Friday 9 November 2012

It is really good to be back in Wiltshire and to be back in the office. I am pleased to update that Ron is back too and recovering at home and I have spent the week juggling council commitments and business with Ron’s rehabilitation and care and it’s been busy on both counts.

Last week my blog focused on the official opening of County Hall and the visit of Baroness Hanham. The event and her visit brought communities and the public together and she was extremely impressed by our approach to delivering the campus programme and how we are transforming our public buildings. She has publicly praised us in the two articles below, which I thought may be of interest.

http://www.theinformationdaily.com/2012/11/04/wiltshire-council-could-have-85m-in-20-years-through-property-shuffle

http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsstories/newsroom/2248617

I would like to extend my thanks to the team who organised the visit and have worked with the Department of Communities and Local Government on the pathfinder scheme which highlights the innovative work that we are doing to make the best use of our buildings.

This week we had a busy cabinet meeting and we made some key decisions. We considered the integration of health, which will take place on 1 April next year. As part of this we discussed the management of this service area and agreed that the roles of the corporate director with statutory responsibility for adult social services and the joint director of public health are integrated to create one new corporate director post with joint statutory responsibility for adult social services and public health.

The council must have a statutory senior role for public health as part of the integration. The decision means that we will not increase the leadership model to four corporate directors but it will remain as three, reflecting the current leadership model. The process for this restructure will reflect the public health functions transferring into the council on 1 April 2013.

 Our decision took into account the increasing demands on our resources, as well as budget pressures and the opportunities that integrating these services can deliver.  By not increasing to four corporate directors we will save around £170,000 per year, which will be reinvested into key front line services.  

 We also discussed volunteering and how many people currently volunteer in our county. Recent research by the University of Bath, estimates that more than 109,000 people regularly volunteer to support projects and organisations across the county. As you know this is close to my heart; especially after this year when so many people got involved in organising and delivering events and activities in their local communities, including over 1,000 council staff. The challenge now is how we capture this enthusiasm and keep it going. The Legacy Steering Board is up and running and is already taking a number of actions to build on this year’s success.

 We also talked about the improvements to our waste collection services and I am delighted that the changes we implemented earlier this year have had a huge impact on our recycling figures. Currently we are recycling 48% of household waste and we will achieve 50% well ahead of our target date of 2014. We still need to recycle more though and send less to Landfill so that we can avoid paying additional Landfill Tax which is increasing each year.

 This time next week the new Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) will have been elected. Our teams, working with Swindon Borough Council will have counted through the night, so that Wiltshire will have an early result, ahead of the rest of the country. Our teams will help with the election, the communications and keeping the roads clear – in the event of any bad weather. It will be interseting to see the turnout figures and level of public interest in this new role.

I understand that two new dates for staff forums have been scheduled in Chippenham and Devizes. I would encourage you to attend if you haven’t already as these forums are a really good opportunity to find out what’s happening in the organisation and to share your views and thoughts, or ask any questions that you may have. It will be good to see you.

And finally, this week I was invited to speak at the launch of an exhibition and book written by local author Richard Broadhead. The book and the exhibition, which is at the Yelde Hall in Chippenham, tell the stories of Chippenham Soldiers in the Great War of 1914-1918 when every Wiltshire Community suffered a catastrophic loss of its young sons. Richard has researched the lives of those who fell in intimate detail, and in this book the family tragedies in those years come alive. Here’s the link to his website for those of you who may be interested www.wiltshiresoldiers.co.uk.  The launch of the book and exhibition is timely as Remembrance Sunday this weekend will remind us of those who sacrificed their lives for us during wars.

Jane