Dear colleagues,   

I’d like to open this week with a message of support to all the parents of pupils and the pupils themselves who received A Level, AS Level or GCSE results over the past two weeks. It has been a very anxious time in our household as I am sure it has been for many of you.   

After months of disruption to their education and plans for the future, children and young people were forced to deal with another set of problems over the last week or so. I can assure all of you who were in some way impacted by the situation that developed, that we were very pleased that Welsh Government changed the assessment process and we are very glad that a fairer system has now been put in place.   

I’d also like to thank all of the staff working in schools in Vale who have again done so much to support pupils, and in particular over the past two weeks. With so much focus on results and attainment it is sometimes easy to forget the value and importance of the support that schools provide to young people at these anxious times. I know that teachers and school staff will have worked hard to reassure pupils over the past fortnight and that their words of support and encouragement will have made a big difference.  

Exams results aside, I know all of our schools continue to work hard to put arrangements in place for the smoothest possible return to full time schooling in September. Work towards something like business as usual also continues in many other areas of our organisation.   

For example, our Democratic Services and ICT Services teams have put in a huge amount of effort to enable the full cycle of Council and Committee meetings to recommence remotely from September. A full timetable of Cabinet and other Committee meetings will recommence from 7 September, with the Council’s Annual Meeting will take place on 14 September and a meeting of Full Council on 21 September. Both these Council meetings will be held remotely and broadcast online, as will Cabinet and other Committee meetings in the foreseeable future.

This will be the restart of formal Council procedures and decision making and is an important step in our recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Thought is also now being given to the legacy of our Vale Heroes scheme, now that shielding has been paused by Welsh Government. I am very proud to say that our Crisis Support Team distributed more than 6000 food parcels to vulnerable residents while they were shielding.

This was another fantastic team effort with many departments involved, and also one that saw us work closely with partner organisations such as GVS, housing associations and registered social landlords.  Again we have had responses from service users that show just how valuable this work has been.

Here are just a few that the team received during last weekend as they worked hard on the final batch of food deliveries. 

“Thank you for the phone call. I understand this was the last food parcel and I would just like to thank everyone involved for the help I received”

“I am very pleased to say that I did receive my food parcel yesterday and I will say that I really appreciate this kind and thoughtful service you provide. Many thanks.” 

“I am so grateful for you arranging this service”  

“My food parcel arrived safely yesterday. The weekly delivery has been the highlight of my week, and I’m so grateful to have received the parcels. It has helped me and my family so much during this hard time. A huge thanks to the Vale Heroes and all who’ve helped to provide this service. I’m going to miss it.”  

Positive feedback such as this demonstrates clearly the value and importance of these vital services provided to our most vulnerable residents during difficult and challenging circumstances – well done and sincere thanks to all who have been involved and made the service such a success. 

During lockdown and more recently as we have begun to ease out and transition into the recovery phase, effective internal and external communications has been, and continues to be, of considerable importance. It ensures that we are able to reach out not only to service users but also to the staff who have been fundamental in keeping key services going. 

This has not been without its challenges, and I want to say a big thank you to the Council’s Communications Team for the excellent work they have done in ensuring that we have delivered a consistently effective communications service throughout. The team’s hard work and dedication has allowed us to deliver some very important messages, both our own and those of the national campaigns put in place to keep people safe. 

Finally, I’d like to give another mention to the Move More Eat Well campaign that we are running, alongside Cardiff Council and the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

I have seen a number of colleagues posting their efforts online. For anyone who hasn’t yet had chance to look at the website or the information on StaffNet+, there are lots of great ideas for how to build physical activity into your day and plenty of information on the benefits this will bring.

The Healthy Living Team has also organised free Active and Outdoor sessions for all staff. The circuit-based sessions take place every Tuesday at Lower Gladstone Gardens, Barry. You'll need to book a space. 

Thank you all once again for your continued efforts and enthusiasm.

Diolch yn fawr iawn.