make the service relevant and sustainable going forward.

    The consultation will go live on Monday, September 30.

    Links with Contact Wrexham

    There are also some other interesting possibilities for our Libraries Services.

    By the end of 2020, we need to vacate our Contact Wrexham offices on Lord Street.

    We may have a good opportunity to use libraries to accommodate Contact Wrexham staff more widely across the county borough, and provide them with more flexible locations.

    But that’s also something on which we’d need the public’s views, so it’s vital that you take part in the consultation.

    Roadshows

    We’ll also have public roadshows on the consultation on the following dates, libraries and locations:

    • Sept 30 – Wrexham Library: 10am until noon; 2pm until 4pm, and 4pm and 6pm.
    • October 1 – Tŷ Pawb: 10am to 3pm
    • October 2 – Overton: 3pm to 5pm
    • October 4 – Coedpoeth: 3pm to 5pm
    • October 14 – Rhosllanerchrugog: 3pm to 5pm
    • October 15 – Gwersyllt: 3pm to 5pm
    • October 16 – Brynteg: 3pm to 5pm
    • October 17 – Chirk: 3pm to 5pm
    • October 18 – Llay: 3pm to 5pm
    • October 19 – Wrexham: 10am to noon; 1pm until 3pm
    • October 28 – Ruabon: 3pm to 5pm
    • October 30 – Cefn: 3pm to 5pm.
    • November 6 – Canolfan Glyn Ceiriog: 10am to noon
    • November 7 – Tŷ Pawb: 10am to 3pm
    • November 11 – Brymbo Enterprise Centre: 10am until noon
    • November 12 – Splash Magic: 5pm to 7pm
    • November 13 – Acton Resource Centre: 3pm to 7pm
    • November 14 – Rhostyllen (mobile library): 2pm to 4pm
    • November 15 – Holt (Cae’r Llew – mobile library): 9.45am until noon.
    • November 21 – Caia Park Partnership – 11am until 1pm.

    “Will do our utmost to make sure all communities have access to a modern library service”

    Cllr Andrew Atkinson, Lead Member for Youth Services and Anti-Poverty, said: “In light of the financial challenges we face, we will – unfortunately – have to make a number of changes to our Libraries Service, to make sure they remain viable and sustainable well into the future.

    “But as well as having to make changes in line with cuts, some of the planned changes will make the service more convenient and accessible for library users. And there is also the possibility that Contact Wrexham services could be integrated with libraries.

    “But we need the public’s views on all of the above to let us know which way to proceed – as such, I would encourage all library users, and communities, to take part in the consultation and make their views known.”

    To take part in the consultation once it goes live, visit our Your Voice website.

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