Robs Weekly Round Up

13 December 2024

Dear colleagues,

With Christmas just around the corner, I thought this would be as good a time as any to reflect on the previous 12 months and some of our most significant achievements.

There have been so many highlights over the last year that I could have filled a book, but these are a selection of my personal favourites.

Looking across the variety and significance of these successes really brings home the quality of work the Council delivers time and again for our residents.

It also underlines what a talented, hard-working group of staff we have at the Authority.

Where better to start than our response to Storm Darragh last weekend?

Preparations started a few days before the storm when the Met Office issued an Amber warning that was later escalated to Red, signifying danger to life. The Council activated its emergency procedures, with the Strategic Leadership Team forming a Gold Command Unit and deciding on a course of action that was implemented by a collection of key Council staff called the Silver Group.

Our teams sprung into action to deal with the fallout and aftermath, from providing sandbags to residents, dealing with emergency calls over the weekend, ensuring fallen trees and damaged infrastructure was attended to and ensuing our parks and green spaces were safe.  Our speedy and super-efficient response was evidenced in an e-mail I received this week from Janet Hayward, Headteacher at Cadoxton Primary school which reads:

‘As a whole school community, we were shocked to see the damage to our railings and boundary wall at the front of our beautiful school building on Saturday morning as an outcome of Storm Darragh. We were really pleased with the way the Council leapt into action and made the site safe for our children, staff and parents on Saturday and Sunday. Diolch yn fawr pawb, this work was hugely appreciated by us all in school and mentioned by many parents attending their children's Christmas Concerts this week’.

Diolch Janet for getting in touch and diolch to all those who attended to this emergency (and others) in such an efficient manner.

Our Highways Team attended more than 100 call outs over the weekend, all of which came via the out-of-hours service provided by C1V. 

There were too many people involved to mention by name, but I’d like to thank each and every one of you.

They were required to liaise with a range of colleagues from other organisations, including the National Grid, South Wales Police and Fire Service, Centregreat, JV Tree Services and Owen Trees and Land Services.

Looking back at 2024, I wanted to mention Heol Croeso, our development of temporary housing in Llantwit Major for Ukrainian Refugees and homeless families from the Vale of Glamorgan.

There is no denying that there was some resistance to this project, but it is one that we believe in as we follow through on our commitment to help the most vulnerable members of our communities.

It also aligns with our ambition to become a County of Sanctuary, which includes a pledge to support people who have suffered forced displacement.

Mike Ingram, Andrew Freegard, Kate Hollinshead and others worked tirelessly to get this scheme over the line and the reaction of tenants when they moved in made all that effort worthwhile.

Sticking with the task wasn’t always easy, but the end result is that we helped people in severe need, which is what public service is all about.

Developments such as this mean we can stop using the Holiday Inn as temporary accommodation for the homeless from March, a fact that will save the Council a significant sum of money and even more importantly, give those in need of shelter a more dignified solution.

That is most welcome at a time when we must overcome a significant budget deficit caused by funding cuts, rising costs and growing demand for Social Care and provision for children with Additional Learning Needs (ALNs).  

There are also other housing projects that have also been completed, namely Llys Llechwedd Jenner, Lon y Felin Wynt and Clos Holm View.

These offer comfortable, modern accommodation for people on the housing waiting list, helping the Council tackle unprecedented demand for these types of properties.

It is not just in Housing that the Council excelled in 2024 as Learning and Skills also received two superb inspection reports, one for its Youth Service and another for the department itself.

I was not at all surprised with the glowing feedback after seeing first-hand the effort that went in to prepare for these inspections as well as the excellent work that takes place across the Directorate and in our schools on a day-to-day basis.

Colleagues from across the service area put in a great deal of effort to gain these results through interviews with inspectors, wider discussions on related topics and the gathering of evidence and information. 

Special mention also goes to Trevor Baker who served as the Local Authority’s link with the Estyn Inspection team and ensured that all their needs and requests for information were met.

Another notable success has been the establishment of the Pencoedtre Thriving Communities project.

This sees Holton, Colcot, Jenner Park, Cadoxton and Oakfield primary schools and Pencoedtre High school work in partnership with Council staff and colleagues from the Public Services Board (PSB) to improve the lives of residents in this area.

