Thank you and merry Christmas

This week we have been tying up loose ends at work before a much-needed Christmas break – that this year more than ever we are looking forward to and, we know it’s the same for all of you.

As this is our last blog this year we wanted to take this as an opportunity to say thank you for all your hard work and commitment this year. We have been truly impressed with everyone’s resilience, hard work and continued good spirits in what has been the most challenging 12 months.  As you saw in the recent staff forum highlights video, we have achieved so much and continued to provide high quality services.

The video could have extended to at least three-hours to capture all the great work you’ve done this year. Editing it down was tough but a good challenge to have.

We are finalising the budget plans for next year and while there are savings to be made we still intend to invest significantly in big programmes of work.

Next year marks the tenth anniversary of Wiltshire Council.

We have grown as an organisation in this past decade and despite the current national uncertainty, we remain optimistic about what the future and what we can achieve in the next 10 years and beyond.

Christmas is a time to support one another and spend time with family and friends. County Hall will welcome those not quite so fortunate with open arms and a turkey lunch on Christmas day.  We want to thank those of you will be at County Hall on Christmas Day to support the annual lunch and those who need a friendly welcome and support on this special day.

Many of our services don’t run from nine to five and we know that many of you will also have to work or be on call over the Christmas period and we thank each of you who has to do that. It is really appreciated, not just by us, but also our residents.

We hope you have a merry Christmas and a great start to the new year. We’ll see you in 

2019…

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Get involved in this year's survey

How is it for you?

The 2018 staff engagement survey launched this week and is now open until 7 January.

We really appreciate you taking the time to complete the survey.

It matters how you feel about working for Wiltshire Council - what we are do well and where we can do better. 

This has been another challenging year with a high demand for on services and more than ever we want you to know that you are valued and have the right support to do your job well.

What you think and your feedback is important as it helps us plan how we do things in the future.

Changes to light up our streets

This week cabinet agreed to invest more than £12m in LED lighting for the county’s streetlights.

It’s been under consideration for a few years, and although it’s a big investment, it will pay dividends in the long term.

Our lighting stock is ageing but this upgrade will give us modern technology that is flexible, cost effective and uses a lot less energy.

Full council will consider the proposals and if approved the two-year installation will start next year.

Wiltshire College and Community First to discuss outdoor education provision

Our proposals to continue outdoor education provision in the county took a step forward with cabinet agreeing to formally progress with the preferred bidders - Wiltshire College and Community First.
Both proposals offer great opportunities for young people and we are looking forward to discussing their plans.

Budget process gathers pace

Our budget planning continues to gather pace and early in the new year it will on the agenda at a number of meetings. The papers are due to be published at the end of January and by the time it is presented to full council in February, the budget will have been discussed at a members briefing, overview and scrutiny meetings and a cabinet meeting, among others. This is a detailed, but necessary and democratic process, as we look to finalise the budget.  

Snail mail falls behind in this year’s canvass

A few months ago we put out a plea to residents to respond to this year’s annual canvass online or via telephone or text. It saves us a lot of money and time in not having to manage as many paper responses.

We’re delighted that for the first time ever more people responded digitally than those who mailed the form back. In fact, 21,329 extra households responded digitally – that’s a great result and we thank all those involved.

Who don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but let’s just say that the elections team could have a busy year ahead of them – so milestones like this are very helpful indeed.

No smoke and mirrors – we commit to tackling tobacco

This week the council pledged to do everything it can to reduce the impact of smoking on health, by signing the Local Authority Smokefree Declaration.

Carlton Brand, Jane Scott and Tracy Daszkiewicz sign the declaration

This is work we have been doing for a number of years, but this re-iterates that it’s one of our top public health priorities. Plans are also continuing to make our main hubs smokefree from March next year.

We know this will require a culture shift and won’t be easy, but we feel now is the right time to introduce this. For those who do smoke but want to quit there is lots of support, including a dedicated health trainer team and detailed information on our smoking support pages. Our public health team will host staff engagement sessions in the new year to talk in more detail about the plans so please keep an eye out for those. 

Keep calm and carry on

This has been another turbulent week for national government and we just wanted to reiterate what we covered at the recent staff forums – that our budget preparation is progressing well and we have done as much Brexit planning as we’re able to at this stage.

Clearly there is still uncertainty about how this will all play out but we are monitoring things closely and we will prepare for any scenario and challenge that could occur.

