Approximately 200 tonnes of food waste has already been removed from Swindon’s general waste bins since the service rolled out across the Borough, which has saved the Council £30,000 in just two weeks. But what happens to it after it has been collected?

Once we've collected your food waste, we handle it in the most environmentally-friendly way possible. Your food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion plant in Wiltshire, where it is turned into fertiliser for crops or converted into natural forms of energy.

That compares with putting it in your general waste where it is burnt to generate electricity. About 70 per cent of food waste is made up of water, which requires considerably more energy to burn it, making it a less efficient method of disposal than recycling.

As councils across the country look to set their budgets for next year, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said that “the financial resilience of the sector is low” following a long-term reduction in council funding. 

The proportion of central government funding that makes up the Council’s day-to-day budget has fallen from 29 per cent in 2013/14 to three per cent in 2023/24.

The LGA has warned that: 

“The ‘easy wins’ and ‘low hanging fruit’ in terms of savings have long since gone. Instead, councils are almost immediately faced with hard decisions about cutting valued services, along with increasing council tax and fees and charges during a cost-of-living crisis.”

Senior councillors will meet next week (13 December) to discuss Swindon Borough Council’s ‘extremely serious’ financial position.

The local authority is currently forecasting a £6.5m in-year budget gap and an estimated £14.1m shortfall for the following financial year (24-25) due largely to inflation and the significant additional costs associated with Children’s Services. 

The Council’s Cabinet will consider savings proposals for 2024/25 that aim to help the Council meet its statutory duty to deliver a balanced budget. Read more here. You can also read the budget management update, along with the other papers being considered next week.

Local residents, partner organisations and community groups will have the opportunity to feed into a plan which will shape the future of Swindon over the next decade.

The draft Swindon Plan will be discussed by Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet next Wednesday (13 Dec) and is based on the Council’s three main priority missions for the town - Combat Inequality, Build a Better Swindon and Achieve Net Zero.

The three missions will underpin the work of the Council and drive everything that it does. Each mission will be addressed through themes and objectives with progress monitored through performance measures and against deliverables.

A big focus of the Swindon Plan will be on engagement with the local community and local residents, over 3,000 of whom have already contributed to the draft plan through the Council’s Annual Resident Survey.

During January, the Council plans to build on this resident feedback by running an engagement exercise called ‘Let’s talk Swindon’, holding a number of community events to share the results of the survey with residents and community groups and get their views on the initial draft Swindon Plan.

You can find out more about the draft Swindon plan on our website.

Details of the ‘Let’s talk Swindon’ events, which will help inform the final Swindon Plan, will be publicised over the coming weeks.

Councillors will be asked to endorse a plan to improve Swindon Borough Council’s Children’s Services after it was judged to be inadequate by Ofsted earlier this year.

The Council’s Cabinet will be presented with the draft transformation plan at its meeting next Wednesday (13 Dec) and, if supported, it will then be signed off by the Department for Education Improvement Board.

Swindon’s Children’s Services is subject to a statutory Improvement notice which sets out what it must do and who it is to work with to ensure improvement in the areas identified by Ofsted following its inspection in July.

Following the inspection, the Council has continued to build on its existing transformation plan to ensure that it fully captures the recommendations contained within the Ofsted report.

The actions outlined in the plan when completed will, with partner agencies, ensure that children, young people and their families in Swindon benefit from high quality services leading to good outcomes for all.

The Children’s Services Improvement Board, which met for the first time on Tuesday (5 Dec), is being overseen by an independent chair and tasked with providing effective governance, oversight and challenge of the improvement plan and programme of work. This will ensure that all the recommendations outlined in the Ofsted report are responded to and the plan improves outcomes for children and young people in Swindon.

The Children’s Services improvements being discussed by Cabinet are available via this link

Volunteers from Zurich’s Festive Challenge, including Julie, Kirsty, Rebecca, Alex and Sarah (all pictured above) delivered Christmas gifts to the Council’s Live Well Swindon hub.

The gifts, which were bought by Zurich employees, will be donated to residents that have been facing some tough challenges, bringing them some much-needed cheer over the Christmas period.

To learn more about volunteering with Live Well and what you can do to support those in need this Christmas, email volunteer@swindon.gov.uk.

