Friday 17 January 2014

What a start to 2014 - will it ever stop raining!

It may be one of the mildest winters we have had in many years and undoubtedly, it must also be one of the wettest! My thoughts are with those individuals, families and communities that have been affected by flooding and my thanks go to all our partners who have worked with the council to do everything possible to provide support, advice and to keep the roads as clear as possible; particularly in communities affected. As is always the case when Wiltshire faces extreme conditions or an incident communities come together and demonstrate both neighbourly support and their ability to cope and take action. I’ve always believed that Wiltshire has strength in its communities and building on this will help us to be more resilient and able to manage the challenges we face in the future; and there are a few of these…

Let’s start with looking at our growing aging population and their needs and expectations and how we manage this into the future. The government is asking local Health and Wellbeing Boards to take the lead in integration health and social care services. We all know that this makes good sense and that by working together we can provide a better service and one which is centred around the needs of an individual and is provided as near as possible to their home and in their local community. But, to be fully integrated, we will need to work differently and whilst that’s always a challenge - it’s also an opportunity - and the health and wellbeing board is keen to grasp this opportunity and look at what can be done to improve the care provided in our communities and particularly for our growing older population. Just this week we have heard from more than 100 key stakeholders, organisations and agencies on ideas and actions for how we can work differently, and together, to deliver better services and outcomes. All their feedback, combined with a financial plan, will form a Better Care Plan that will be submitted to central government in February. Our plan will be reviewed, and if supported, could result in funding allocation to help us deliver improved services that benefit everyone who needs them.

We all know that working together and sharing goals and actions leads to greater success and our local communities demonstrate this so often. Since returning from the festive break, we have been attending the area board meetings to update on a legacy for Wiltshire and what’s been happening since 2012 when a wave of positive change swept over the county and brought people together to celebrate and enjoy what’s so good about where they live. The challenge was to keep that enhanced community spirit alive and to encourage more people to come together to share interests or host events and to build on the unique cohesion that was prompted by the events of 2012. I have to say that I have been overwhelmed by the scale of activity and the enthusiasm of local communities to participate and deliver projects, activities and events that are helping to build a legacy; from the highly successful PHEW! Scheme in Malmesbury that’s getting more people active and healthy; to the Bradford in Business and Made in Bradford on Avon which is helping to boost the local economy; to the funding support in Pewsey for researching the fallen soldiers from WW1 so that they can be appropriately commemorated this year. There is so such happening and we hope that this year’s programme of events will help this momentum to continue and grow. This year we are focusing on events to support the local economy and I am delighted that the business and sports dinner (scheduled for 13 March) which will bring together local businesses and our future sporting stars in Wiltshire to support a foundation fund to assist them with their training, equipment and costs on their journey to the next Olympics and Paralympics, is almost sold out; a few tables remain and already we know that we should raise at least £20,000 to start the foundation and provide the support and encouragement that we know they need. Just shows that a shared goal and working together delivers results! This year we want to encourage and support all our local communities to do even more together and The Big Pledge, Cycle Wiltshire and the commemorations of WW1 all present an opportunity to do more to improve our sense of belonging and general wellbeing. I will talk more about these key events in future blogs as they will all have an impact on Wiltshire this year.

In the meantime, we’re not even three weeks into January and yet so much is happening - I think Malmesbury area have it right with their PHEW! scheme!

There really is so much to update on - more next week on cabinet decisions and working with communities. Hope the rain stops and that the county starts to dry out,


Jane

Happy Christmas and thank you

Christmas has arrived!

Christmas has arrived! Across Wiltshire carol services have been taking place and it was wonderful to see so many staff at the hubs and with the community in the atrium at County Hall participating in the service this week. On Tuesday, the county’s civic carols by candlelight service was held at Malmesbury Abbey and it was the first time that Swindon Council and all our public sector partners joined together to celebrate Christmas. The evening was truly magical with the police band playing all the well-known carols and Christmas songs and the choirs of the Abbey and local Malmesbury primary school that sang their version of Walking in a Winter Wonderland and Hallelujah. Everyone enjoyed the event and it was both uplifting and a short quality space for some reflecting in the midst of busy diaries!

