I hope you’ve all had a good week. This week I’ve been involved in the children’s safeguarding peer review. This is part of the Safeguarding and Adoption Improvement Board’s drive to improve adoption and looked after children services in Wiltshire. Representatives from organisations outside of the county involved in safeguarding young people were invited to come in and carry out the peer review which involves observing our services and sharing best practice. The review is looking at services provided across the agencies and the board will act upon any findings or recommendations highlighted.
The peer review is part of the board’s improvement plan and any recommendations the reviewers make will be adopted as part of the measures already being taken to improve services in Wiltshire. I am looking forward to hearing their views and recommendations regarding this vital service.
On Tuesday I chaired the first of this year’s Public Services Board at the Police HQ in Devizes. I was delighted to welcome Dr Steve Rowlands, chairman of Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Angus Macpherson the recently elected Police Crime Commissioner who has now joined the board. It was really useful to update on where all our organisations are and our plans for the future; this included an update from health, police and the army. We also discussed road safety in Wiltshire and the most up to date information on road incidents and the impact of recent campaigns including drink drive, be safe – be seen; the reflective campaign and save drive - stay alive; which included a presentation from two army personnel who had attended a save drive – stay alive road show and said the impact of the road show had made a huge difference in their driving behaviour. The recent information shows the campaigns have helped to improve road safety across the county; the number of killed and seriously injured has decreased this year and we are on target to achieve a 40 per cent reduction in the number of people killed in road collisions and a further target of a 50 per cent reduction in the number of children killed. These figures are across a ten year period. The data also helped to identify specific issues including young drivers and why accidents occur and their approach to driving. The board agreed to look at what may be needed to address this and to reduce the numbers of incidents further. This is a great example of public services working together to improve the quality of life for people in our county.
By the end of today eight out of ten county wide budget roadshows have been held. The remaining two that were postponed because of the snow last week, will take place in Salisbury next Tuesday and Marlborough on Wednesday. Staff and councillors have talked to more than 300 members of the community so far and their feedback will be really helpful influencing next year’s budget and our future plans.
On Wednesday night I was really pleased to be invited to speak at City Hall in Salisbury at the launch of their 50th birthday celebrations. This year marks 50 years of the building being a publicly owned venue and there will be events throughout the year to mark this anniversary. The Legacy Board is planning a weekend of events in November that will build on last year’s wonderful celebrations. We want to showcase local youth talent and working with the Royal British Legion we plan to hold a special wartime themed event on Remembrance Sunday including a 1940s tea dance and swing band. I’ll keep you updated as plans are firmed up. If you’ve never been to City Hall, then its well worth a visit as it hosts some top local and well known national performers.
Yesterday, I was part of a panel carrying out interviews for the post of chairman for the new Healthwatch board. The board will be the watchdog for health services and is part of changes in the health service which will see the integration of public health into the council. We saw a number of candidates and we were looking for someone with energy, enthusiasm and the ability to speak on behalf of users and to help shape future services. I will announce the outcome of our interviews next week. Their first job will be to recruit four board members.
In the evening we held the first of four community evenings in Trowbridge to discuss how we create a legacy for Wiltshire following the extraordinary events last year. The attendees had some great ideas and all agreed that we should work together to keep the great community spirit of 2012 going. They also agreed that we should focus on keeping the economy buoyant, marketing and showcasing Wiltshire and lots of thoughts about keeping people active, involved and healthy. The feedback was really encouraging and I am looking forward to the other evenings in Chippenham, Devizes and Salisbury in the next few weeks.
Talking of keeping healthy, today sees the launch of a health fair and a week of events in the Atrium at County Hall which starts this morning with a visit from Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of the new national organisation Public Health England. Everyone is welcome to come along and take part in a range of interactive stands including lung, cholesterol checks and BMI checks, stop smoking advice, physical activity and a whole host of other opportunities to learn about living a healthy lifestyle.
Look forward to seeing you at the health fair...
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