Robs Weekly Round Up

23 February 2024

Dear colleagues,

Two Estyn teams have been in the Civic Offices this week for their review of our Youth Service and the preliminary stages of their wider Local Government Education Services (LGES) inspection.

Both inspections have so far run very smoothly and this is a testament to the huge amount of preparation that has been undertaken by colleagues in recent weeks.  

Meetings with the inspectors have taken place throughout the week and I would like to thank all of the colleagues in our Learning and Skills, Social Services, and Corporate Resources teams, our schools – support staff, teachers, and headteachers – our governing bodies, and those from our partner organisations who’ve been part of the process to date. The initial feedback that we have received has been very encouraging.

The inspection of the Youth Service is now complete and, after an initial meeting earlier in the week, I had the benefit of meeting the Inspectors again today where they were able to share their initial feedback and findings with me. I know that the entire team have been working flat out to pull together everything required to show the extent and impact of their work. Their commitment, passion and dedication to working with young people across the Vale is plain for all to see. The incredible support they provide has been both observed and recognised by inspectors.

There is no better example of the work the team do to support and empower young people than the Her Voice Wales project. I have written about it many times in these bulletins as it continues to garner praise and scoop awards. Last month it was featured in a television documentary. This month, in fact only last night, it won the Celebrating Youth Work Excellence in Wales award in Llandudno. Special praise must go to Michaela O’Neill and Alex Thomas who’ve supported the girls at the heart of the project throughout. More broadly it is the perfect example of a youth work activity we have enabled that is devised and led by the young people themselves – exactly how we can work with those who need us to build stronger communities for the Vale. I am sure there will be many fine examples of this that I can share in future messages once the Youth Service Inspection report has been finalised and published.

The inspection process is certainly thorough. A further 35 interviews with staff are scheduled for when the Estyn team return next month to continue the Local Education Services Inspection. I look forward to sharing a further update with you all once this second inspection week has been completed. Once again, I’d like to say that I welcome the opportunity to showcase some of the excellent work we do here in the Vale and hear any suggestions for how we can work to an even higher level.

Some of you may have seen another area of high performance in the Vale being highlighted last weekend. The Vale’s recycling performance was identified by the Sunday Times as being one of the best in the UK. It is no exaggeration to say that when it comes to recycling, Wales is up there with the best in the world and the Vale is up there as one of the best in Wales! I mentioned in my message last week that I had been to see first hand how we are able to recycle so much of the material our residents put our for collection when I visited the new waste resource centre in Barry. As a result I was able to give chapter and verse on how such great results are achieved to all of those who sent me the link to the story over the weekend. Thanks again to all of those in our Neighbourhood Services team whose work makes this possible and of course to Vale residents who’ve embraced the new recycling arrangements that we have put in place.

We’ve seen another innovation in how we work from that part of our organisation achieve more success recently as well. The agreement to transfer Seel Park in Dinas Powys to the Community Council on a 99-year lease has now been finalised.

Our parks and green spaces are one of the Vale’s best assets, and some of the most impressive are those supported and maintained in part by local community groups. In this instance Dinas Powys Community Council and the Friends of Seel Park Group are keen to make improvements and better placed than our Council to fund this, being able to directly access a wide range of grants and other funding opportunities. The transfer will allow them to improve the park for residents and visitors to enjoy and the deed of dedication placed upon it from Fields in Trust as part of the process will ensure it is there for future generations to enjoy.

This week has also seen a transfer in a very different sense at the Civic Offices with the HR and Payroll teams the latest to move rooms as part of the Eich Lle – Your Space project. Making better use of our office space and rationalising it wherever possible is more important to our organisation than ever. A huge amount of planning and energy goes into each round of moves. As anyone who’s moved house will well know there are always a few hiccups along the way but as always the Team Vale spirit has helped us overcome these. Diolch yn fawr iawn to all of the Property team for managing the move so effectively and to colleagues in HR and Payroll for embracing the change. Our ICT and Business Improvement teams also played key roles. The next round of moves are being paused while Estyn are in the Civic Offices but once the inspection is complete the teams will be hard at working bring colleagues in our Contact One Vale team into the heart of the building.

Finally, looking ahead to next month, 8 March is International Women’s Day. In 2023 we hosted our biggest ever event to celebrate women and girls in the Vale. The event gave colleagues at all levels of the organisation the chance to share their experiences, network, and inspire each other.

This year the Leader of the Council will be bring people together once more, this time to look at what we can all do support ourselves and each other and inspire inclusion. The event promises to be another great one and if you’d like to be part of it you can register your interest now.

Thanks as always for your hard work this week. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Rob.