Robs Weekly Round Up

24 May 2024

Dear colleagues,

The end to this week has been taken over by the announcement on Wednesday by Rishi Sunak that there will be a General Election on 4 July.

For us in Team Vale work is now underway to prepare for polling day. There’s been a flurry of activity over the past two days. The polling stations and the count venue have been booked. Portacabins, generators, and other equipment have been ordered. Printing slots have been reserved and work to produce tens of thousands of ballot papers is underway.

It was only two weeks ago that I was writing about how well our new arrangements had worked for the Police and Crime Commissioner election. At the time I had a sneaking suspicion we would be putting them into practice again this summer but will admit I did not think it would be quite so soon. I’d like to thank all of those who are already hard at work to prep for the election and who’ve responded so quickly this week.

Next, I’d like to go to an item that I couldn’t quite squeeze into my last round-up. Last week was National Childminding Week where we joined people across the country in celebrating childminders and showcasing the importance of their role within the Welsh childcare sector. As part of this our Family Information Service and Childcare Workforce teams attended a celebration event at Romilly Park, organised by local childminder of 12 years, Sarah.

Supporting the childcare sector, in this case by helping to recruit, train and support new childminders, is an area of our work that is very important but probably not that well known. Childcare is vital to enabling parents to find the right balance between work and their family commitments as well as offering flexible employment for carers. It contributes to economic development, early years development, and the wellbeing of thousands of families.

Some of our colleagues spoke really passionately about the importance of this work at the event last week, as did Sarah. Diolch yn fawr to the team behind both the event and the wider work to support the sector.

I think now more than ever it is important to celebrate the work our organisation does that may not immediately spring to mind when people think of the Council. If you think that applies to your team, then please do get in touch so we can share this with the wider organisation and beyond.

We all know our Council is made up of a wide range of services and colleagues and so it was with real interest that I tuned in to part of the Learning Café session last week on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator framework.

The session brought together colleagues to look at how personality types shape our interactions and productivity. Rather than a traditional teaching session it was designed to help people explore their own learning styles and how to use the strengths of their colleagues. This is just the type of learning that will help us build a more cohesive Team Vale for the future.

Although I couldn’t join it all I have heard some excellent feedback from those that did. I’d like to thank the OD & Learning Team and in particular Gen Webster who led the session. Due to its success, there will be a follow up session in the next few months, and I’d urge you all to sign up if you have the chance.

Earlier in the year I wrote to you all thanking those in our transport team whose work had secured a significant amount of funding for active travel improvements for the Vale. With these schemes now set to progress the team have moved to develop the next set of proposals for the Vale.

 To do this they need to hear from as many people as possible about a proposed active travel route connecting Barry and Dinas Powys, and in particular on how to improve walking, wheeling, and cycling connections in this area.

The team hosted an engagement event earlier this week but anyone who missed it is still able to view the proposals and provide feedback online.

Improving active travel infrastructure and encouraging the use of alternative modes of transport to the car is one of the most effective things our organisation can do to help tackle climate change. There are also now two ways for staff to help tackle the same challenge from a very different angle.

Firstly, I am very pleased to be able to share the first of a new series of staff rewards. Following a review of our approach to staff rewards earlier in the year our HR team has been working to develop some new offers that allow us to say thank you to our staff and at the same time show our organisation’s values in action. 

Pugh’s Garden Centre in Wenvoe will now be offering an exclusive discount package to all Vale staff, focusing on sustainable gardening practices. There will be a new discount each month. You can find out about the first and how to claim it now. Hopefully this gives a few colleagues a great excuse to get out into the garden this weekend.

Or alternatively if that doesn’t appeal but you’d like to get your hands dirty and help our response to the nature emergency why not join forces with our Parks and Grounds team for the Floral Harmony volunteering event. This new initiative at Romilly Park in Barry is dedicated to nurturing our green spaces by getting colleagues involved in planting and maintaining flower beds. You can take part between 4 and 6 June from 10.30am. If you are interested, you can sign up now.

Finally, I’d like to give my best radio DJ shout out to the Healthy Living Team who have been featured all this week as part of Bro Radio’s ‘cake run’. Earlier today the Bro Radio team called into the office to present the team with some Friday treats to share with colleagues. The work of the team has been mentioned on air every day this week. They even managed to choose a selection of songs with an exercise theme. It’s been a great way to share what the team do as well as raise awareness of the free playschemes and play sessions that will be open to people during the holidays. Gwaith da team.

Thanks as always to everyone for their hard work this week. I hope you all have some chance to enjoy a break over the long weekend. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Rob.