We’ll speak again next week for our final blog of 2018.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Forums finale

Forums finale – it was great to see you

This year’s Staff Engagement Forums concluded with two packed sessions at Trowbridge.

We’re really pleased with how they’ve gone and we’d like to thank all the teams who helped to plan and run them so successfully.

As we said at the sessions, we will publish answers to all the questions that were asked and will notify you that they are available.

Please feel free to send any feedback on the sessions through to EPIC@wiltshire.gov.uk as we want these to be of value to you, so if we didn’t achieve that, please tell us what you think might work better. Your views are very welcome as they help us to plan future sessions.

Just a note that today is the last day for nominating the team and individual in our Achieving Excellence Winner of Winners.  If you haven’t already voted, please look at the winners and why they won an Excellence award – there’s some fantastic stories in there – pick your winner of winners.

 Wiltshire wares

County Hall this week hosted the annual Wealth of Wiltshire Fayre.

We are aware of a couple of comments on social media from residents querying why we host such an event and if it’s the best use of our resources. Every year we receive positive feedback from the traders and the event attracts people into the atrium, which is a community space.

Self-assess for future success

Today (Friday) Terence is taking part in the South West Region Self-Assessment Peer Challenge. This is a really useful exercise that involves assessing how your own authority works, and where you see yourselves, and then asking colleagues from other areas in the region to challenge that perspective.

We regularly take part in peer challenges as it’s important that we constantly review how we work, and ensure it’s the best possible way to be doing things. Ultimately this is all to the benefit of residents as our services and efficiency improves as a result.

As they say, every day’s a school day and we never want to stop learning. 

Meeting with public service peers

The Wiltshire Public Service Board took place this week. It’s always useful to meet with our public service peers and there was lot of good discussion on a number of issues including an update on our local plan, how we are each progressing on our budget setting, an update on the exciting plans for National Armed Forces Day, and the role we all play in combatting modern slavery.  

Catching up with the CCG

We had a useful meeting with Wiltshire’s Clinical Commissioning Group this week.

As partners our aim is to achieve a seamless join-up of health and social care services – which is a priority.  Winter is a challenging period for these services so we are talking through potential issues and how these can be addressed quickly.

Lights, cabinet, action

It’s cabinet again next week, and the papers are now published.

It’s another busy agenda including proposals for outdoor education provision, and a paper on putting the case for the council to convert streetlights to LED. The meeting will be streamed live, and we’ll highlight the decisions made next week.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Successful opening of new campus

Pewsey welcomes new community campus

The grand entrance to The Vale Community Campus

Our campus and hub programme reached another milestone this week with the opening of The Vale Community Campus in Pewsey. The centre has been busy from the off and people have been giving us some great feedback already.

Over the last few years we have invested in improving and delivering sustainable community facilities, creating multi-purpose services and facilities under one roof.

The new campus at Pewsey has state of the art facilities and the community has been at the heart of this project, from inception to realisation. The campus and hub programme is creating valuable community space and services.

The swimming pool is impressive

SEND services top the agenda at cabinet

Our vision for the future of special schools dominated this week’s cabinet meeting.

People care passionately about these services, as do we, and that was evident in the number of people who attended and spoke on this matter, including parents of children with special needs. It was an emotive meeting.

Cabinet approved the proposal to invest £20m in two new centres of excellence for pupils with special needs and a statutory consultation will now begin as part of the delivery of our vision.

Focus on local service delivery

Cabinet also agreed a scheme that will help smaller communities take on the ownership and running local services and facilities, such as play areas and allotments.

Where it makes sense for both parties, we want to continue to offer communities the opportunity to take over the delivery of services in their local area. Several parish and town councils have taken on services and facilities as they are best placed to deliver these with their local knowledge.

Alistair held briefings in September

Bourne Hill staff engagement session

Alistair will host a follow up staff engagement session at Bourne Hill on 3 December at 3:45pm on the ground floor area behind reception.

This session follows up from those held in September to provide an opportunity to discuss with staff and teams located in Bourne Hill if everything is ok and working well following the recent refurbishment.

Alistair looks forward to seeing you. Could please email events@wiltshire.gov.uk to confirm your attendance.

Forums are full – but watch for cancellations

We’re pleased that the final Staff Engagement Forums are now fully booked, but if you did want to come please keep an eye on the booking form for cancellations.

The last sessions are at Trowbridge’s Civic Centre on 6 December.

Thank you to everyone who has attended so far and for embracing the new format. They’ve been enjoyable and informative for us.