Yesterday (Thursday) Christmas came to the atrium as hundreds of people visited the annual Christmas Fayre. Over 40 businesses took part selling gifts and produce; these Wealth of Wiltshire Fayres are proving to be more and more popular with the demand for stalls far outweighing the space available. As you all know, I’m a great advocate of promoting the local economy and its always good to see small local businesses have the opportunity to market and sell their products. The Fayre was lively and a great event with local choirs and live reindeer and lots of activities for the younger visitors in the library. The atrium is such a good community space and it’s at its best on days like yesterday. I always had this vision that council buildings should be open to the community for everyone to enjoy and use and it is so good to see this vision become a reality.

It seems a long time since we became a unitary council and it was interesting to reflect on our journey at a round table discussion at the RSA (Royal Society for the Arts) in London with the Rt. Hon Lord Heseltine CH this week. The attendees included other local authorities, the Local Government Association, central government departments and leading policy researchers and developers. The focus was how local government can be reshaped to deliver economies of scale and promote growth and opportunities. Wiltshire was upheld as an example of delivering savings and improved services whilst working closely with local communities to enable and support them to do more for themselves. It will be interesting to see how local authorities tackle the continuing reduction in funding and how they will be forced to join up resources if they are to refrain from cutting services. Whilst we have challenges ahead we are in a much better place and our programme of transformation will continue to deliver savings and efficiencies into the future, which is a direct result of us becoming a unitary council.

This week I decided to speak to the press about the councillors allowances as I was becoming increasingly concerned that there was a lot of misleading and inaccurate information that was impacting on the council’s reputation and the great work that we do. The member’s allowances are recommended by an independent panel and were last looked at in 2009, when we became a new council. The panel admit that they got the allowances wrong at this time, and that the amount did not reflect or recompense for the level of responsibility that some councillors have. For example; at that time the area boards were new and the role to chair the boards was unknown. Four years on and the level of responsibility is much clearer and as such the allowance has been adjusted to reflect this. Similarly, four years ago the health reform had not taken place and there was no requirement to establish a Health and Wellbeing Board. The board is now established and is critical to delivering the integration of health and social care and ensuring that the health services that are required are provided across the county. It is anticipated that millions of pounds will come through the board to provide these critical services to meet the needs of people in Wiltshire, this is a huge responsibility and commitment for the post of chair. I am fully aware of some of the public’s perceptions surrounding this issue but I do feel strongly that we need to focus on the posts and the responsibilities and not the people currently in these posts. Full council approved the panel’s recommendations after considering their evidence and reasoning. I am of the view that if we are expected to be responsible for vital areas of work and to do what’s best for people we must ensure that this is fairly recompensed, especially if we want to encourage a diverse and representative council in the future. Can I just say thank you to the many of you who have been extremely supportive in what has been a difficult time.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your consistently hard work and unerring enthusiasm. It is your passion, energy, creativity and can-do attitude that makes my role so worthwhile. It’s your level of commitment that keeps us all focused on our vision and makes round table discussions – like yesterday – fill me with immense pride as I talk about the sheer scale of our achievements so far, and our plans to do even more in the future!

Thank you for all that you do…it is very much appreciated,

Jane

 Link to vine clip of Santa's reindeer

Friday 15 November 2013

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

Wiltshire is unique

Has it really been a year since we moved out of the old County Hall offices whilst they underwent a refurbishment? I can’t believe how the time has flown and how much the way we work has changed as a result of changing the offices into open, airy, modern space. The days of musty corridors and closed cellular offices seems like a life time ago now! All our main hubs will be open plan, encouraging more flexible working, less paper and better working relationships. And, I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine how we managed without the atrium space and the great café and restaurant facilities that we now have. This space is always buzzing and with such a mix of people; young mums, toddlers, visitors, staff, elected members and partners using the space for meetings, events and refreshments. I have moved back to the old building and it is so different and I am really looking forward to hosting our first full council meeting in the chamber next week.

On the subject of new buildings, last week I attended the opening of the new Garrison Theatre in Tidworth, which can host up to 750 people. The facility, which is located in the heart of the community, to help integrate military personnel with the local community, will be the venue for the next Wiltshire Assembly (2 December) which will focus on Wiltshire as a military county and the impact that the growth in the number of military personnel that will be based in our county, both now and in the next few years, will have on the local economy and communities in the future.

