This week we held the first full council meeting in the newly refurbished chamber in the old County Hall building. It’s really impressive how technology has moved on since we vacated the building over a year ago - the chamber now has microphones that activate a camera and highlight who’s speaking on three large screens around the chamber, along with a clock that highlights how long each person is speaking. This new technology can do many things, and we will be using this more and more at future meetings, including possibly web streaming the meetings to make them more accessible and to hopefully engage a wider audience. I have to say though that it is slightly disconcerting seeing yourself on the big screens as you stand to make your contribution to the meeting and try to keep focused on the point your making and not on how you look that day! Full council was lively and long and we discussed a number of matters, including how we keep children safe in schools, whether there should be a levy on supermarkets for parking spaces, recommendations from an independent panel on members allowances, the allocation of seats on all the committees following the change in the number of Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors, and responding to more than sixty questions asked by councillors ahead of the meeting.
On the subject of new technology and access to meetings; the three corporate directors and I met more than a thousand staff at forums in Chippenham and Salisbury this week, and whilst it’s always good to see people face to face, we need to look at these meetings being available on web cast and play back in the future, for those staff who are unable to attend the face to face sessions. I have always valued these forums as an opportunity to keep everyone updated on our future plans and what’s happening in the organisation, as well as to hear your views and comments on how you see things; it’s always a good sense check. It became clear during this round of forums that we need to continue to support our managers and teams to work as flexibly as they can in the main hubs, and to recognise what this means in terms of home working, attending meetings, parking and feeling connected to what’s happening. We really do have to make the best use of the new technology we have. We will also be visiting all the depots soon to meet the teams and see how they are. Following this round of forums, I really would welcome your thoughts and ideas on how we can improve these in the future. We want to make sure that they are useful, informative and an opportunity to highlight the great work you all do; please do let me know your views and any ideas.
I mentioned last week a unique and moving exhibition in the atrium focusing on local Wiltshire soldiers who lost their lives in the Great War. The exhibition opened last Saturday (9 November) and in the first 4 hours more than 300 visitors walked through the “the Wiltshire trench”. Next year marks 100 years since the start of the World War 1 in 1914 and Wiltshire lost more men in this terrible war than anywhere else in the country. Local historian and author Richard Broadhead has spent many years researching the impact that this war had on Wiltshire and he brings the history to life through exhibitions and films, including an award winning short film called Letters from a Small Town, which is based on the experiences of soldiers, their families and a nurse from Chippenham, who served their country in WW1. The exhibition, which has certainly set a benchmark for future exhibits in this atrium space, has been so popular that Richard has agreed to extend it for another week. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see it yet and you’re in County Hall it’s well worth a look. Next year the commemoration of WW1 will impact on our local communities and we are discussing how we can support a range of appropriate events that will help us all to remember and realise the huge sacrifice that was made for our country and freedom.
This weekend I’m heading up to Chester with the three corporate directors for the County Council Network (CCN) annual conference. These events are always a good opportunity to hear how other authorities are managing the challenges we all face and to share ideas. Whilst we have a lot to do in the next four years and not all of it will be easy, as the peer review team said; “Wiltshire Council is in a good place and it is going in the right direction.”
Have a good weekend,
Jane
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