Looking forward to the forums

Book your forum place today

We hope you’ve booked your place at the annual staff forums, which get underway next week. We’re pleased with what’s planned –  there’s plenty of interaction, film footage and information that we hope you find useful.

Looking forward to seeing you all there…

Bellissimo! Italian restaurant reopens in the heart of Salisbury

Zizzi in Salisbury reopened this week; marking another significant milestone in the city getting back to normal and moving forward. We’re really pleased to see this popular restaurant reopen following a refurbishment – a sign of Zizzi’s commitment and confidence in Salisbury.

 In the run up to Christmas it’s the perfect time to have Zizzi back and together with all the fantastic festive activities on offer including the Christmas Market and ice rink, we are confident Salisbury is going to have a really busy and successful couple of months.

They unveiled a stylish makeover

Zizzi is proud to be part of the community

Welcoming new recruits

We welcomed Helean Hughes to the Corporate Leadership Team this week. Helean is our new director for education and skills, and brings significant senior leadership experience in local government and education and look forward to working with her.  

We also  met new staff at the corporate induction event this week. There’s never been a more challenging and exciting time to work in local government and we always enjoy welcoming new people and their ideas and fresh perspective.

Planning with the leader

We have some valuable time booked in with council leader Jane Scott, and her deputy John Thomson this week. This will give us a good opportunity to do some forward planning and ensure the council’s priorities are on track. 


This year has demonstrated that anything can happen and that it’s not always easy to plan for the totally unexpected, but it’s how you respond and manage in these circumstances. It will be time well spent and the opportunity to look ahead.

National Armed Forces Day means business

To help launch our exciting plans for National Armed Forces Day 2019, a VIP military dinner took place at Larkhill this week with the county’s leading businesses.

The aim was to secure their support and funding for the event. Together we can deliver a spectacular occasion that recognises the role and value of our Armed Forces; particularly this year in Salisbury and Amesbury.

 
Out and about meeting teams

Carlton has spent some time with the adult Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) team this week. The adult MASH was formed as part of our adult social care transformation programme and enables us to work with partners more effectively to safeguard vulnerable adults.

In a short space of time the team have quickly established themselves and are doing some great work for those who need it most.

Carlton also met our court of protection team and the team based at the Salisbury Foundation Trust. These committed teams work tirelessly to support vulnerable people and it was great to spend some time with them.

Working together to protect the vulnerable

Terence attended the Wiltshire Safeguarding Children’s Executive Board earlier in the week. This regular meeting is made up of a range of professionals to ensure we are all working effectively together to keep children in Wiltshire safe. The more we communicate with each other and collaborate, the more effective our safeguarding of the most vulnerable children and families across the county. 

Weekend of remembrance

Our Wall of Remembrance is currently on display at County Hall

This weekend is the time to remember and pay our respects to the members of the Armed Forces who served and sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. As this year marks the centenary of the end of the First World War it is an even more significant and solemn occasion, particularly as Wiltshire is proudly steeped in military tradition.

Our Wall of Remembrance, helped created by Wiltshire pupils, is back on display at County Hall and it's well worth paying it a visit to see the names of local people who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Salisbury Cathedral and the Royal British Legion have also worked together to arrange the projection of falling poppies on the front of the historic landmark from the 8 to 11 November – it will be a striking and powerful image, and a fitting tribute.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

 

Tech challenges and winter challenges

ICT – back up and running

We have to start this week’s blog with a thank to everyone in ICT for all they have done this past week to respond to the many issues caused by a cable being accidentally severed by a utilities company. It’s been a challenging time but the team worked round the clock to get as many services back up and running, as quickly as possible. Thanks to all of you for your patience too, as we know it wasn’t easy operating with limited, and in some cases no access, to emails and files.

A care package with lots of promise

Young people receiving their Care Leaver Promise

A couple of weeks ago we mentioned that cabinet had outlined plans to provide support for care leavers. Last week we invited those who will benefit from that support to come and find out about the Care Leaver Promise - a package of support and benefits for those leaving care. We want them to feel supported and the range of benefits in the promise include help on finance, health and leisure, accommodation and employment.

This transition can be a challenging time. The promise aims to provide the support that’s needed and hopefully result in a positive long-term impact.

This is an ambitious scheme and one we’re very proud to support. This is just the start of it as well - we aim to keep developing it and making sure they have plenty of opportunities. If you think there might be some opportunities for care leavers in your service area of work please let us know.

