Rob's Weekly Round-up

08 April 2022

Dear colleagues, 

This has been another big week for the Vale. I am very pleased to share that we have officially announced as the lead sponsor of the first ever Vale of Glamorgan Business Awards.

Thanks in no small part to the work of the Council, small businesses in the Vale of Glamorgan are growing rapidly and the Vale is increasingly recognised as one of Wales’ most attractive places to do business.

The awards, which have been developed in partnership with our Regeneration team, will bring together and recognise those entrepreneurial and innovative ventures that are making a difference across our communities.

The awards will also support a valued local charity, Ty Hapus. Ty Hapus is a free service for people affected by dementia and their families celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2022. I like to thank everyone that has helped bring the awards to life, and more broadly all of you who are working to make the Vale such a vibrant place to live and work. 

On a similar note, I’d also like to pass on my gratitude to members of the Legal, Estates and Regeneration teams who worked through the night to get an important agreement over the line last week. James Doherty, Lorna Cross and Mark White were up until the small hours finalising an arrangement that will see a fleet of Transport for Wales’ environmentally friendly trains housed at Barry Railway Depot. The paperwork had to be completed before the new financial year and those involved showed quick thinking to find solutions to some unexpected problems.

This is a great example of skilled professionals from different teams working together to get an important task completed to a tight deadline. Those on the nightshift went above and beyond and that commitment is very much appreciated.

Hopefully many of you will have already seen that this week our Miles for Ukraine fundraising campaign passed its initial target of 1774 miles. The StaffNet item published earlier in the week had another great selection of pictures of colleagues chalking up their miles, including some from as far as New York. 

To get into the spirit of the campaign, albeit a little closer to home, I chaired this week’s SLT meeting as a walking meeting at Cosmeston Lakes County Park. Together we covered a total of 30 miles and while the weather was a little chilly, we had some great discussion while stretching our legs and enjoying the scenery. It gave us a chance to reflect on this week’s all chief officer session that was held on Wednesday around the theme of building a listening culture. I will share more details of this in the coming weeks, but I was inspired by the energy in the room this week and people’s creative ideas on how we can empower and engage more with our communities. It was also a really good opportunity to reconnect with colleagues after such a long period.

As of Wednesday, we had raised £1,479 for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. I am delighted to share that this total has been well and truly smashed by the contribution received yesterday by the Vale’s schools. A combined £10,357.03 has been raised by 14 schools for the appeal and will now be added to the total. The money was raised by a number of different events and we’ll have all the details in a special news item next week. Diolch yn fawr pawb to all of those behind this phenomenal effort. 

I’d like to thank everyone who has worked on the Test, Trace, Protect service over the last two years. The service is now being wound down but those efforts to identify positive cases of Covid-19 and stop its transmission have played a huge part in helping us recover from the dark days of the pandemic. 

I received a letter from Eluned Morgan, Welsh Government Minister for Health and Social Services, this week, which read:

“The hard work and commitment of everyone across the Test, Trace, Protect (TTP) service has made a real difference in keeping Wales safe over the last two years.

“You have all gone above and beyond, often in very difficult circumstances. I want to take this opportunity to send my heartfelt thanks for your dedication to your role. I am so proud of what we have achieved. I am also really proud of the successful public sector partnership approach we have taken in delivering services to people across Wales.” I could not agree more. Very well done to all involved.

Whilst some aspects of the pandemic response are coming to an end, providing support for our communities in tough times is continuing. I would like to express my thanks to Helen Moses, Joanna Beynon and Lloyd Fisher along with the whole Policy & Business Transformation team for their work in recent weeks in the coordination of a number of different grants that are focused on food insecurity. The team have worked with a number of schools and the voluntary sector to set up some really exciting schemes that I will share details of in the coming weeks. The team are also in the process of packing 647 food and hygiene parcels that will go out to our citizens in the coming weeks. This is a phenomenal logistical and physical challenge, and in particular, I’m told Jo has been a constant source of energy and enthusiasm throughout. Thank you for your work that will make a real and immediate difference to our citizens.

Colleagues in our Housing team have also used some grant funding to a similar end and have bought, packed and delivered food for Vale Homes tenants and people in temporary accommodation. It’s great to see so many people always looking for new ways to support our communities.

Finally, this week I would like to say diolch yn fawr to Sian James in our Shared Regulatory Services team who is leaving us to take up a new position at another local authority later this month. Sian joined the Vale no less than 24 years ago. When SRS was formed in 2015 it was an ambitious venture and Sian is one of the people that has made it such a success in the years since. It has been a pleasure working with you Sian and I hope your career brings you back to the Vale one day. 

As always thank you all for your efforts this week. Team Vale continues to go from strength to strength. 

Diolch yn fawr pawb.

Rob.