Rob's Weekly Round Up

11 April 2025

Helo bawb,

Last week, I wrote about the launch of Vale 2030, our new Corporate Plan, which sets out what we aim to achieve over the next five years and beyond.

On the back of that, today I want to take this opportunity to focus on the values that will guide how we all work to deliver those objectives.

These are themes that I and Director of Corporate Resources Tom Bowring touched on during our question-and-answer session with staff earlier in the week.

Our corporate values are to be Ambitious, Open, Together and Proud and these aspirations should influence every aspect of work, particularly how we engage with residents and consider the future for our communities.

A crucial aspect of Vale 2030 relates to tackling inequality to create a county where citizens can lead a happy and prosperous life.

Those are not ambitions we have for some people or a certain group, but for everyone.

As a Local Authority, we have strong beliefs and are committed to principles relating to tolerance, acceptance and understanding, among others.

Those tenets are at the very foundation of this organisation, a fact that was referenced in feedback from our recent Panel Performance Assessment, which credited the Council for being values-based.

For me, being true to that description is about more than merely making claims and attaching ourselves to the right causes, it must amount to action.

This is something we saw earlier this week with the decision to leave the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.

At the heart of public service is a desire to make a real difference to people within our towns and villages.

That aim runs through a whole range of work, including plans to regenerate Barry, where Levelling Up funding will be used to create a marina, park and watersports centre alongside a space to grow new businesses within the Dock Office.

This should help create jobs and boost the Vale’s economy.

We are also in the midst of an extensive housebuilding programme to address significant need in this area, with waiting lists for properties at an all-time high across the UK. Similarly, our Sustainable Communities for Learning projects have seen educational facilities transformed across the County, with a host of new schools built and others comprehensively refurbished and modernised.

We have also blazed a trail for recycling in Wales, helping to make the country a world leader in this area.

This success, which sees our waste recycling rate at more than 70 per cent, has led to the Vale being selected to trial a new soft plastic recycling system that is due to start in the next couple of weeks.

These initiatives and examples are not only about developing physical infrastructure and improving the appearance of the Vale, they very much reflect our overriding ambition to create Strong Communities with a Bright Future.

I and the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) firmly believe that all our residents deserve employment opportunities, a safe, comfortable place to call home, schools that offer a decent start in life and other building blocks that many of us take for granted.

We also believe in protecting the natural environment for future generations and looking after the vulnerable, whoever they are.

That is why we are bidding to become a County of Sanctuary, a status that underlines a commitment to support those who have suffered forced displacement and means actively challenging discrimination and negative perceptions.

This was and remains the drive behind the move to create Heol Croeso, a development of temporary housing in Llantwit Major for Ukrainian refugees and others on the Council’s housing waiting list.

The support we have given Entitled Persons from Afghanistan who are currently living on the Ministry of Defence base in St Athan is another example of this approach in action.

Such work is not always easy, often attracting opposition and criticism, but we do it because we think it’s right.

Those values to be Ambitious, Open, Together and Proud are particularly evident when we look at work around the Brilliant Basics.

That concept is all about getting the fundamentals right first time and every time.

We are being OPEN about our AMBITION in that regard and have brought around 400 staff TOGETHER for Management Development Sessions to discuss this work, which is all about being PROUD of what we do.

These ideals should also run through everything else we do.

As Vale 2030 and what it entails is such an important issue, I have dedicated all of this week’s message to it, but rest assured, next Friday will be a return to the normal round-up celebrating successes and staff achievements.

Many of you have contacted me recently with these stories and I look forward to sharing them.

Until then, I’d like to thank you for your efforts this week, I and the rest of SLT really appreciate them.

For those not in work, enjoy a restful and relaxing couple of days off.

Diolch yn fawr iawn,

Rob