Cold weather challenges

Winter is a challenging time for a lot of our services. During this current cold snap, the highways team is ready with their 24 gritting vehicles and salt stock (more than 13,000 tonnes), and have been out monitoring and making sure the roads are clear. 

Likewise, teams from across the council including public health and adult social care are making sure that plans are in place to help keep people as safe and as warm, as possible.

Many of our teams work tirelessly to keep Wiltshire moving and safe, and we appreciate their commitment and the fantastic job they do.

Growing our own

We held a good session as part of our leadership and management programme that focused on ‘growing our own’ and helping you to develop, as much as you want to. If you are aspiring potential manager, please look at grow and speak to your line manager, as there are plenty of opportunities available.

Crunching the numbers

Money has been on our minds again as we continue to meet regularly to finalise the budget for next year (2019/2020).

The cabinet member for finance is hosting four public meetings next month to talk through the future direction of the council. We know that financial decisions will need to be made by Full Council and these forums provide an opportunity to explain the context for any changes and decisions, and it’s always good to hear the views of residents and the challenges that they face, as well as their ideas on where we can improve what we do.  

Our finance team is also carefully looking at this week’s national Autumn budget announcement and awaiting more information to see the details behind the main headlines. We’ll keep you updated on that.   

Salisbury set for Christmas spectacular

The popular Christmas market in Salisbury

The clocks went back this weekend and can you believe it’s less than two months to Christmas. The festive season for retailers and traders is a vital time and more so this year in Salisbury and Amesbury.

To provide a much-needed boost as part of the economic recovery we are supporting activities focused around the Salisbury Christmas Market. This year there will be the addition of an ice rink and live entertainment, as well as a nutcracker trail and the annual lantern parade. The ice rink, a new and exciting venture for the city, will be in the Guidhall Square and open for bookings from 15 November through to 6 January. With free park and ride on offer, may be consider Salisbury as a destination for your Christmas shopping and a skate this year!

Alistair, Carlton and Terence 

A week of meeting staff, rewarding great work...and Daleks

Pop a question and get engaged

We’re looking forward to hearing all your questions at the staff engagement forums.

Just a quick reminder to book your place.

We would like you all to attend so please book a venue near to your main hub, if possible. We’re working with HR to plan these events carefully so that we make sure they are as valuable as possible for everyone.

Thanks due for a good job well done

It’s always rewarding to thank staff for a job well done, and this week sees us present some much-deserved recognition at the Achieving Excellence Awards.

These awards honour work that might otherwise sneak under the radar. The stories behind the nominations are inspiring and interesting, and if you have been shortlisted we look forward to meeting you and congratulating you in person.

Book your ‘Bring a Corporate Director to Work’ day

We’re keen to venture around Wiltshire and visit where you work as much as possible.

This week Terence went on his travels to meet some of the leisure teams, and our social care teams based in, and around Chippenham. The meeting with leisure centre users and hearing their experiences was very interesting and helpful.  It was also good to hear about excellent outcomes for our most vulnerable children and young people.  Terence was impressed by the commitment shown, and valued the advice given on how we can improve our offer.  

We will be visiting all your teams; please let us know when you have team meetings, or something you wish to showcase, and we will do our best to get there.

Long term planning to help Salisbury and Amesbury thrive

The Maltings in Salisbury

As we have said in the past few weeks, Salisbury and Amesbury are both now getting back to normal, and we have recently reached another significant milestone. Boots the chemist in Amesbury has now been handed back following cleaning and the management team there are now carrying out their own maintenance work before reopening. This is excellent news for the local community. There are now just two sites still getting specialist cleaning work – Sergei Skripal’s house in Salisbury and Charlie Rowley’s flat in Amesbury. 

We are now in the process of recruiting a team to drive the long-term recovery of South Wiltshire and help the area thrive as much as possible.

Setting boundaries

Just to update on a few events and meetings that took place this week…

One of the main topics discussed at this week’s full council meeting was the review of boundaries and political divisions in the county. These changes will come into effect after the next scheduled local elections in 2021.

The Local Government Boundary Commission has recommended that Wiltshire Council retains 98 councillors, but there will be some significant changes to the set-up of divisions.

This will affect every resident in the county one way or another so it would be worthwhile to have a look at the webpage and find out more about the process and possible outcomes.

