Caring for our care leavers

This week I’d like to recognise and commend a very special group of young men and women.

They are our care leavers who recently visited County Hall to discuss and find out more about a new package of support that has been designed to meet their needs.

All of us who are parents know that when children grow into maturity and adulthood it can often be a challenging and tough time. It’s a time of uncertainty when young people are still finding their feet, making their way in the world, and starting to test their independence for the first time.

It usually means a new job, new life and new challenges.

It is a hard enough time for young adults who have a family support network to fall back on. 

Consider then what it must be like for those who have spent their early years in care, and are venturing into the adult world without that wrap around family to fall back on.

They deserve and need all the support that we - as their corporate parent - can provide.

That is why I am so pleased that the new Care Leaver Promise is now in place. It offers all our care leavers a personal advisor to assist with all those practical matters including help with their finances, the benefits that they are entitled to, where they will live and where they will work, including apprenticeships and job opportunities.

Our care leavers are an inspiration to us all and a reminder of how determined young people are, and while we can’t take the place of a family, we can offer the care and support that they need and give them the best start into adulthood and beyond.

No care leaver should ever feel abandoned, forgotten or neglected.

That’s our Promise, and it’s one that I’m so proud to support and uphold.

A living memorial to remember them…

Inscribed on war memorials across Wiltshire are the names of the fallen from WW1.

For each of those names there were families, just like our own, who were stricken with grief.

You only have to reflect on the same suffering in every village and town across Wiltshire to understand why the memory of 1914-18 still provokes so many emotions of sadness, regret and respect.

This week, Wiltshire Council once again displayed the giant poppy at the front of County Hall, and additionally to mark the centenary, four haunting Tommy Silhouettes were unveiled and stand proud at the entrance to the building.

It’s important that all of us commemorate and remember the centenary of the Armistice.

I was invited to Tidworth Garrison last week to plant a beech tree to mark the start of a countywide community project that will see 10,000 trees planted as a dedication to honour those who sacrificed their lives in WW1.

Like the 10,000 crosses that form the Wall of Remembrance, created by Wiltshire school children in 2014, each tree represents a native of Wiltshire who set out for France, Flanders or further afield to serve their country, and never returned.

Through our communities their legacy will live on and we will remember them.

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!

Fair’s fair for disabled jobseekers

When we say that Wiltshire is a county where everybody matters, it’s more than just words.

Last week’s EmployAbility Fair held in the Atrium at County Hall was a good example of this.

The event puts disabled jobseekers in touch with recruiters searching for staff, and the results it delivers for individuals, for businesses and for our economy is truly heart-warming.

The first fair was held last year and was such a success, it returned last week. It was clear from the numbers crowding the Atrium that it has already become a popular fixture in the recruitment calendar.

It was wonderful to see so many people – many of whom had been on the jobs market for a long time – talking to employers, chatting about opportunities, and accepting offers of work right there on the spot. It showed what we are about – creating chances for people to thrive, prosper and build a future in our county – especially residents who may have been excluded from opportunities in the past.

From a personal point of view I understand just how much getting a break into work can mean. As some of you may know my own daughter is disabled. She has always worked and strived for the independence that working and earning brings. But as we all know, the early days in a new job aren’t always that easy. There are often issues to overcome. For some people these include accessibility.  What matters is that employers see beyond the disability, and are ready to welcome new recruits regardless of any stigma which in the past might have been attached to disability.

It was good to talk to so many visitors on the day as well as guests including Dr Andrew Murrison MP, and a couple of comments really made me think.

The first was by Maurice Menghini from our co-hosts JobCentre Plus.

“There is a job out there for everyone,” he said.

And in Wiltshire, where we are blessed with largely full employment and employers urgently seeking staff – that is true.

The second was by Wendy Wood, from The Order of St John Care Trust, who was seeking staff for 19 residential homes all over Wiltshire.

“Good employers need good employees and disability doesn’t affect that,” she said.

It summed up a brilliant day which made a huge difference to many people’s lives.

My thanks go to everyone who worked so hard to stage one of the most important, most effective, and most beneficial dates in our council calendar.

I’m looking forward to next year’s event already and to hearing how successful the new recruits have been…

Jane

Official opening of Porton Science Park and the Year of Engineering

September 21 marked the start of the autumn equinox, and doesn’t it feel like the summer months are a distant, albeit warm, memory.

Autumn is one of my favourite seasons – it’s the time of year when nature makes its colourful transition towards the colder winter months. Wiltshire, in particular, becomes a glorious canvas of rich autumnal shades as the trees shift from vibrant greens to yellow, gold and warm glowing fiery reds. The transition is quite breathtaking and reminds us all just how beautiful the place we live and work in really is.

I have always said that we have so much to celebrate in our county from our beautiful countryside steeped in history, to the modern world of science and engineering that we are leading the way in.

Our tradition of technical brilliance stretches way, way back - as far as the West Kennet Long Barrow in 3500 BC, right up to Dyson in 2018 AD.

This awesome legacy came to mind last week at the official opening of Porton Science Park, near Salisbury, which is a new state of the art centre dedicated to the advancement of health and life sciences, which has been a decade in the planning.