Services such as Housing, Benefits, Money Advice, Community Development and Sports and play are delivered in conjunction with health colleagues to join up services and offer comprehensive all-round support.

This is a perfect illustration of the success that can be achieved by Council services working in partnership with a range of other organisations in a particular location.

Tackling deprivation is a key Council priority and projects such as this are blazing a trail for future work and demonstrating exactly what can be achieved.

Further good news came from out Public Performance Assessment (PPA), with the panel hugely impressed with what they saw during a recent visit.

This saw the Council visited by a group of experts, which offered an exciting opportunity to get some fresh perspectives on how we are doing in key areas.

The panel provided some excellent insight on how we can become more outcome and future focused and increase our resilience when delivering key services to our residents.

They also offered feedback on the Council’s leadership, the Corporate Plan and Reshaping Programme, which will help shape those important pieces of work moving forwards.

I’d like to thank all staff that met with the panel and helped prepare for their visit. It was a productive and stimulating four days and I’m sure that will be of huge benefit as we head towards 2025.

As I have mentioned many times recently, the Draft Corporate Plan sets out how the Council will look by 2030 and beyond.

I hope you are all as excited and optimistic as me as we look to embrace the Reshaping Programme and realise those ambitions.

In five years’ time, we hope to have achieved our Project Zero target to become a carbon neutral organisation.

There is a variety of work taking place to accomplish this and much progress has already been made.

After building the first new zero carbon school in Wales, all of those newly constructed now have a range of environmentally friendly features.

We have also taken huge strides to promote active travel, with more routes created across the County, encouraging people to walk and cycle more.

We have also introduced a Safe Streets scheme so pupils can travel to school using those modes of transport, boosting health and wellbeing while also protecting the planet.

The Council continues to lead the way in recycling thanks to the dedication of Colin Smith, Bethan Thomas and the rest of the Waste Team.

Our source separated system has been rolled out across the country and the Waste Transfer Station in Barry means we now have a purpose-built facility to process what’s collected.

This has seen the Council named as one of the top three performing Local Authorities in Wales for recycling.

That fact is all the more impressive when you consider Wales is one of the best countries in the world in this area.

It means the Council really is operating at the very elite level when it comes to waste.

Further 2024 standout moments include securing Levelling up and Future Plan for Towns funding for Barry.

That will see the Mole on Barry Waterfront transformed by £20 million of funding that will be used to create a new watersports centre, marina and park and the Dock Office converted into a new commercial space for businesses.

A similar amount of money will also be spent on revitalising the wider Barry area and empowering the community to make sustainable changes to the town.

A 10-year plan has been developed to identify priorities for the funding and we should start to see investment in individual projects being developed as we move through 2025.

Our Social Services department continues to perform heroics by caring for Vale residents most in need.

Colleagues in that area carry out vital work on a daily basis and have a real, profound impact on people’s lives.

As well as the many individual contributions that make a huge difference, this Directorate has also had some major collective successes.

Perhaps most notable has been work to prevent bed blocking in our local hospitals.

In the Vale we now have virtually no Delayed Transfers of Care (DTOC), meaning as soon as someone is well enough to leave hospital they can and then be cared for at home or in the community. This is in stark contrast to many other areas of Wales, where there are significant delays in transfers out of a hospital setting.  This is firm evidence of the hard work and dedication of our staff in this aspect of

our work. It also demonstrates an ability to see the bigger picture and the impact that our services can have on improving the lives of our residents whilst at the same time easing the pressure on the NHS.

Finally, I’d like to say a huge thank you to each and every one of you for your efforts this year.

It has been testing at times and there have been many challenges, but as a group of staff you have consistently risen to the challenge. Everyone should be incredibly proud of what has been achieved as we continue to work for our residents and communities with a key aim of improving the lives of all those who rely on our services and live in the Vale of Glamorgan.

For those that can, please have a relaxing break, a very happy Christmas and a healthy New Year.  For those of you who will be working over the festive period, and many of you on the frontline will be on duty and providing vital services, a sincere thank you from me.

And enjoy the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special!

I’m sure many of you will be tuning in, as will I, to see the Vale attracting attention once again.

Diolch yn fawr Iawn,

Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda,

Rob