The Wiltshire Public Service Board brought together a number of organisations to share ideas and information. There was a lot to discuss including the Local Plan, military covenant, and a look at some of the lessons learnt following the incidents in Salisbury and Amesbury.

We also met with colleagues at the FACT Programme Board meeting to discuss the progress of the programme and ensure we’re staying on track. It gave us an opportunity to review the feedback from the recent partnership event and what we can learn from that, and we also took a look at the overall work programme to see if our method of working continues to be the most effective. We want the FACT Programme to stay fresh and relevant and these get togethers keep the pace of the programme moving and helps steer it in the right direction.

The Health and Wellbeing Board also took place this week. Winter preparedness was high on the agenda. With the weather inevitably getting colder at this time of year it can be a tough time for older and vulnerable people. Services across the council will be working together, and with partners, to ensure we help keep people as safe as possible and that health and social care teams work collaboratively. Our adult social care team will be central to this, and their transformation programme that’s currently underway is already significantly strengthening the service at this vital time of year.

 All the fun of the science fair

Finally, if you happened to be in the vicinity of County Hall on Tuesday you couldn’t have ignored the buzz of our Science and Engineering fair.

It’s not every day you wander around the atrium and bump into Daleks, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and R2D2, but it was that kind of day.

It's not everyday we see a Dalek in the atrium

The fair – attended by primary school children from all over the county - aimed to inspire our future generations and spark their imaginations, to ignite a life-long interest in science and engineering. And given the large number of attendees and their enthusiastic participation in many activities, I think we achieved that spark.

Wiltshire has a rich engineering heritage, and it’s an industry we are continually helping to develop as it brings so much to the county. Hopefully, this event played a part in fostering the sense of wonder and discovery that can encourage tomorrow’s innovators, and sustain this county’s contribution to a crucial area of endeavour.

Children were enthralled at the fair

We'll speak again next week

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Staff forums on the horizon

Book your place for the forums

We’re looking forward to seeing you all at this year’s staff engagement forums, which get underway next month.

The forums are one of the highlights of the year as it’s an opportunity to talk face to face on the direction of the organisation, the priorities and focus for the future and your role in achieving these. 

Every year we try and make the sessions as interactive as possible and your input and feedback will again be a major feature of the time we have together. So, if you haven’t already done so, please book a place at a venue closest to your usual hub, as places are booking up quickly.

A hub re-Bourne

It was good news to see Bourne Hill fully open to the public and staff on Monday.

We would like to thank everyone involved in the Bourne Hill decant for the professionalism they showed during the complicated process of moving offices whilst maintaining high standards of service to the public and we hope you all like the improvements that have been made.  

Alistair recently meeting staff at Bourne Hill

Employees Mark Murnane and Amanda George at Bourne Hill

Budget remains key focus

We are continuing to meet regularly with members and directors to discuss the budget; both this year’s and next year’s. You may recall a cabinet paper last month stated a projected overspend. Whilst this is not unusual at this point in the year, it does mean we have to review spend over the next few months, and look at how we deliver the savings that were approved when the budget was set in February.  While we have delivered a balanced budget in recent years, it is regularly monitoring that ensures we can plan and take action, where it’s needed.

Becky Hellard fills financial post

The director of finance keeps us all on track with the budget and we are currently in the process of recruiting a new director following Michael Hudson, who left the council earlier in the year. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Ian Duncan who stepped into Michael’s shoes for an interim period at such a busy time. Ian will be leaving on 19 October and will be replaced by Becky Hellard on an interim basis. Becky is joining us at a particularly crucial part of the year and we’re looking forward to working with her alongside the cabinet as we look to set next year’s budget. We started the longlisting process of employing a permanent post this week and it was pleasing to see some strong candidates had applied.

Finance is a big challenge for local authorities right now and we look forward to appointing a new director that’s up to the challenge. We will keep you updated.

Taking care of care leavers

Cabinet took place this week and there was some good news for those young people who move from care into independent lives, as it was agreed that the council will waive council tax fees for them up to age 25. This forms part of a newly-created Care Leavers Covenant which we hope supports care leavers in a number of ways at this vital transition in their lives and gives them the opportunities to achieve what they want to.

The latest cabinet meeting took place on Tuesday in the Council Chamber

Meeting the people who matter

Terence will be visiting children’s services team in both Amesbury and Devizes this week. As with the staff engagement forums we mentioned earlier, quality face to face time with staff is always worthwhile, and to get direct feedback, rather than at second or third hand, is much more preferable.