Think Rink for a family outing

The Salisbury Christmas Market and ice rink is officially open

As we’re (unbelievably) nearly in December we want to end on a festive note this week.

This year the council is delivering the Salisbury Christmas Market and Ice Rink experience, which officially opens on Thursday 29 November.

It’s a real winter wonderland and well worth a visit with lots of artisan and individual traders and live entertainment as well as the opportunity to skate on ice to Christmas tunes!

And if that doesn’t bring you festive cheer, next week (Tuesday 4 December) County Hall hosts the annual Wealth of Wiltshire Christmas Fayre, with more opportunity to purchase Christmas gifts and stocking fillers from local small businesses.

Alistair, Carlton, and Terence

Great to see you at the forums

Forums off to a flyer

The forums have been packed so far

Thank you to those of you who have attended this year’s staff forums so far – there’s only two sessions now (in Trowbridge on 6 December). It’s been great to see the sessions so packed. We changed the format so that the sessions are more informal, informative and interactive. We hope we struck a good balance between informing and engaging.

National Armed Forces Weekend plans launched…with a little help from a Panther

Excitement as we launch our plans

Last week was a milestone date in our plans for National Armed Forces Day 2019. The official national media launch was staged in Salisbury’s Market Square, with great military assets; a Rigid Raider boat and Panther armoured car, providing the backdrop for some good photo coverage.

The day started early with almost 100 businesses and charities attending a breakfast event where we outlined our plans and the range of opportunities for them to get involved and offer support. National Armed Forces weekend will celebrate the military and the role they play in protecting the country and their part in in helping Salisbury and Amesbury to get back to normal this year. The three-day programme will bring communities together and we estimate that around 250,000 people will attend.

Investing in our towns and rural communities

This week cabinet committed £8 million to support towns and communities across the county. A 12-month programme will deliver improvements to local high streets and highways including repair of potholes, improve white lining, weed removal, kerb and pavement improvements, verges and improved road signage will be implemented. The funding has been allocated from Government along with some council funding.

In addition, to support high streets and the local economy, cabinet has decided to suspend Sunday charges in all our Wiltshire Council run car parks throughout the county.

Conference raises lots of talking points

There was some great speakers at the conference

Terence attended the 2018 National Children and Adult Services Conference in Manchester last week.

There were lots of thought provoking speakers and discussions. Two that stood out for Terence were a hard-hitting and sobering presentation on the impact of poverty on families and in particular children; and a talk on the challenges facing local authorities with regard to Special Educational Needs and Disability services.

It’s a challenge we know all too well, and following lots of planning and discussion, we have outlined our future SEND vision, and hosted a number of briefings with stakeholders to talk them through the plans. One constant throughout the process is that children have been at the heart of all our planning. The proposals, which centre on two schools – one a new purpose build – will address the need for an additional 220 SEND places and ensure those pupils are getting the specialist support they need. Cabinet will discuss the proposals at their next meeting on 27 November.

County Council Network

This week Carlton and Alistair attended County Council Network conference along with other local authority chief executives. There will be more on this conference next week...

Welcome to Claire & Tom

We’d like to welcome a new director to the council. Claire Edgar has now started as the Director of Learning Disabilities and Mental Health.

Tom Dobrashian joins us this week to lead on the delivery of the south Wiltshire economic recovery and growth plan.  Tom will be based at the Bourne Hill council office working alongside a small team.

Council in good health

We were pleased to welcome Duncan Selbie to County Hall on Monday 12 November. Duncan is the Chief Executive of Public Health England (PHE) and he paid us a visit to talk about our local public health services, and how they work in Wiltshire. He also spoke about his vision for PHE and the role local authorities play in this. We had a productive discussion and Duncan was very positive about the work we’re doing in Wiltshire, which was very gratifying to hear.

Thank you for sharing your day on #OurDay

Our council social media feeds were full of fantastic contributions from you on Tuesday. Once again, we took part in #OurDay and it was lovely to be able to share so many snapshots of your roles at the council. #OurDay gives residents the chance to peep behind the curtain and see some of the faces behind our work, this brings us closer to the communities we are serving, and gives an insight of what it is like to work at Wiltshire Council – thank you to all those who got involved in the annual Tweet-a-thon, if you  missed it please take a look at the council’s Twitter feed to catch-up with all the posts – it’s inspiring. For those who don’t know, we’re also on Twitter as well where you can keep up to date on what we’re up to.

Alistair, Carlton, Terence

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