Here is your Friday update, covering:

• Cardiff has been crowned City of the Year at the annual EG Awards
• Exciting changes proposed in provision of Youth Work Services in Cardiff
• Councils seek development partner for high quality, affordable homes programme

Cardiff wins City of the Year Award

Cardiff has been crowned ‘City of the Year' at the annual EG Awards, 2023.

The EG awards celebrate the very best things about the real estate sector; including the best deals; the very best developments; the best businesses; the greatest places to work; upcoming talent; the game changers and the inspirations. In short, this is an event celebrating all the good that real estate does.

Applications for the awards were put forward by a range of public and private sector organisations, covering categories, including Public/Private Partnerships; Rising Star; Sustainability; Social Impact; Regional Deal; Best Workspace, plus many more.

Cardiff's ‘Invest in Cardiff' won ‘City of the Year', competing against Birmingham City Council and ‘Marketing Derby' for the accolade.

The award recognises Cardiff's vision for the city and Cardiff's innovative council house building programme which is the largest in Wales, embracing the ongoing sustainability and decarbonising agenda.

The judges concluded that as a city, Cardiff has gone the extra mile in embracing its greener vision by supplying more affordable and sustainable homes for its citizens.

Since receiving the award, Councillor Huw Thomas, Leader of Cardiff Council said: " I am delighted that Cardiff has been recognised at the EG Awards as City of the Year. Cardiff's prides itself on being a great place to work and do business, which attracts and retains the best talent, a place where people love to live and a city for everyone, regardless of their background.

"This includes delivering the best housing outcomes for the people of Cardiff, working together with our partners to ensure that all our citizens can access high quality, affordable and sustainable homes, by setting out how the City of Cardiff Council and its partners will shape and deliver future housing services and provision across the city".

"As part of Cardiff Council's Stronger, Fairer, Greener vision, our innovative and award-winning development programme remains the largest council housing build programme in Wales and continues to deliver new homes at scale. All the homes we build achieve very high quality and energy efficiency standards to ensure homes are affordable to run for our tenants and are comfortable to live in as well as helping the council achieve its decarbonisation objectives".

Exciting changes proposed in provision of Youth Work Services in Cardiff

A wide-ranging review of how Cardiff Council helps young people through youth work has proposed a range of changes to the authority's Youth Service teams.

In a new report to be discussed by the Council's Cabinet on Thursday, November 23, councillors are being asked to agree a new vision, principles and operating model for Cardiff Youth Service that changes the current ‘one size fits all' approach, to a strategy that is locality-based, and tackles gaps in provision while targeting areas where need is highest.

The report has been compiled after a full-scale review of the service in 2022 and a subsequent nine-month appraisal of how youth work services operate in Cardiff. It has taken on board the views of young people across the city who contributed to discussions on the types of support and services they would like to see.

A 2021 review of Cardiff Youth Service by Estyn inspectors concluded it offered ‘high quality provision' with particular praise for the support offered to young people's emotional health and wellbeing and effective use of digital platforms.

But the Council's ‘Stronger, Fairer, Greener' ambitions include a commitment to improving the lives of young people and making sure youth services are available at an equitable level across the city and responsive to the different needs of different communities and groups of young people, including young LGBTQ+ individuals, those with additional learning needs, those with disabilities, young carers and young people with experience of the care system.

The new operating model would be in place by April 2024 and would have strong local teams at its core, placed in areas of highest need.

Commenting on the new report, Cllr Peter Bradbury, Cardiff Council's Cabinet Member for Tackling Poverty and Supporting Young People, said: "Throughout the pandemic and, more recently, during significantly challenging episodes for young people, such as the disturbances in Ely in May, the Youth Service has proven its value.

"It is playing a pivotal part in ensuring that the younger generation is well-equipped, supported and empowered to navigate the challenges of today's world.

"This review, and the recommendations it contains, ensures that this work will continue and, importantly, will be targeted to reach those areas and the young people that need it most - we're putting our resources where the greatest need is.

"One of the big wins will see youth provision available all year round and not just in school term, as is now. We will adopt an all-council approach. This will see other services which supply opportunities for young people linking up with youth services to deliver as broad a service as possible, one which is better integrated with a more expansive offer."

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Councils seek development partner for high quality, affordable homes programme

An exciting new partnership between Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan Council is focusing on building high quality, sustainable affordable homes at pace across the region.

At a time of unprecedented housing pressures, the two authorities are taking a collaborative approach to dealing with the demand by teaming up to explore cross border opportunities that will deliver around 2,500 new homes for the area over the next 10 years.

The partnership - Cardiff's second housing programme following the success of its Cardiff Living scheme with Wates Group, is now seeking a development partner that shares the two authorities' commitment and vision to creating exemplary homes and communities.

The £500m programme will focus on building new affordable homes for rent and sale at pace across 16 Cardiff sites and eight Vale of Glamorgan sites, investing in existing communities and delivering a large package of social value. Included in the programme is the development of 500 new homes on the former Gasworks site at Ferry Road, Grangetown; 400 new homes at Atlantic Wharf and more than 130 homes on the former Pencoedtre High School Playing Fields; 130 homes across two sites at the Western Gateway and Colcot Road in Barry.

Flexibility in the structure of the programme will enable new sites to be added as necessary.

A key aim of the programme is not only to increase the supply of affordable homes but, like Cardiff Living, that will have created 1,700 new homes for the city by the end of its 10 year lifespan, to improve the quality of homes in both authorities, by delivering low carbon energy efficient homes in order to tackle high energy bills and fuel poverty. This is in line with Cardiff's One Planet Cardiff ambition for a carbon neutral city by 2030 and ‘Project Zero', the Vale's Climate Challenge Plan.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Cardiff Council, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: "Never has there been such a demand for affordable homes and because of the current pressures, we need to find new ways to deliver homes more quickly, be more innovative in our approach and more flexible to enable us to adapt effectively to changing housing needs.

"The partner we're looking for will do more than just build houses - we're looking for a developer who will go that extra mile to create long lasting legacies by delivering community benefits and supporting jobs.

"Our vision is for all the properties to meet exceptional levels of design, sustainability and energy efficiency and innovation is essential."

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