We’ll be working with a number of internal and external colleagues later in the week at a FACT-organised systems leadership training event. The FACT programme brings together many partners and colleagues together, all whom have their own way of working, so this type of training should help ensure we’re working as consistently as possible – which ultimately will be to the benefit of the residents that use our services.

Carlton also attended the last in this recent run of adult social care staff forums, with around 150 people attending.  It was useful to update everyone on the progress of phase 1 of this programme, and to talk with them on what phase 2 will look like. They were all productive sessions so thanks to everyone who came along.

Government visiting Salisbury

And finally, Alistair will be hosting a visit with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on today (Thursday). The visit has a big tourism focus and the Secretary of State will be visiting some of the most popular spots in the city, including the cathedral. We will be implementing a long-term economic plan to ensure the city thrives, and support from the government with this important piece of work is most welcome. 

Salisbury's iconic cathedral 

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Good week engaging with staff and the public

Last week and this week the council is hosting a number of engagement events focusing on supporting people in Wiltshire.

FACT event involving partners and families

On Friday we hosted a Families and Children’s Transformation (FACT) Programme event in Devizes. The event focused on how we work with partners and families to improve the future for children and young people. We discussed ideas with the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Wiltshire Police amongst others, and heard from families, as their input will help influence how we work in the future.  FACT is a huge programme of change with many elements – but, one common goal – how we work together for the benefit of families in Wiltshire. The programme is bringing agencies closer to families so that potential issues or problems can be identified and addressed early. There will be more about the FACT programme as it’s progressed and implemented. It will impact on many areas of the council and as far as we’re concerned, that will be positive. 

                                         Terence addresses the attendees at the FACT Programme Event

Technology helping with dyslexia

We also hosted and facilitated an event (Monday evening) to provide support of a different kind. Dyslexia is a common learning disability but great strides have been taken in recent years to ensure those with Dyslexia have the same opportunities. Three speakers shared information on the latest technology available to help people overcome any problems they may have with their reading, writing and spelling. The event coincided with Dyslexia Awareness Week (which takes place this week) and those in attending found it extremely useful.

Employment opportunities for all

Yesterday (Tuesday) we hosted an EmployAbility Fair in the Atrium at County Hall. This was the second time we’ve hosted the fair and that’s testament to the success of last year’s event. The fair was extremely well attended with more than 160 people coming along, and it focused on employment options and opportunities for local people with a disability.  Around 30 organisations attended including telecommunications providers such as BT Openreach. The event was an opportunity for businesses to tap potential talent just waiting to be discovered. An inclusive workforce provides real value and these types of events help to remove barriers that preclude those with disabilities finding employment.

                                          A packed Atrium at the EmployAbility Fair

Working together to improve health and social care

Yesterday (Tuesday) we held a workshop with partners to assess progress following a CQC review of Wiltshire’s health and social care system.  The review highlighted areas for development, many of which we were already working on.  With our partners we have developed the Wiltshire Integration Programme, which will strengthen links across social and health care and make a big difference to how people journey through the health and social care system.  It was good to reflect on the positive work we’ve done so far and discuss the challenges that lie ahead and how these will be best managed.

Adult social care teams come together

Last week we mentioned our adult social care transformation team was running staff engagement sessions. The first session in Salisbury was attended by 120 staff and was a good opportunity to reflect on the new reablement model introduced in May and its success in helping local residents to live better lives and saving £1m so far. There was lots of interaction and some great questions from a clearly committed workforce. Our thanks go to everyone for their valuable contribution.

Out and about with our social workers

Terence is spending Wednesday shadowing social workers in Salisbury to observe the vital and challenging work they do to support and protect children and young people. Our role requires us to spend a lot of time in meetings, so to have some space to go out with the teams and see front line service delivery is invaluable and definitely time well spent.

Two teams take on the South West Challenge

We’re pleased that Wiltshire Council will be represented at this year’s South West Challenge in Exeter, which takes place this week. This event offers aspiring managers the opportunity to experience issues outside their normal work roles and gain an insight into senior management responsibilities. We’ve entered two teams that will spend the day as management leaders of a fictional local authority tackling tasks that a real corporate team would face.
Good luck to those involved and we’re sure they will enjoy the experience and learn loads.