I am proud that Wiltshire Council led the way in finding the funding for this project – working with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Public Health England and the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Even before I had the honour of unveiling the plaque to officially open the centre, three-quarters of the units have been occupied by pioneering enterprises who are pushing back the frontiers of science and re-engineering the 21^st Century and creating prosperity and jobs in the county.

It’s humbling to think that in the not-so-distant future, the world will welcome scientific discoveries that were conceived right here in Wiltshire.

That’s why it’s so good that we will be hosting the Science and Engineering: What Wiltshire has to Offer exhibition in County Hall next month (16 October).School and college students, along with teachers, recruiters, leading scientists and engineers and business bosses will participate in presentations and practical, hands-on experience of engineering. The aim is simple - to inspire children to pursue engineering and science as a rewarding, stimulating and satisfying career.

It also offers us a great chance for us to discuss how we can work with them to nurture the next generation of engineers – including our industry-leading apprenticeship programme, which has already set many youngsters on the path to an exciting future.

I’d love to think that the innovators of tomorrow will be as a result of stimulating their interest at this event fuelling an ambition to shape the future and that they will have come from our wonderful, historic and progressive county.

Jane

Summer helping put a spring in the step of the county

What a summer we are having this year – who would have thought that it was as hot here as many tourist destinations abroad. And, wasn’t it just the boost we all needed? The sun and warmth has such a positive impact on everyone, putting a spring in their step and a smile on their face; and with a ray of sun everywhere definitely looks brighter and better.

After the recent events in Salisbury and Amesbury a glorious summer couldn’t have been more welcome. Whilst things aren’t quite back to normal, there are real signs of business as usual and since my last blog - and my apologies for not penning a few words sooner – I have visited and attended meetings in both the city and the town and it’s so good to see everyone out and about and getting on with life.

In my view it’s now time to look forward and focus on getting fully back to normal after what’s been a truly unprecedented period and one which I hope we never encounter the like of again. Life is never predictable and we all know that change is inevitable, but what’s important is how we deal with those changes; particularly those that are least expected. The resilience of our local communities has been a credit to Wiltshire and it’s their strength and determination that will enable normality to be resumed.

The last few months have had an impact on council business and I’m keen that after the summer break we can refocus on the future and our immediate priorities. As we start to plan for next year’s budget and service provision we need to strike that difficult balance of doing what’s needed in local communities against service demands and growing pressures.

Next year Wiltshire will host National Armed Forces Day to recognise and celebrate the work of the military and emergency services that put their lives on the line to protect our country, and this year - closer to home - to protect and support the communities of Salisbury and Amesbury. It promises to be a major event for all the communities of Wiltshire and I’m sure it will mark a positive milestone and give everyone something to look forward to. Let’s hope the sun shines as bright next year too!

Jane

Update regarding the incident in Amesbury

It almost seems unbelievable that in my last blog I was recognising the progress in Salisbury’s recovery and the impending visit of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to mark their support for the city.

Salisbury four months on from the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal was getting back to normal and footfall was starting to improve.

So the shock of the tragic death of Dawn Sturgess has reverberated throughout the city and now in Amesbury, and our thoughts and sincere condolences are with her family and friends.

Her partner Charlie Rowley remains in Salisbury hospital in a critical condition. Our thoughts are also with him, his family and friends during what is clearly a difficult time for them all. 

Having a death occur in our local community; particularly in such extraordinary circumstances will have a huge impact on those who live and work there and our role is to do everything possible to support our partners whilst they carry out their investigation into this dreadful crime.

The incident is being investigated as a murder and is being led by the UK’s Counter Terrorism Policing Network supported by Wiltshire Police.

We are a vital link to the local communities and I will make sure that we continue to keep people informed and updated of the latest information. Last night a community meeting was held in Amesbury and more than 250 people attended to hear updates from a panel of local and national agency representatives. They were able to ask their questions and receive answers from those directly involved and leading this investigation. I gave my assurance that further community meetings will be arranged in both Amesbury and Salisbury to keep these communities up to date.

This is a fast-moving and changing situation, the like of which we have never experienced in Wiltshire before, and we understand that people are concerned; particularly those in Salisbury and Amesbury.

We will provide support to those directly affected and to those who are most vulnerable in our communities. Reassurance and calm needs to continue and the resilience of our local communities is being tested now – more than ever before.

The current advice from Public Health England is that “if you haven’t dropped it - don’t pick it up” - the wider risk to public health remains low and health advice can be accessed on a helpline set up to offer reassurance and advice on 0800 092 0410.

It is vital that we continue to assist local businesses to assess their needs and provide support where it is needed throughout this extremely difficult period. On Monday I announced that in Amesbury we have lifted the parking charges on our Central and Church Street car parks to reflect the situation in Salisbury and do what’s right for these communities.

We will continue to work with Amesbury and Salisbury to support them during this testing time. Since the first incident occurred in March Salisbury has shown just how resilient and determined it is in the face of an unprecedented challenge and I am sure that this will continue and that Amesbury will be just as stoic.

We will do all we can to help both these communities get back to normal and move forward.

Jane