Dear Colleagues,

I would like to start this week’s message with a thank you to all the staff within our schools and the Council’s Learning and Skills, Property, and Human Resources teams, and everyone else who has made a contribution, to an absolutely fantastic effort over the past two months to get schools in the Vale of Glamorgan ready to reopen next week. 

I would like to wish all the best to each and every pupil in the Vale at the start of an academic year that will again be unlike any other. I have praised the resilience of children and young people in how they have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic several times in these weekly messages, but it bears repeating. There are few groups who have experienced such disruption to their lives as young people, a fact that is too often overlooked.  

The return to school will mark a step towards normality for many parents and inevitably lead to an increase in people’s contact with one another. However, we must recognise that this comes at a time when coronavirus is still very much with us. I am sure many of you will have seen media reports this week on the increasing rate of community transmission in Cardiff and the Vale. This is as a direct result of people not strictly adhering to social distancing measures.We all have a responsibility to keep each other safe.

The most effective ways of doing this are through regular hand washing, maintaining social distancing, and where this is not possible wearing a face covering. This applies just as much in the workplace as anywhere else. 

As a Council we have responded well to mobilising a great many of our staff to work from home. I would like to reiterate my thanks to everyone for embracing this change and for finding new ways to work. Our position as an organisation is, in line with that of the Welsh Government, still that anyone who can work from home should continue to do so.

These arrangements have been put in place to secure the safety of our colleagues and strictly limit the number of people moving around offices.

We know that many people’s preferred option would be a flexible mixture of home and office-based working. This is something that we will soon be piloting in the main office bases. In the meantime, StaffNet+ and iDev both feature important information about undertaking DSE assessments and tips for working at home.

Where staff need to work from an office location on occasion – for example, where tasks cannot be fully completed from home – we are from Monday recommending that face coverings are worn whilst in communal spaces such as corridors and kitchens where social distancing may not be possible. This is in line with the Chief Medical Officer for Wales’ latest guidance and is a decision that has been taken in light of the recent increase in cases on COVID-19 in Cardiff and the Vale.

In writing, I am also pleased to be able to deliver the news that a 2.75% pay award has been agreed nationally for local government. This comes into effect from April 2020 for those on the NJC Single Status and JNC Chief Officers payscales, and from September for Soulbury employees. The pay award was agreed only last week so I am sure all staff will join me in thanking our Payroll team for their fast work in processing the changes so that they will be reflected in colleagues September salary payments, with pay backdated to April where this applies.

The new pay scales can be found on StaffNet+

Finally, I received a wonderful letter of thanks from a resident of the Vale of Glamorgan this week.  The letter starts by saying:

“I wanted to say an enormous thank you to all the Council staff for their incredible hard work and commitment to the residents of the Vale during these unprecedented times” 

and goes on to say:

“I have observed their understanding of social distancing whilst undertaking their jobs, their kindness and their skills in keeping everything going when everything else seemed to grind to a halt”.

I have regularly used this weekly message to pass on my thanks, but I am sure all will agree that it is fantastic to receive such positive and glowing feedback from a resident.  All staff should be very proud of how much we have been able to achieve in very challenging times. The challenge will be to maintain our efforts as we continue to respond and react to changing circumstances and new ways of working.

Thanks again to you all for your efforts this week. I hope everyone has chance to enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend. 

Diolch yn fawr iawn,

Rob Thomas.