Council management leaders meet in Taunton

On Friday senior managers across the south west will attend the regular SW Councils’ Chief Executive meeting. Terence will represent us to discuss matters including economic growth in the region. It’s always useful to share experiences and challenges with local authority peers, and exchange ideas that can be implemented.

Back to normal

Last week we announced that free parking after 3pm would be implemented in all our car parks in Salisbury and Amesbury and in all the city’s park and ride sites all day Monday to Saturday. This will help to support local businesses and traders in the run up to Christmas and will hopefully encourage visitors and shoppers to come to Salisbury and enjoy the Christmas Market, and this year the added attraction - an ice rink. Salisbury and Amesbury are getting back to normal and the focus is shifting to the long term economic plan to regenerate the Maltings and promote the city to national and international visitors.

                                          Bustling Salisbury during the recent food and drink festival

And, finally – appraisals all round

All three of us recently had our appraisal with the leader and deputy leader of the council to discuss our performance, priorities and objectives for the next six months. Everyone needs an appraisal to help clarify expectations and discuss their job role and how you can be supported to develop and grow if that’s what you are seeking. All managers will be asked to schedule appraisals over the next few months. 

Alistair, Carlton and Terrence

Significant moment for Wiltshire's health and life sciences industries

New Science Park opens 

Last week was significant for Wiltshire’s health and life sciences industries when Porton Science Park, near Salisbury, officially opened.

We spoke recently about the advantages of hosting a leading global company like Dyson on our doorstep. Similarly, this science park strengthens our status as a place for innovation and high-level skills and jobs.

It’s a very impressive enterprise, and we are proud that working with the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the European Regional Development Fund we helped to secure the funding needed.

Salisbury and Amesbury are getting back to normal

Last week the final site in Salisbury city centre, Zizzi restaurant, was handed back to its owners following a thorough clean up. Working with the owners of all the affected sites in both the town centres we aim to have them open in time for Christmas.

To support the lead up to the Christmas trading period free parking after 3.00pm will be implemented in all our council car parks in Salisbury and Amesbury from next Monday 1 October until Christmas. The five park and ride sites will continue to be free parking all day from Monday to Saturday.

Textbook example of a good campaign 

We released some fantastic stats this week.  

An incredible 9,398 children in the county took part in the Beano-themed Summer Reading Challenge. Between them, they read more than 37,000 books!

Well done to the library team for a successful campaign, and thank you to the 250+ volunteers for their valuable support who help to make this challenge such a success.

EPIC effort in staff engagement 

We recently held our regular forum for senior managers.

It’s always a great opportunity to discuss important corporate matters, which can then be shared with all teams.

Last week’s forum focused on staff engagement, looking at how managers can motivate staff to engage. We know that staff that participate and feel engaged are more passionate and proud of where they work and consequently performance levels are higher.

On a similar note, this week our adult social care team began to run staff engagement sessions where Carlton and cabinet member Jerry Wickham meet staff.  The aim of these sessions is to acknowledge the immense amount of hard work that has taken place over the past year as part of a major transformation project within adult social care to deliver prevention, early intervention and reablement in addition to an approach that builds on people’s strengths and assets to ensure they are as independent as possible.

We are also about to embark on phase 2 of this programme. It will update staff regarding future plans, and gather their thoughts on how we can further implement this approach to support people with a learning disability or mental health condition.  

Digital programme gets underway

Our Digital Programme launched this week, with a presentation to senior managers and some members, including the deputy leader. 

Colleagues from the council and partners Microsoft, Thoughtonomy and itelligent-I, explained how the two-year programme will allow residents to transact with the council online, quickly, securely, easily, all day and any day.

The digital front end will be matched by improvements in our back-office processes, which will include the use of ‘virtual assistants’ – computer software that will do the administrative processes, freeing people up to do work of greater value.  This will be the first use by local government of this exciting artificial intelligence capability.  The programme also includes the development of advanced Business Intelligence processes, involving analysis of ‘big data’ across services, to enable better insights and potentially earlier interventions in support of residents. To put it simply, it will make us a much more efficient forward-thinking organisation.

Cabinet reviews performance and budget

Cabinet met this week and for those of not in the know, or perhaps new to the council, cabinet meets regularly to agree policy, plans and strategies, and the overall direction of the council.

