Rapid response offers hope

In my view the last week has seen the best of our council at work, and it came in response to some upsetting news for Melksham.

Last Wednesday the shock announcement that 300 people at Cooper Tire in Melksham were at risk of redundancy sent ripples of uncertainty and fear through the local community.
After all, this business in its various guises has been at the centre of the town’s economy for more than a century.

Generations of men and women have known ‘the Avon’ as a source of employment and also a place of companionship and community. It was and is part of the fabric of Melksham.
Geographically and culturally it is at the heart of the town.

No wonder that the announcement cast a shadow over the whole of the Melksham area.
At least there was a silver lining to the grey clouds. Cooper Tire announced its future remained in the area and it gave a fresh commitment to keep its European base in the town, and some specialist manufacturing will carry on here.

We are working closely with Cooper Tire to guarantee its future in the area. We were already talking with them about lots of practical ways to work together as partners, for the benefit of the business, the town, and the whole of Wiltshire and those conversations and efforts will continue.

But what made me really proud was how we responded to this announcement.

Within an hour of the first whisper of potential redundancies, our tried-and-tested economic taskforce was meeting to discuss how the affected employees could be supported.

In cases like this one, we pull together a rapid response group with colleagues from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Wiltshire College, the National Careers Service and more. 

It has the expertise to work with the company, offering help with training for new careers, and advice across a whole range of employment issues.

We also have close links with all the county’s big employers, and can put staff in touch straight away with local firms that need their services.

Though this action, we soften what might have felt like a hammer-blow.

For that reason it was especially pleasing to see that the ITV local evening news led its bulletin not with tales of doom and gloom about Melksham’s future, but on the positive steps that we, Wiltshire Council, are taking to help our people when they need it most. We shared a message of hope, help and real optimism to dispel some of the anxiety.

Our response at troubled times such as this is simple.

We abandon nobody.

We forget nobody.

Everybody really does matter.

An early present from me to you!

In recognition of everyone’s hard work in 2018, it is my pleasure to declare that Christmas 
Eve will be an extra day of leave for all employees.  

Well earned by all!