Hello,
Yesterday Terence received the call from OFSTED and the Care
Quality Commission, who informed him that they will be conducting an inspection
of Wiltshire’s Special Education Needs and / or Disability (SEND) arrangements.
The inspection will run from Monday 29 January to Friday 2 February. These
inspections are a great opportunity for us to showcase all of the positive work
we do with children, young people, and their families in Wiltshire. We’ll keep
you updated on the visit and feedback from the inspection team.
This week, we are working with directors to finalise the
budget proposals for 2018/19, we need to set out the timescales for delivering
proposed savings, and the projected income. The final proposals will be
published on Friday in readiness for the cabinet meeting on 7 February. Briefings
for elected members and the media are scheduled for early next week ahead of
formal discussions at Overview and Scrutiny, Cabinet, and finally Full Council
on 20 February.
Last week we held the first meeting of the year with
managers and heads of service in which we discussed our priorities for the year
ahead, including the transformation programmes in children’s and adults’
services. We also discussed the boundary review, which is progressing this week,
with a meeting of the Electoral Review Committee. The review is an important
piece of work which is considering the total number of councillors; as well as
the number and boundaries of electoral divisions within the council.
As you know, last week we interviewed for the post of
director of education and skills, and we are awaiting confirmation following an
offer of appointment. This week, tier 2 director recruitment continues, we will
be interviewing for two adult care directors, and next week we will interview
for the commissioning role.
Recruitment for the remaining corporate director post (the
joint role with the clinical commissioning group) is being progressed.
In case you didn’t see it, Jane Scott was on BBC Sunday
Politics West. The main focus was the changing role of libraries and how, with
the support of 800+ volunteers, we are helping to protect this service and
combat the growing issues around isolation and loneliness. Calne Community Hub and
Library and its Open Access system were featured. If you missed it, the section
can be accessed here. If you did watch the programme and
saw the section on air quality, you may be interested to know that we are
reviewing our policy. While this is a national issue, and one where there is no
easy and accessible solution, we need to make sure that we, and our local
communities, take action to make the air we breathe as clean as possible.
Last week, Jane was voted the 39th most
influential person in the public sector in the Local Government Chronicle’s
latest Top 100 ‘power list’. This accolade is based on the council’s
achievements and transformation programmes since it became a unitary in 2009.
Jane said this recognition was not just an honour for her personally, but also
for her cabinet and council staff who work so hard for the people of Wiltshire.
On the theme of recognition – this Thursday we will be
presenting the final quarter Achieving Excellence Awards from 2017. This
ceremony will include the regular team and individual awards and the individual
and team ‘winner of winners’ for 2017 following your votes. We will publish all
the winners on the Wire this Friday.
Finally, you can see our latest highlights presentation here.
Alistair, Carlton, and Terence
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