The agenda this week focused on the budget and monitoring how we’re doing, and to ensure plans are in place to deliver a balanced budget at end March 2019. Members also reviewed our overall performance and the progress we’re making to deliver the transformation programmes such as adult care and children and families. We’re pleased to update that we are making good progress and starting to see a difference in service delivery and outcomes for users and customers – so thank you to all of you for your continued hard work.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Unveiling a new Bourne Hill identity

This week we are celebrating our return to Bourne Hill.

It’s a satisfying moment, and one that’s possible only thanks to the hard work of a lot of people.

It’s also a good time to say thanks to everyone for all your patience over the last months.

We know it has at times been a trying and frustrating experience – but as you’ll appreciate, entirely necessary. We had to ensure the building was ready for our staff and the public. And we’ve done that.

We’re also sure that everyone working at or visiting the offices will enjoy the new surroundings.

The silver lining in this difficult episode is the fact that we have seized the chance to create a more attractive, more pleasant and brighter environment that reflects the hubs at Chippenham and County Hall. To name just a few of the improvements, you will see;

• a light and airy atrium, providing a welcoming and attractive entrance to the building
• better lighting, air-con and heating
• more space for break-out sessions
• smarter, more colourful décor – providing a more cheerful and agreeable working atmosphere

Teams had the opportunity to view the offices on Thursday and Friday and to have an update from Alistair on the work that’s taken place as well as ask any questions. The ways of working will be consistently applied over the three hubs including desk ratios, flexible working practices and break out areas for meetings.

This week the Families and Children’s Transformation programme board met. Along with our partners we discussed how we are progressing with projects to help us continue to improve the services we provide for children and young people. There is a new webpage for FACT where you can find out more detail. 

We are preparing for one last push in our canvass, as residents continue to return their household enquiry forms. It might seem at times like an unglamorous admin chore, but in reality it forms an important foundation of our democratic process. Free and fair elections depend on a reliable and accurate electoral roll. That’s why we take such pains to ensure that our voting list is up-to-date, and that everyone who has the right to cast a ballot gets the chance to do so.

This year we aimed to make the process even ever than before, by promoting online and text replies for the enquiry form. More than 159,000 forms of the forms sent out – 72% - have been completed, with 70,000 - 44% - of those returned digitally.

We’re delighted with that response because it means people are securing their right to vote, and because digital responses save money by cutting down postal costs and the time our staff spend on processing forms. It’s a great solution that works for everyone. The canvass ends on 5 November.

Our EmployAbility Fair returns to County Hall in a couple of weeks on 2 October. Teams are working hard to prepare for this event, which supports jobseekers with disabilities by putting them in touch with employers and support services. Around 30 organisations will attend including Wiltshire Police, Asda, BT Openreach and Longleat. Last year's event was well attended and enormously popular, and we’re looking forward to another success next month.

It is unjust and unacceptable that people with disabilities are denied good jobs. We’re so glad that some great organisations in our county, including ourselves, can see past disability and appreciate the value of a more inclusive workforce. There is so much untapped talent waiting to be discovered, so we hope this will provide a productive platform for people with disabilities to showcase themselves to high-profile recruiters.

This has been a week when all three of us have been out and about in the community, meeting staff and staying closely in touch with the way our services are received across the county.

As we already discussed, Alistair met staff at Bourne Hill and has attended a number of other meetings related to the ongoing recovery of Salisbury and Amesbury. 

Carlton has been visiting adult social care teams, and experiencing the important work our teams are doing in the field. He will be out meeting more teams in the coming months.

Terence is scheduled to meet fellow directors of children’s services across the south west today in Taunton to discuss common issues. 

Carlton and Terence also met around fifty new staff attending the induction session yesterday. A lively group who will undoubtedly be an asset to the teams they have joined.

We also met colleagues from Wiltshire Police for one of our regular face-to-face meetings, where we talked about how we work together, forthcoming projects and how we keep the people of the county safe. 

As you can see, it’s already a busy autumn for us and for everyone at the council – just like we promised in our last blog!

Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Six months on and a big week in the Salisbury incident investigation

 This week marked six months since the first incident in Salisbury and a significant move in the investigation, with Counter Terrorism Police having enough evidence to charge two Russian men over the novichok attack. We hope this breakthrough provides reassurance to all those who have been affected by this incident, and shows just how seriously the police have taken this investigation.

Wiltshire Council continue to support Salisbury and Amesbury to ensure they thrive in the long-term. We would like to take this opportunity to again thank everyone right across the council, who have been involved in the recovery work so far. Likewise, we thank everyone who has been carrying out the ‘business as usual’ work as the incidents have had a knock-on effect on workloads. Your professionalism under pressure has been admirable.

