Milestone in Salisbury recovery

Hello,

We reached a significant milestone in the recovery of Salisbury this week with the Maltings site area being handed back to the recovery coordinating group by Defra following extensive cleaning and testing by specialist teams.

Work will now be carried out to repair and clean the area ready for opening. Other potentially affected sites – including nearby Zizzi and The Mill pub – are being cleaned by specialist teams. Defra is overseeing the work based on expert advice, and with the support of specially trained MOD personnel.

We’re now just over a week away from the grand final of elite cycling's OVO Energy Tour Series which will take place in Salisbury. The race action will be shown in two hour-long highlight programmes on ITV4 in the UK, as well as in over 100 countries worldwide, showcasing Salisbury to an international audience. From our perspective, it isn’t just about cycling of course, and there will be a range of free fun activities taking place during the day, with something for everyone to enjoy in the city.

An update on the Salisbury recovery was given to members earlier today at Full Council by Jane Scott and Alistair, outlining the progress which has been made and the support we have given to businesses, and the city more widely. The update finished with a round of applause from members for a job really well done to the very wide range of people and organisations who have been involved in the recovery – a sentiment echoed by us. To keep up to date on Salisbury developments, follow Wiltshire Council on Twitter and visit our dedicated webpage at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/salisbury

Another milestone this week – this time in adult social care where the transformation programme entered another phase with a new structure model now in place which will underpin a number of changes that will gradually be introduced over the coming weeks and months. We believe these changes will significantly improve how we provide these care services. These include further developing our Help to Live at Home service, improving people’s first point of contact to the service, introducing an adult care Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) based on the model we have in place for children, creating and running a council reablement service, and continually developing how we commission services. We will keep you updated, but for more information on some of the work the team are doing, please visit The Wire.

Another key transformation programme is digital, which is helping to improve how we will deliver our services more efficiently and effectively into the future. Part of this is making it as easy as possible for members of the public to report issues and so we’ve given the web version of My Wiltshire a fresh new look which will hopefully improve the overall experience for the user. The system is now a well-established means for people to contact the council about a range of issues at a time it suits them, and overall it has helped us become a much more efficient and responsive organisation. You can find out about all the changes on our website, and we should point out that the app version of the system won’t be changing just yet.

Finally, we joined with the rest of the organisation in joining in the minute’s silence held today to mark the first anniversary of the Manchester Arena attack. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this terrible incident.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence