Rob’s Weekly Round-up

20 May 2022

Dear Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well at the end of another busy week.

Before I reflect on some of the noteworthy work and achievements of the last seven days, I wanted to look forward to next week.

On Monday, at the Annual Meeting, the Council will elect its new Leader, Deputy Leader, Cabinet Members and Committee Chairs.

This is a significant moment for the Authority following the election earlier this month and one that marks the start of a new administration for the Council.

For me personally, I am looking forward to working with the new political administration to continue to deliver on the central aims of our Corporate Plan (2020 to 2025) and the current Annual Delivery Plan (ADP), which involves a number of significant infrastructure projects, a commitment to regeneration and new, modern ways of working.

The ADP sets out work to be undertaken over the next year to deliver on our four key aims, these being:

• To work with and for our communities.

• To support learning, employment and sustainable economic growth.

• To support people at home and in their community.

• To respect, enhance and enjoy our environment.

There has been some interesting work undertaken by colleagues in the new Place directorate recently that involved a workshop on how to best invest and earmark the £14 million coming from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.

This work will continue over coming months so that we can make the best possible use of the funding in order to deliver on our key priorities, particularly at the time when our communities face significant challenges given the rising cost of living. 

The programme for delivering the Council’s Replacement Local Development Plan (LDP) has also reached an important milestone after it was approved by Welsh Government.

Both the Review Report and Delivery Agreement were the subject of public consultation earlier in the year before consultation responses and proposed changes were considered and approved by Cabinet and Full Council.

The Replacement LDP will contain a framework for the Council’s planning policy until 2036 and a blueprint for how the Vale will look in the future.

As well as a commitment to planning the future of the Vale and regenerating our communities, we are also very much invested in continuing the Council’s digital transformation.

On that subject, it is great to see that swift progress is being made on preparing Oracle Fusion ready for its implementation this summer.

The new platform represents a significant upgrade to the Council’s HR, payroll and finance systems and will alter the way staff access information about their pay, personal details and much more.

Now in the final stages of testing, when live the platform will give all employees a self-service portal through which to submit various HR requests. It will also provide a much-improved system for managers to review and act upon these requests, offer an easier way to complete many tasks that currently require a VOG form and will streamline our procurement process.

The new system will be cloud based so staff will be able to log on using both work and personal devices, with a single sign-in setup meaning it won’t be necessary to remember multiple passwords.

This is a key part of the Council’s Digital Strategy. It should drive efficiency by making tasks easier to complete and will also save money for our organisation.

I know James Rees and a team drawn from across the Council have worked very hard on this new system and I’d like to thank all involved for those efforts. Their work will help position the Council as a public sector trailblazer in this area.

More information about Oracle Fusion can be found on Staffnet, while any questions should be emailed to Fusion@valeofglamorgan.co.uk.

This week proved to be a very challenging week for staff and pupils at Y Bontfaen primary school in Cowbridge. Significant investment is being made in the fabric of the building and due to unforeseen circumstances and in the interest of the health and safety of children and staff, it became necessary to close off parts of the school whilst building works progress. 

This has meant a knock-on effect with many year groups having to be educated off-site at other locations until the end of the summer term.

I would like to put on record my thanks to all our officers across Learning & Skills and our Property teams who have worked hard alongside the headteacher - Julia Adams - and staff at the school. They have organised a very effective response and ensured that the disruption to pupils’ education has been kept to a minimum.  Well done to all for responding to the challenge.  Diolch yn fawr i chi i gyd.

I very much enjoyed my Question Time session this week, when staff got the chance to put their questions on a range of matters to me. I hope I was able to provide answers to most of them and able to clarify certain issues.

Many questions related to our pay scales and the cost-of-living crisis being faced by many within our communities across the Vale of Glamorgan as well as many of those who work within the Council. This was an issue that was discussed immediately following the Question Time session, when I met with my Strategic Leadership Team.  The Council already meets its legal obligation to pay the National Minimum Wage of £9.50 per hour for all those aged 23 and over and I hope that we can move quickly to pay the National Living Wage of £9.90 per hour and in turn seek National Living Wage accreditation.  This would have an immediate positive impact on those on the lowest pay grades within our organisation, many of those roles being part-time in nature.

Another theme related to hybrid working, with many who currently spend most of their time working at home asking whether it is now acceptable to return to work from our offices. The simple and straightforward answer is absolutely – yes.  I am now in the office most days and have noticed that far more of my colleagues from across departments are also spending more time in the workplace. Given the level of discussion on this issue during the Question Time session, I will issue more advice on this in the coming week, but in short, if anyone working at home feels it is beneficial to return to the office to work, then that should not in any way be an issue.

Initiatives like the Question Time sessions are very important to me. It is important that I and the rest of the Senior Leadership Team are accessible to staff and I hope events such as these help bring us all closer together.

Future slots are scheduled with New Director of Corporate Resources, Tom Bowring, and Marcus Goldsworthy, who was recently appointed Director of Place. Please check Staffnet for more information.

I look forward to discussing the many exciting pieces of work underway at the moment with the Council’s new Cabinet in the very near future, once it is announced on Monday

As we stand at the start of a new five-year political term, I hope you share my enthusiasm for the task ahead as, with renewed impetus and vigour, we aim to build Strong Communities with a Bright Future.

Have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend,

Diolch yn fawr,

Rob