While Alistair has been on annual leave this week, we led discussions with directors around the budget and upcoming cabinet and full council meetings.

Carlton attended meetings with our health partners Tuesday along with a visit to FDM printers Thursday, in his capacity as returning officer and electoral registration officer. This visit provided an opportunity to have a tour of the building to ensure the processes and quality assurance of all the print wok for our elections and annual canvass. We left feeling reassured of the quality of work and the systems in place.

Terence has been in various meetings planning and preparing for the impending Ofsted inspection. Terence and Lucy undertook a visit to the safeguarding team in the South of Wiltshire to spent time working with, and learning from, staff and their experiences.

With children now back to school, and some starting for the first time, this week saw the culmination of all the hard work of our admissions team in allocating places. As you can imagine this is an immensely difficult logistical challenge. Now the process starts again for next year’s school places, we wish our fabulous admissions team luck!

Dyson revealed plans to submit a planning application for their proposed campus at Hullavington Airfield last week. If it all goes through the plans will bring investment and high-skilled jobs to the county. Having a global brand like Dyson on our doorstep has been extremely valuable to the Wiltshire economy and it’s encouraging that they clearly value the opportunities available in our county.

Speaking of investment, this week’s Melksham Area Board heard a report on the progress of the town centre campus. Plans are moving forward well and when it opens as expected in 2021, it will provide a modern facility with a long-term sustainable future. It was also confirmed at the meeting that unfortunately the difficult decision has been taken to close the Christie Miller Sports Centre permanently next month. The centre is run for us by Places for People, and their staff will be offered jobs at other centres. It needed expensive work to get the centre to a good state to operate effectively, and that really wasn’t sensible given it was going to be replaced in the long-term. The centre was always going to close as part of the campus project which will be disappointing for some who use the leisure facilities or are based at the centre however, we will work to relocate the clubs that use the centre as best we can.

Melksham has seen major investment over the last 18 months, and the campus will be an impressive asset right at the heart of the community.

We’ll speak to you again next week.

Carlton and Terence

The start of a new term awaits

Can you believe that next week will be ‘start of term’ as September arrives and we move into a busy and challenging end to this year?

Hopefully you’ve been able to take a break over the summer period and recharged as the calendar of council, team and project meetings resume. As the autumn approaches next year’s budget planning gets underway. This is an annual process but throughout the year we discuss delivery of savings and additional income with the extended leadership team and cabinet members. You may be aware of recent reports of other councils that have reported being at near-breaking point financially; whilst this is not the situation in Wiltshire, we recognise the value and need for careful and detailed plans and review.

Updates on next year’s (2018/19) budget will feature in our blog until it’s finalised in February. It’s important that everyone is aware of our overall financial situation as this is the basis of the context for many decisions that need to be made.

The autumn will also see public meetings being arranged that provide an opportunity for cabinet members to talk to local communities about the council’s vision, focus and the challenges that we face.

This week the Local Government Boundary Commission for England announced that it is ‘minded to’ recommend that Wiltshire Council retains its current number of councillors of 98 beyond the next elections in 2021. If this proposal goes ahead it doesn’t mean the status quo will remain as there are likely to be changes to electoral divisions.

We’d recommend you look at our electoral review pages which explain the process. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England are now publicly consulting on their conclusions and the Wiltshire Council Electoral Review committee are also looking for people’s views – and council staff are included in that. They can be emailed to committee@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Next week (Tuesday 4 September) marks six months since the incident in Salisbury. This milestone date is a focus for local and national media and BBC’s Inside Out programme on Monday (3 September) features Salisbury and how the city has coped and is moving forward.

On a lighter note you may have seen a story this past week about a woman who wrote a poem to appeal against a parking ticket. Our appeals officer replied with a poem of his own to confirm that her appeal had been successful (for legitimate reasons we should add, not just for her rhyming skills!). The woman was delighted with her reply and the good humour shown and the story was covered by national media, and there was also a lot of positive feedback across social media about how we handled this.  Sometimes it’s good that the public can see that the council is made up of real people with real personalities. It’s also good to see the parking team get a warm response as they work so hard and rarely get positive publicity.

We don’t think we’ll roll out any poetry training on grow any time soon - even though clearly that’s the way forward for positive customer interactions…

Have a good weekend

Alistair, Carlton and Terence