It’s extremely satisfying to know that what we’re doing in Wiltshire is in tune with central government. This week it was announced that there will be free concerts across the country this summer to mark the legacy following the success of 2012. The intention is to provide an opportunity to bring people and communities together, which is close to our hearts in Wiltshire. We recognised early on the need to capitalise on the success of 2012. At this week’s The Legacy Steering Board meeting we discussed the huge programme of activities and events that are scheduled for this year to continue to boost the local economy, get people more active and bring our communities together. Next week’s Wiltshire Business Expo event in Trowbridge (20 June) is already oversubscribed and highlights the interest and enthusiasm for local companies to promote their services and products. The event includes a host of top speakers and seminars and I will be taking the opportunity to welcome everyone and to launch a special sporting dinner, which will take place in the atrium at County Hall this autumn. The focus of the dinner will be to encourage local businesses to adopt and support a future Wiltshire Olympian or Paralympian in readiness for the Olympic Games in Rio.
It was also really good this week to be recognised for being innovative and doing things differently. I was delighted to welcome several other local authorities to Wiltshire to share our approach to helping older people live in their own homes for longer. Our Help to Live at Home programme is seen as forward thinking and a way to manage the challenge of providing services to a growing older population – and, as we know in Wiltshire we have 15 per cent more older people than the national average and this is growing. We spent the day (Wednesday) talking through how we have transformed services for older people and we hosted several workshops to share what we have learnt so far and the challenges that all local authorities will face in the future. The feedback was extremely positive and I have no doubt we will be asked to run another conference.
It’s good to share best practice and to hear feedback and ideas and I always enjoy meeting other local authorities and our staff. This week I met more than forty new staff at the induction session which shows that where it’s business critical we are still recruiting. The variety of the posts illustrated the diverse range of services we provide and I was pleased to welcome questions about the council and how we work.
Next week I will be spending time with my cabinet members and the corporate directors to develop the council’s business plan for the next four years. The plan will set out our priorities and the outcomes we want to deliver. I’m looking forward to shaping this plan and hearing the views of overview and scrutiny members who will review the first draft at their meeting on the 25 June. At next week’s cabinet we will be discussing several papers including the financial outturn for last year’s budget, the councillors' induction programme following the election in May and the recommendations from the overview and scrutiny task group that looked at the issues surrounding the safeguarding of children in Wiltshire. Their thorough review led to more than forty recommendations which focused on improvement and placed people – rather than targets – at the heart. All the recommendations are being implemented and cabinet will have an opportunity to acknowledge and thank the task group for this invaluable piece of work that addresses one of our top priorities; to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.
And finally where does time go? I celebrated becoming a year older this week but I can honestly say that in my head I’m still thirty something charging around, juggling and always focused on getting things done! Maybe it’s the challenge and diversity of my role at the council that keeps me feeling that way.....and, on that note I’m off to a media briefing and tour of Salisbury Market Place this morning to see the progress on the refurbishment that will revitalise our beautiful City Centre.
Jane.
PS - could I encourage you, if you haven’t already signed up, to take part in a quiz and curry night on Friday 28 June in the atrium. The evening is to raise funds to assist looked after children to take part in a world challenge. In August 2014 Kingdown Academy is sending 40 students to Tanzania to help build better communities as well as schools and houses. As a corporate parent we have agreed to support this fundraising and the more we can raise the better as it will provide a life changing opportunity for our looked after children. The evening will be a couple of hours of great fun and good food, and I’m really looking forward to taking part.
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