Robs Weekly Round-Up

14 October 2022

Dear colleagues,

I hope this email finds you well. I’d like to start with an update on the budget setting process for 2023/24 which began with an initial report to Cabinet earlier this month.

We won’t know for sure our financial position for next year until Welsh Government announces its local government settlement figure in December. We do, however, know that we are facing very significant pressure on our spending, driven in large part by big increases in overall inflation and the cost of energy.

Some of you may have seen the Leader of the Council speaking on Wales Today last night. Cllr Burnett said: "The big question for us is how we protect those vital services that protect our most vulnerable and how we find different ways of doing things so that we can maintain the others." This is an accurate and realistic statement of where we are.

Following the report to Cabinet on 6 October I chaired a session with all chief officers to review our position last week. Our Finance team are presenting a more detailed briefing to SLT next week.

In the meantime, I would like to reassure all of you that many colleagues are currently working to evaluate what options may be available and that I will be working with the Leader and Cabinet to review these options.

There is no doubt that we will again have to find new ways of working but our track record of Reshaping, transformation  and responding to the pandemic shows us that we can do this. We are fortunate to be in a relatively strong financial position with our history of prudent financial management. As part of this evaluation we will also be considering the results of the Staff Survey, which are currently being analysed, and how we can deliver on our commitments to residents such as those made in Project Zero and how we support people during the cost of living crisis.

Against this backdrop we are seeing week by week the growing importance of our work in supporting communities that are feeling the impact of the cost of living crisis. I have made references in recent weeks to an upcoming initiative for this Autumn and Winter and am pleased to be able to share that we are only a few weeks away from the launch of a Vale wide Warm Welcome campaign. Warm Welcome will offer a range of activities, venues, and services, through which our residents can access any support they may need. Team Vale will be leading from the front as always but this will be a true partnership with our colleagues elsewhere in the public and voluntary sectors.

The wide range of partners working to provide services to families, children and young people in the Vale was on show this week at the Wellbeing Network event our Social Services team hosted at Barry Memo Arts Centre. I know from those who attended that this was a very well run event that played a very important role in helping both our colleagues and those working elsewhere understand what support is on offer in the Vale and how to direct citizens towards it. Thanks to all that made it possible and those who took the time to attend.

This week also saw World Mental Health Day. Among other things this year’s activities saw the return on Monday of the previously annual service user football match organised and hosted by our Adult Services team. In this year’s encounter a strong Barry Town United pan disability team beat Vale Madrid 9 – 4. I know the match meant a great deal to all those involved and I’d like to thank Simon Colston, Sam Small, and Gareth Newberry for their work in organising this.

I’d also like to congratulate our colleagues in Shared Regulatory Services whose innovative work to reach out to businesses via the Ask the Regulator podcast has seen them nominated for Podcast of the Year at the Community Radio Awards. The show, produced in collaboration with the Industry Team from SRS and Bro Radio, is an excellent example of finding new ways for the Council to reach out to businesses and consumers. The format for the podcasts involves conversations with officers from different parts of SRS who have expertise in different fields, so it is a real team effort too. I wish the team all the best ahead of the announcement of the winner, but regardless of the outcome, ‘Ask the Regulator’ is a winning formula, conveying often complex regulatory principles in a calm, relaxed format to a much wider audience.   

Finally, I’d like to direct you all to the Speak Out survey which launched on StaffNet+ this week. The survey has been designed to highlight common themes and identify areas for improvement to ensure that the Council’s whistleblowing policy continues to protect the organisation’s finances and reputation while keeping our colleagues and customers safe.

It is a really important piece of work in ensuring our colleagues feel supported and our residents’ services are safeguarded. All Vale of Glamorgan Council staff are invited to complete the survey, whether you work in a frontline role, in an office or at home, or in one of our schools. It only takes five minutes and all responses are anonymous.

Thanks as always for your efforts this week. Diolch yn fawr pawb.

Rob.