Wiltshire is unique as we have the largest military settlement in the country and by 2020 we will host half of the British Army. This Sunday (10 November) is Remembrance Day and this will be extremely poignant for many of our local communities. I will be attending services in Wilton in the morning and Malmesbury in the afternoon to reflect and remember those who sacrificed their lives to protect our freedom and help others to find theirs.

On Monday (11 November) it is Armistice Day and we will be hosting a unique and moving exhibition in the atrium that will focus on local Wiltshire soldiers who lost their lives in the Great War. Next year marks 100 years since the start of the World War 1 and Wiltshire lost more men in this terrible war than anywhere else in the country. The exhibition will officially open on Monday at 5pm with tea and Anzac cakes (baked to a recipe from 1914!), please join us, or take some time to view this extraordinary exhibition, which is the work of local historian and author Richard Broadhead.

This week saw the start of the staff forums and it was so good to see more than 700 of you at the Civic Hall yesterday (Thursday). It’s been a year since we hosted the last round of forums so there was a lot to discuss and to reflect on. It’s good to look back and just recall our achievements and successes; and we’ve had lots and this is testament to your hard work, enthusiasm and commitment. I look forward to seeing many of you next week in Chippenham and Salisbury and as always I welcome your views, ideas and questions.

Have a good weekend,

Jane

Friday 1 November 2013

I hope you weren't too affected by the weekend's storm. I am aware that many of you worked around the clock to clear hundreds of fallen trees and keep people updated on flooding, power cuts and other problems that the storm caused and I’d like to say a huge thank you for your hard work and commitment. We'll soon be moving into winter and this storm shows how our highways and streetscene teams deal with issues that adverse weather can cause. It also demonstrates how services across the council pull together to keep Wiltshire safe and minimising the impact in adverse conditions and emergencies.

Aside from the storm, last week was an interesting week, particularly for Trowbridge. The town saw its long-awaited cinema open on Friday. People often don't realise just how much behind-the-scenes work goes into securing investment and appropriate development in our communities. This is an example of how, again teams from across the council including economic development and planning, worked together so that Trowbridge, in this instance, benefited from major investment that has created jobs and will boost the local economy. I've spoken to lots of people who are delighted that the town now has an Odeon Cinema, and will soon have new restaurants and a hotel. Investment generates further investment and if this year is anything to go by Trowbridge's future is looking pretty good!

Speaking of investment and the economy Vince Cable MP – Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills was the key note speaker at the Wessex Chamber of Commerce Business Breakfast last Friday. He stressed that the time for investment is when the economic climate is not so buoyant and that there are lots of businesses looking to invest and help drive the future economy. He was particularly interested in Wiltshire as we are delivering significant investment across many of our towns and in Salisbury. Following the breakfast I discussed the future Science Park at Porton, which the government has agreed to support; recognising the impact and need for science and engineering skills and businesses in the national economy.

Continuing on the economy theme – I was on BBC Wiltshire on Wednesday morning discussing the Wilton Business Event that I attended. Some people perceive that there is less support for the economy and businesses in the south of the county compared with the north. I have to say I don't hold with this view although I was keen to hear the views of business representatives in Wilton. In the south we have recently opened Castledown Business Park and The Enterprise Network which is supporting start up and small businesses that are looking to grow, Salisbury's Market Place, the Maltings and Central Car Park in the city are currently being redeveloped, a new University Technical College providing training in science and engineering will open in 2015 and Porton Science Park, as I mentioned above – are just a few examples of investment and development that are taking place in the south of the county.  When it comes to the economy there are no geographical boundaries within Wiltshire. What matters to me is that the county as a whole benefits from entrepreneurs being supported to start-up companies, small businesses can grow and expand, large companies are attracted to invest in suitable areas and that we help to create and safeguard jobs to ensure we keep unemployment low and Wiltshire has a thriving and buoyant economy.

