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Weekly round-up with Tracy 09 February 2024
Weekly round-up with Tracy
09 February 2024
Dear colleagues,
Rob has taken some time off this week so asked me to write today’s message in his place.
I am delighted to take this opportunity, but it also led to a few days of reflection on my part as it’s a daunting task. Rob is such an advocate of strong communication and I wanted to make sure I did it justice by capturing the excellent work that takes place across our organisation each and every week.
I love reading Rob’s weekly message, pouring over the many projects underway and reading such stories of personal commitment to provide the best possible service to our communities. In such difficult working times, reading the weekly message makes me proud to be part of such a team.
First, some sad news as we have lost two staff members in recent weeks.
Bill Lucas was a much-loved Day Service Support Worker who began his employment with us when the Vale Council was founded in 1996. In total, his local government service stretched over 30 years. Before joining the Council, Bill served with the British Army in the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment.
Bill was a quiet, thoughtful and supportive colleague and friend. The team will forever cherish their wonderful memories of his quick-witted sense of humour, kind heartedness and organisational skills, along with his all-weather ‘crocs and shorts’ sense of style. Bill enjoyed cooking and his delicious homemade vegetarian lunches were the envy of the whole Day Services Team.
Bill’s dedication to his role was insurmountable and during the pandemic he was one of the Vale’s true Rainbow Heroes, having been repurposed to VCRS when our day centres temporarily closed. The support he offered to his colleagues and friends, as well as the citizens he worked with, was second to none and will remain with us all.
A celebration of Bill’s life will be held at Barry Crematorium on February16 at 4pm. Refreshments will be served after the service at The Cherry Orchard, Barry Road, Barry.
Dave Williams from the Economic Development Team passed away last week having been unwell for some time.
I know many staff members will have fond memories of Dave from his more than 30 years with the Council.
He originally joined as a Planner before moving into urban regeneration as Principal Regeneration Officer.
Dave had a hand in most projects that have formed the street scene in Barry, and it is this work that will form his lasting legacy.
He was Team Vale to the core and many colleagues will remember him as a master of detail and also for his extremely dry sense of humour.
Dave chose not to have a funeral, but colleagues can share any memories they may have of him by emailing economic@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk.
The team will use these to create a memory book for Dave’s family.
As Head of Human Resources, I’m very keen that people are aware of the support available to help them cope with news such as this and a range of other matters.
All staff now have access to a 24-hour advice and information line, provided by Westfield Health.
This service provides confidential guidance on medical, legal, and domestic issues from qualified counsellors, advisors, and nurses.
From stress, bereavement or relationship difficulties to health and money worries, professional advice is available any time of the day or night.
The service can be accessed by dialling 0800 092 0987, quoting the Westfield Health scheme number of 72115 and Vale of Glamorgan Council.
As February is LGBT+ History month, I thought it was timely to share an update on a guidance document we have published for schools.
The Transgender Inclusion Toolkit forms part of a wider suite of documents for schools written by colleagues in our Learning and Skills department.
It aims to help all children feel comfortable and valued at school regardless of their gender identity and contains steps that can be taken to help achieve this.
We first published a trans inclusion toolkit in 2018 but decided to review and update the document following a consultation last year.
After carefully considering consultation responses and amending the document, it has been considered by scrutiny committees before being approved by Cabinet.
The toolkit has since been shared with schools and other stakeholders and will also be published on Staffnet should anyone need to reference it.
I’d like to thank all officers involved in getting this document finalised, particularly David Davies and Jason Redrup who have spent many hours reviewing its content. That effort is much appreciated.
Since Monday, we have also been marking Race Equality Week and National Apprenticeship Week.
This year’s Race Equality Week’s theme is #ListenActChange and involves asking people to take part in a Five-Day Challenge.
Supported by the Council’s Diverse Network, the challenge is to engage in five minutes of self-reflection each day and make a commitment to change.
This is a simple, time-efficient, and powerful way for individuals to learn about race inequality in bitesize ways.
Each day there has been a different theme to consider, a thought-provoking question to consider, a short video, a scientific example of how actions and behaviour can impact on feelings of inclusion and belonging, simple suggestions on how to take action and access to resources for people to explore further.
