Friday 30 November 2012

This week has been really busy and highlighted to me the diversity of what we do and what our communities do. I returned from a short family break in France to spend Monday working with the cabinet members and corporate leadership team on next year’s budget. The challenge we face is how we meet the demand for growth in some of our services as well as managing the reduction in funding from central government, whilst also continuing to invest in our front line services. We had a very productive day and agreed a number of actions to look at where savings could be found and where growth and investment will be needed next year.

Monday evening I attended a meeting in Chippenham to discuss a location for a skate park. This is an issue that has been going on for many years and some of you may remember that there used to be a skate park located next to the Olympiad Leisure Centre in Monkton Park, which was removed as a result of noise pollution. It was really good to see lots of young people at the meeting as this is an issue that’s close to their hearts. It was a positive meeting and thoughts and further discussion on a future location will be discussed at the local area board.

First thing on Tuesday morning I chaired the Legacy Steering Board. The meeting was short, focused and really positive. We now have a calendar of events for the next twelve months split into three areas; sports, leisure and health; community events and activities; business and the economy. Working closely with our partners we are delivering a number of events and projects that will create a lasting legacy for Wiltshire. These include hosting a Christmas wealth of Wiltshire market in the atrium at County Hall on Tuesday 11 December. Around twenty stalls will be selling local arts, crafts and produce. This will be a great opportunity to buy some Christmas presents and the traders will be there all day. Other events include meeting the local communities to discuss how we can support them next year with their legacy events and we are organising a large sporting dinner – to be held next May, in the atrium – co-hosted by future Olympians inviting businesses to adopt them ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio.

On Tuesday afternoon, I chaired the shadow health and wellbeing board. A lot of work is underway to integrate public health into the council by next April and to work with the GP’s in Wiltshire. The board discussed and approved the need to advertise and recruit a number of volunteers to sit on a new panel called Health Watch. The panel will be the public watchdog for health matters and concerns raised by local people. We will be looking for a chair and four members to take on these roles ready for April next year.

On Wednesday afternoon I had a regular catch up meeting with Simon Routh-Jones, Wiltshire’s Chief Fire Officer. These meetings are always useful and we discuss what’s happening in our organisations and what we can continue to do to help and support each other. It’s key to the work we are all doing to share information and be aware of each other’s agendas and I’m always keen to progress any opportunities of collaborative working with our partners.

Yesterday morning I was thrilled to welcome visitors from the Central Government Cabinet Office and representatives from around 15 local authorities who were keen to find out more about how we commission our children and adult care services in Wiltshire.  The Cabinet Office approached us to host this visit due to our reputation for innovative commissioning.  I set the scene and gave them a feel for how we do things in Wiltshire and they heard about our Help to Live at Home strategy and our short breaks scheme which was co-produced with parents and carers of disabled children.  Their feedback showed that everyone thought the event was really helpful and thought-provoking, and it is good to get such positive feedback from the Cabinet Office and our peers at other local authorities.

I then did something quite different and took part in opening the exhibition of great bustards in the atrium and unveiled Custard; our newly commissioned bustard, who will have pride of place in County Hall.

I first saw the collection of bustards at the Queens Diamond Jubilee event at Salisbury Cathedral on 1^st May. They were commissioned by a team from the Warminster Arts Society called Go Bustards 2012. More information on Go Bustards, how they were made and decorated and where they are shown, can be seen on their website. I was particularly taken by one of the bustards called Dratsub (that’s bustard backwards if you haven’t worked it out) who was painted like the Wiltshire county flag. I thought it would be a great idea to commission a bustard for our new building from the funding allocated for arts projects as part of the refurbishment, and requested one identical to Dratsub to reflect the Wiltshire flag. We ran a competition asking the under 12’s, who use our library, to name our bustard. The name Custard was suggested by James Cole – 5 years old from North Bradley School and Freya Mitchell – 10 years old from The Mead School in Trowbridge. You can see them in the picture above with the sculptor, Ian Hooper, the artist, Anna-Marie Anderson and Lesley Fudge from the Go Bustards Arts Project. The exhibition of bustards will be on display in the atrium until Friday 7 December and is well worth a look.

In the afternoon it was good to visit the depot in Devizes and catch up with the street scene and waste teams. The sessions were lively and reassuringly direct and it’s always good to hear how things are and to talk through our plans for the next year.  Maggie Rae also attended and talked about the integration of health and what this may mean for the teams. This was extremely helpful as staff handling dangerous materials or substances need inoculations to keep them protected. Maggie shared some ideas with the team on how this could be done in the future.

I then drove to Salisbury to officially opening the first ever Christmas market. The market, located outside the Guildhall, is a real boost to the city and I hope it will bring visitors as well as local people into the centre to shop.   After the success of this year, I am delighted we agreed to support the market and I have no doubt that the 54 traders will have a lucrative few weeks and it really is a truly magical Christmas event and I would recommend taking time to visit the market if you can over the next three weeks.

And, finally today (Friday) will be an emotional but proud day. I’m spending the day at the 3 Yorks homecoming parade where there will be a service and medal presentations in Warminster and afterwards I will be meeting families of fallen soldiers. The battalion will officially receive the Freedom of the Town in recognition of their outstanding work and achievements during their active service in Afghanistan. I will be watching with pride as the regiment marches through Warminster town in a post-deployment parade, before attending a special service at the Minster Church of St Denys.

And, tonight I will be back in Salisbury attending the advent service at Salisbury Cathedral. I always enjoy this service as for me it marks the start of Christmas and is a reminder of what this time of the year and Christmas is really about.

More next week...

Jane