You can show some festive spirit this Christmas by donating to the Swindon Food Collective, if you’re able to. The charity is particularly looking for donations of:

• Christmas puddings
• Custard
• Pickles – chutney, onions
• Cranberry sauce
• Meat gravy granules/stock cubes
• Biscuits
• Sweets
• Meat – ham, Spam, corned beef
• Tinned potatoes
• Squash
Find your nearest donation point.

Great Western Hospital (GWH) wants to hear your thoughts as it shapes the future of healthcare in our community by developing its next Trust strategy.

• Have you used GWH services before?
• Do you live locally?
• Or are you simply passionate about healthcare?

Your views are important, and this big conversation will guide Great Western Hospital to build on its successes and help set the direction for the organisation.

Read the current Trust Strategy for 2019-2024 and complete the survey.

A former nursery in Penhill could be turned into a specialist early years centre under proposals which will be presented to the Council’s Cabinet next week (13 Dec).

The currently vacant building on the site of the Everleigh Centre, in Everleigh Road (pictured behind Councillor Adorabelle Amaral-Shaikh, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Education) has been identified as a suitable location to increase early education and childcare provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.

Currently, The Saltway Centre in Middleleaze is the only place in Swindon which provides specialist early years SEND provision and the new site would make it much easier for a large number of families, who find it difficult to travel to West Swindon, to access the support for their children.

The Penhill nursery building has been empty for four years and is also located in an area with the highest percentage of children with SEND in the Borough.

Under the proposals, £600,000 would be invested in the building to provide the facilities which would be ready to open in September next year.

Pension Credit tops up weekly income to a guaranteed minimum level of £201.05 a week for single pensioners or £306.85 for couples.

It is a tax-free payment for those who have reached State Pension age, and live in Great Britain.

It can also provide access to a range of other benefits such as help with housing costs, Council Tax, heating bills and, for those aged 75 or over, a free TV licence.

Plus if you check if you’re eligible and apply by this Sunday (10 December), it could mean an extra £300 cost of living boost, on top of support worth an average of £3,900 per year.

Use the Pension Credit calculator and find out how much you could get.

Support is available with childcare costs from January 2024.

Eligible working parents of two year olds will be able to register to access 15 hours free childcare per week from April 2024. The recommended time to register is between mid-January and the end of February.

More information on the childcare support available to parents can be found on the Childcare Choices website, where parents can explore the early education entitlements and other government help with childcare costs.

The majority of pharmacies in Swindon and the surrounding area will be closed for the Christmas period from Friday, 22 December and will resume normal service on Wednesday, 27 December.

To make sure you have the necessary medication over this period, please remember to submit your prescriptions no later than Friday, 15 December. If your current supply is running low, please don't wait until the last minute to order your next batch.

Everyone deserves a home that is safe, secure, and well maintained.

If you live in social housing, your landlord is responsible for fixing issues, including damp and mould, leaks, broken locks or changes you need to your home if you’re disabled. They can also help with anti-social behaviour, like noisy neighbours.

Know the steps to get an issue fixed.

Step 1. Report it to your landlord. Then, if it is not fixed...
Step 2. Complain through your landlord’s complaint process, and if you’re not happy with the final response from your landlord...
Step 3. Escalate your complaint to the Housing team.

In an ideal world we’d have the money needed to keep potholes at bay, by resurfacing and upgrading roads as they wear out.

Last month, our team completed 592 pothole repairs across Swindon, of which:

• 483 were fixed within five working days of being reported
• 541 were identified by our team of five highway inspectors who regularly check 522 miles of Swindon’s roads and all 646 miles of paths/pavements and 76 miles of cycle paths
• 142 repairs were reported by residents, of which 51 were in criteria for a repair

Get the answers to common pothole questions on our website

E-cigarettes were sold to an underage child in Swindon following a Trading Standards-led operation.

Swindon Borough Council’s Trading Standards team, with the help of Wiltshire Police, recently carried out test purchases to check retailers were following the law when selling e-cigarette products to those under the legal age of 18 years of age.

The enforcement focused on shops where Trading Standards had received intelligence that the law was not being followed. Two out of the five stores tested sold the products to the under-age purchaser.

Swindon’s Trading Standards is currently still investigating these stores with a view to enforcement action.

Any information leading to the sale and supply of e-cigarettes or tobacco to underage children can be reported, anonymously, to Trading Standards at www.swillegaltobacco.info/report-it

Anyone who has any concerns or would like further advice can contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133.