Robs Weekly Round Up 

22 September 2023

Dear colleagues,

This week has been one where more than most I have been able to see first hand the impact that our work has on communities in the Vale and just how valued the support we offer is.

On Monday evening I hosted a public meeting alongside the Leader of the Council, Cllr Burnett, our Director of Place, Marcus Goldsworthy, Director of Environment and Housing Miles Punter, and Head of Sustainable Development, Ian Robinson. More than one hundred residents came along to discuss the failure of the consortium of housebuilders who are developing the site to deliver on the community facilities and infrastructure they have committed to.

The frustration of those in the room was clear. However, what came across most clearly in the meeting was that many people there saw the Council as the organisation they could turn to for support and action. While we sadly cannot compel the housebuilders to act there are a number of ways in which we can apply pressure and we are now using the strongest of these. Last month, we announced that we were considering legal action against the Waterfront Consortium and I was pleased to be able to reassure those who attended on Monday by sharing that the work to serve the consortium with an injunction has now begun.

In addition to the legal action the complaints we heard on Monday were put directly to representatives of the consortium in a very frank exchange in the Leader’s office on Wednesday morning. I hope we will now see some long overdue progress and those living in the area can soon enjoy the facilities they were promised when they bought their homes.

On a more positive note this has been another week of successes for the Vale’s schools. The accolades are now coming in so quickly for the Vale’s teachers and support staff that I am starting to think I may need a separate bulletin just for these!

Jenner Park Primary School has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award. The award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education and the school was recognised for their work to bring an international dimension to teaching and learning.

The team at Jenner Park has helped its pupils to visit Spain and Greece to learn about life outside of the UK and welcomed pupils from both countries to Barry. This will have been hugely rewarding for the children and young people able to take part and the national recognition of the school’s work is very well deserved. Llongyfarchiadau.

St Richard Gwyn school, meanwhile, has been shortlisted the Outstanding Impact in Education award in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Wales Awards. The school’s work to support the wellbeing of both pupils and staff was highlighted in the media earlier this year and it is great to see it now receiving wider acclaim.

Along with the Leader of the Council I met with Headteacher David Blackwell on Wednesday to discuss the significant budget pressures facing all our schools.  We also discussed the exciting new plans for a brand new school and facilities at the site. There is no doubt that the financial constraints on all services are worse than ever but the proposals that we hope to take forward show that there should be no constraints on our ambitions and that we should never stop looking for new ways to support those who need us.

I am very pleased that with such challenges ahead relationships between the Council’s support functions and our schools continue to grow stronger. Thanks to the work of colleagues in our Finance and HR teams, we have recently extended payroll support to Stanwell School and Cowbridge Comprehensive School. Matt Bowmer wrote in his recent message about the importance the often unsung work of those colleagues who administer our payroll is and I am very glad to know that even more colleagues will now be able to rely on this excellent service.

Collaboration is always a key theme in the Infuse development programme. The Vale has had a number of colleagues graduate in each of the three cohorts so far and I have only heard good things about the Infuse 2023 event that many attended on Wednesday. The event aimed to gather like-minded individuals in one room to celebrate the achievements of the Infuse programme and to inspire innovation and collaboration across Wales. There is always a great deal that we can learn from our peers, and certainly a lot of good practice in the Vale that we can share. I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to engage with professional networks like Infuse to take it so we can continue to share cutting edge thinking across the Vale.

At the end of last month I wrote to express my thanks to colleagues from our Housing team who had been working alongside colleagues from Cardiff Council and other partners to support Afghan refugees as they try to build new lives in Wales. Yesterday I received a letter from the Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt, part of which I’d like to share with you all. 

“I want to express my heartfelt thanks on behalf of the Welsh Government for your incredible support and the exceptional hard work of your officers over the last two years in supporting Afghans accommodated at hotels in Wales.

“Whilst you have worked tirelessly throughout to support and resettle all the Afghan families, I know the last few months have been particularly challenging in finding suitable accommodation for so many households in a short period of time. Your work in finding and securing accommodation solutions under such difficult circumstances has been impressive and inspiring.

“Your organisations have played a critical role in ensuring Wales can live up to our ambition of being a Nation of Sanctuary, and your efforts have demonstrated a truly ‘Team Wales approach.”

I wholeheartedly agree with the Minister that this work has been inspiring. Earlier this year the Leader of the Council set out our intention for the Vale to become recognised as a County of Sanctury and this work shows us already living up to this ambition.

Having begun the week discussing community facilities that were sorely lacking it was nice to end the week by visiting two community venues that are very much open and making a big difference thanks to the support of the Council.

This morning I attended the official opening of Ogmore Village Hall. The facility which includes a café, classroom space, and community hall which is available for a wide range of uses, was made possible by £332,000 of S106 funding secured by our Planning team. The project has been driven throughout by the hugely inspiring Ogmore-by-Sea Village Hall Association and is an excellent example of what can be achieved when we support communities to work together. The group also received funding from the Council’s Strong Community Grant Fund.

Then this afternoon saw the unveiling of the new stained-glass windows at St Paul’s community centre in Penarth. The Council has been working for many years with Newydd Housing Association on the redevelopment of what was once a dilapidated building into a new block of affordable homes and a much-needed community centre. Great care has been taken throughout to maintain the original building’s façade. The windows unveiled today, which were designed by local children and young people, have stayed true to the originals and cap off a fantastic development. We all know how acute the need for affordable housing and community facilities is in many parts of the Vale and so it was great to see another project to address this reach its conclusion. 

Before I close this week’s message, I would like to bring your attention to the latest engagement work on the Annual Self-Assessment findings. The aim of the report is to demonstrate to Welsh Government, our Regulators, Vale of Glamorgan citizens and other stakeholders how we are performing, that we are making decisions in an open way, and effectively using our money and other resources to deliver our Annual Delivery Plan commitments and contribute to the national Well-being goals.

Finally, I’d like to encourage all staff to complete the rewards and benefits survey that closes on Monday. The survey follows up on feedback received in the newly established rewards and benefits forum and will help inform a new range of rewards and benefits to be offered to staff. Completing the survey only takes a few minutes.

Thanks as always to you all for your efforts this week. Diolch yn fawr i gyd.

Rob.