The themes for the week were:
Today’s focus, The Big Promise, encourages organisations to maintain momentum on race equality and make public commitments to be proactively anti-racist.
I and my Senior Leadership Team colleagues have made personal pledges in this regard, each choosing one from the list below.
- Set a zero tolerance to racism and microaggressions policy, with published, clear consequences for those that do not adhere.
- Have the mechanisms to identify, develop and promote global majority people to develop the talent pipeline.
- Annually publish ethnicity pay gap, set targets and set an action plan to meet them.
- Ensure all elements of reward and recognition, from appraisals to bonuses, are fair and reflect the racial diversity of the organisation.
- Actively sponsor global majority (especially black) talent in our workplace.
- To participate in a Safe Space (a dialogue with GM colleagues to create change) and monitor outcomes.
- Set stretching targets and collate the following information: Board, and SLT Race targets: Breakdown of employees by Race and pay band.
Promoting values of equality, inclusion, tolerance and acceptance is a top priority for the Council and a lot of work has been done in this area.
We have formed groups for global majority, LGBT+ and disabled members of staff, while colleagues regularly participate in Race Equality Matters webinars.
Safe space meetings have been arranged, offering ethnically diverse colleagues the opportunity to raise issues that affect them.
These have resulted in a range of actions, including mandatory race awareness training for all staff and work to raise the profile of staff from global majority backgrounds.
In recognition of this work, the Council has been awarded Safe Space Plus Trailblazer status.
The Council participates in awareness days for various groups, has appointed an Equality Champion, is looking to create a Race Champion on SLT, developed a Transgender Toolkit, while there is a diversity and inclusion section on the recruitment page.
There is also fantastic work taking place in schools.
At the end of last year, St Cyres celebrated Cultures Week, which offered the opportunity to introduce a cultural aspect related to a subject.
Children learned about a Jamaican poet laureate and a famous Pakistani Physicist, for example, with the aim of highlighting the fact that education is not culturally specific.
There was an evening in which pupils were introduced to music and other forms of art from a range of different countries and a non-uniform day when they wore clothing from around the world.
Despite all this activity, it is important not to become complacent.
There is always more work to be done and the Council will not rest on its laurels as far as equality is concerned.
We will continue pushing for more change and keep analysing our own organisation for ways to improve.
This year’s National Apprenticeship Week celebrates Skills for Life, encouraging everyone to consider how apprenticeships can help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career, and employers to develop a workforce with future-ready skills.
We’ve had some great successes using apprenticeships within the council for both recruitment and as a tool for self-development.
Looking forward, next week is HeartUnions week, which offers a chance to showcase the importance of unions in giving staff a voice. I am proud of the strong relationship we have with our trade union colleagues and the collaborative way we work together. This is an opportunity to raise their profile and recognise the importance of our social partnership.
The Trade Unions Congress has a variety of digital resources to help get the message out, with a limited stock of bilingual material available on request.
On social media, they’ll be using the hashtag #HeartUnions to say loudly and proudly – unions are winning for working people and every worker needs a union.
Finally, I’d also like to take this opportunity to share the new location of our Manual Handling Training Room, having moved recently from BSC and now located in the Civic Offices, opposite Occupational Health.
A big thank you to Phil Chappell and his team for making this happen, alongside some fantastic work from our Manual Handling Co-ordinator, Elspeth Cameron. Elspeth is recognised as a leader in her field and works across the organisation, and externally, from schools to social services, providing essential manual handling training to our frontline services. Thank you Elspeth
Thank you all for your efforts this week – your contribution is highly valued by myself and all SLT colleagues.
Hopefully the rain will hold off so we can all enjoy the next couple of days.
Whatever you’re doing, have a wonderful weekend.
To our school-based colleagues, enjoy your half term break. We look forward to hearing from those taking part in the preliminary stages of the Urdd Eisteddford on your return.
Diolch Yn Fawr ac eddrychwn ymlean at effallai ysgrifennu’r neges hon yn y dyfodol (Dwi’n dysgu )
Tracy.