Robs Weekly Round Up

18 October 2024

Dear colleagues,

Thanks to Tom for taking over this message last week while I was away. It’s good to be back and even better to return to so much good news.

This week began with the launch of the consultation on the draft of our new Corporate Plan. As you have all now heard me say many times the plan sets out an ambitious programme of work to deliver the Council’s vision of Strong Communities with a Bright Future. It also sets out our five draft wellbeing objectives:

• Creating Great Places to Live, Work and Visit
• Respecting and Celebrating the Environment
• Giving Everyone a Good Start in Life
• Supporting and Protecting Those Who Need Us
• Being the Best Council We Can Be

Our Policy and Communications teams have been out this week at a drop-in session in Penarth and at the 50+ Forum AGM in Barry as part of a programme of public engagement on the draft. Over the next few weeks they’ll be joined by colleagues in our Placemaking team in taking the plan to drop-ins in Llantwit Major and Cowbridge and a number of other community meetings.

Meaningful public engagement is hard work and time consuming and can sometimes mean taking part in some tricky conversations. It is, however, central to how we should work as a public body and the only way by which we’ll be able to design services that meet the needs of citizens in the Vale. I dropped into the session in Penarth and heard some really interesting views. Diolch yn fawr to the whole team.

There was also lots of discussion about the Corporate Plan and Reshaping programme at this week’s management development and chief officer development sessions. We’ve been using these sessions to explore with managers at all levels what is required of us as leaders to push forward the changes we need in the organisation.

A recurring theme has been giving colleagues the freedom and permission they need try new things. This is absolutely key to making change happen quicky and I want to be really clear that if anyone thinks they have a good idea to change how they work, how their team operates, or how we deliver one of our services they have the permission to try it. We’ve gathered dozens of great ideas for small changes that can make a big difference in the sessions so far.

Some of these changes will mean supporting residents and communities to do things for themselves. In line with this we have this week launched a scheme to provide free equipment and green waste collections to volunteers who clear leaves in their local area. This complements the work of our street cleansing team who work throughout the year to keep key routes in the Vale clear. Indeed, I had a message only this week to thank the team for responding so quickly to a build up of leaves on a railway bridge in Penarth. Gwaith da!

This wasn’t the only letter of compliment I received this week. I also had a handwritten card from a resident who has been supported by our Community Rehabilitation Service. The card praised the support from the team and the “care and kindness” they had received. It’s always nice to receive messages like this and often they really bring home the value of the services we provide. I’ve already been in touch with the team directly to pass on my thanks but would like to share them again here. Diolch yn fawr tim.

A number of colleagues from our Social Services team and other departments were representing the Vale this week at the National Social Care Conference 2024. The event brings together practitioners at all levels of the sector to share knowledge and celebrate success. A video shared after the event shows some of them in action, including Curtis Griffin from our HR team receiving a standing ovation at the end of this talk. The event was hosted by Lance Carver, our Director of Social Services, and I know has inspired all those who were there to push even harder to drive forward improvements in this very important area of our work.

I’d also like to give a shout out to Linda and Caitlin in our Electoral Services team. The pair were invited to Llansannor and Llanharry Primary School recently to help teach the pupils about local democracy and run the election for the school’s heads of year.

They also gave 4 year 6 children the opportunity to count the votes at the end of the day – hopefully recruiting a few future count staff for us as well! The school were extremely grateful for the support and this is a great example of Team Vale supporting each other. Thanks all.

Another great example of partnership working in our schools was featured on BBC Wales this week. As part of some regional public health work our Big Fresh team have helped pilot an initiative to get more local farm produce into our schools. Doing so means children get fresh local food as part of their school meals and the carbon footprint of the food on its journey from farm to plate is reduced considerably.

Giving everyone a good start in life is one of the draft objectives we are currently consulting on. A healthy and balanced diet is of course important for this and so this project is a great example of how we can deliver our services in new ways to make these objectives a reality.  

The pilot has been a great success and BBC Wales Country Focus visited Ysgol Sant Baruc in Barry recently to hear from Symon Dovey, the Big Fresh Commercial Development Manager, and Georgina Thomas, Kitchen Manager, about how the scheme worked. It’s a great piece and really highlights how thinking differently and trying new things can bring massive benefits. You can listen to the piece online now. 

Creating great places to live, work and visit is another draft objective and another area where the outcome of our work has been in the media this week. Ogmore-By-Sea has been voted the best 'work from home hotspot' in Britain.

Ogmore has benefited from a lot of investment in recent years. Much of which has been administered by colleagues in our Place team through S106 funding. The recently renovated community hall in particular is a great example of the Council working with local community groups to provide new infrastructure and shows the local sense of community that makes the village special. It is great to see residents of the village so content with Ogmore, and the Vale more generally, as a place to live and work.

Today is World Menopause Day, an event that is celebrated every year on 18 October. The day brings together the world’s leading experts on menopause and midlife women’s health to improve the experience of women globally. As part of this our Health and Wellbeing team are helping to promote Menopause Info, the IMS website for women. It is a good resource which has today launched updated information on Menopause Hormone Therapy.

Finally, I’d like to remind all colleagues that Abl, our new staff network for colleagues with both visible and non-visible disabilities, are having their first meeting on Monday 21 October.

It will be held in the Cosmeston Room in the Civic Offices between 3:00 and 4:30. Everyone is welcome to attend. You can join the network by completing the online membership form.

Thanks as always to you all for your hard work this week. Diolch yn fawr pawb.

Rob.