Tuesday 31 January

Hello everyone and my sincere apologies that I literally ran out of time to write my blog last week! Last week was a really busy week as we delivered the first two budget consultation forums in Trowbridge and Devizes and staff forums for hundreds of staff in Trowbridge and Salisbury and the corporate awards event at Center Parcs.

The budget consultation forums are an opportunity for us to ask the public to make some tough decisions on where money should be allocated in next year’s budget. People attending were given a bag of balls (15 green and 15 red) each with a value of £100,000. The green balls they could spend on more or new services and the red where they would make savings from services to pay for the extra spend. The choices were interesting as we included offering free swimming for the under 16s in the school holidays, to reducing street lighting in community areas, to investing more into local projects or closing toilets. Participants were briefed to make sure that their spend and save had to balance. The initial results were interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of this week’s forums in Chippenham and Salisbury. The feedback will be incorporated into the budget report for overview and scrutiny and full council on 9 and 15 February.

It was good to see so many of you at the staff forums and to discuss our plans and the focus for this year. The new leadership team and I were pleased to answer your questions and to hear some of your ideas for improving what we do. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the forums this week in Devizes and Chippenham.

The highlight of last week for me was the corporate awards evening. It was both uplifting and inspiring to spend an evening with so many staff who were being recognised for the outstanding work they do. The evening was supported by a number of sponsors and they were overwhelmed by the diversity of what we do and the stories about individuals and teams and the impact they have had on the local communities in Wiltshire.

Some people question the need for these awards, but I have to say that in times of challenge and change it is the drive and hard work of so many of you that really makes a difference. The monthly awards for 2012 will be launched this week and I would encourage you to nominate your colleagues and give them the recognition they deserve for their hard work and commitment to making Wiltshire a better place.

I would just like to say a big thank you from me for the outstanding work that you do.

Jane