Yesterday (Thursday 31 October) and today I am on military duty; tomorrow I will be attending the welcome home parade in Malmesbury for the 9 Regiment RLC following their service in Afghanistan. It is always moving and emotional to see our troops come back home to Wiltshire and to recognise their challenging role in rebuilding and safeguarding people in war torn countries. On Friday I will be in Tidworth at the official opening of the new Tidworth Garrison Theatre, which replaces the old theatre that was located behind the wire in the garrison. The new facility is outside the wire and reflects the integration of the military and community. I am looking forward to seeing the new theatre, that I understand can host up to 700 people, and I am delighted that the first major event in this new building will be the Wiltshire Assembly on 2 December which will focus on military integration – more about this soon…

Jane

Wednesday 23 October 2013

It’s been a busy couple of weeks so my apologies for not updating my blog sooner. I spent some time out of the office last week as my husband Ron had an operation and my main priority was his care and recovery and I am pleased to say he’s on the mend, although now I need a break!

I did, however, manage to attend a round table discussion with other council leaders and representatives from the LGA to discuss how we rewire and reinvigorate local government. Everyone recognises the need to take action to make local democracy more interesting and important. After all the decisions we take directly impact on local communities and people’s lives and it’s vital that they can influence these and get involved.

I also attended the South West Wiltshire Area Board meeting and was invited to update on the council’s plans for the next four years. I focused on our priorities and key actions including the investment in highways which continues to be a local priority for all area boards and was a key matter for discussion at this week’s cabinet meeting. I also updated on plans to host the Elite Cycle Race in Wilton and the surrounding area next May. This will be a huge opportunity attracting visitors and boosting the local economy and we know these Elite events are supported by national TV. I will update more on this event over the coming months as work is underway to ensure all the key representatives are involved in its delivery. It’s always good to get out to the area boards and listen to what matters to communities. Over the next few months I’m hoping to attend all the board meetings to update on our work to deliver a legacy for Wiltshire.

On the matter of legacy, following consultation with our key sponsors we have decided to reschedule the Legacy Sporting Dinner to Thursday 13 March 2014. The decision to reschedule from the original date of 25 October (next week) allows more time for Wiltshire’s future sporting stars hoping to represent their country at the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio in 2016 to bid for support from the Future Funding scheme and attend this unique event that will connect them to local Wiltshire businesses. Several leading local businesses have already pledged their support through sponsorship and attendance at the dinner. The objective is to generate as much funding as possible to assist future sporting stars in their journey. Even the smallest amount can make a huge difference and the evening will feature rising stars and professional athletes as well as celebrity and motivational guest speakers. The revised date also provides the opportunity for businesses, which were precluded by the timing of the event in October, to attend the rescheduled dinner next March. The evening will take place in the Atrium at County Hall, Trowbridge and promises to be an exceptional event. One-off experiences will be auctioned, as part of the evening, including the opportunity to cycle with Paralympic Gold medallist Mark Colbourne MBE at the velodrome in London and a swimming session with Paralympic Gold medallist Stephanie Millward, plus many other experiences which you just can’t buy. I hope some of you may want to be part of this event and I know many of you will be involved in making it a real success.

From cycling to road improvements – I know how problematic damaged roads can be to cyclists and motorists alike which is why my cabinet and I are determined to ensure our roads are as safe as possible. At Tuesday's (October 22) cabinet meeting  we agreed to invest £52million over the next six years to tackle the backlog in highways maintenance. This is good news and it means we can repair the roads that need it the most. We will be working with communities through the area boards to ensure this funding is prioritised to the most damaged and well-used roads. This investment isn't about fixing individual potholes – that work will continue – along with the work we do to continually monitor and repair the roads throughout the year – it's about major repair works which will improve hundreds of miles of our highways network for the next thirty years.  

At Tuesday’s meeting we also agreed to sign the memorandum of understanding for the university technology college (UTC) in Salisbury. This an important step forward for us and our partners in moving this project forward. The plans would see the police station in Wilton Road relocating and the building transformed into  a UTC, which  would open in 2015 and  specialise in science and engineering. Again, good news for young people - this is a facility which would invest in the future of this county.

And, finally can I just take this opportunity to say thank you and good bye to those staff who are leaving the council having taken voluntary redundancy. Many of them have been with Wiltshire Council and with the former county or district councils for many years and will be missed. Can I just wish them all the very best for their futures and thank them for their hard work and commitment and the huge contribution they made to making Wiltshire a better place.


Jane