Rob's Weekly Round Up

21 March 2025

Helo Bawb,

I hope you’ve all had a great week and are enjoying the beginning of the spring season.

This week saw the start of our Spring series Management Development sessions, which are an opportunity to explore key elements of Vale 2030 - our new corporate plan, and the Reshaping Programme as we look to drive positive change across the organisation.

For those of you unfamiliar with these sessions, they have been running twice a year (Spring and Autumn) for approaching 10 years. They bring all our managers and team leaders together, in person to discuss key topics, including challenges and more importantly the opportunities that exist for us to improve as an organisation and to transform in the way that we deliver services.

Our work makes a real difference to the communities that we serve but we must continue to change with the times and evolve as an organisation. When many of us are working in very different ways, across different services, coming together to share challenges, ideas and to learn is to be commended. 

During these discussions, all managers and team leaders from across the Council can reflect on the progress that we are making in delivering the Council’s vision for the future, which is closely connected to the Well-being of Future Generations Act.

Key to our approach as we look to continue delivering for our residents amid a challenging financial climate is the theme of Brilliant Basics which in summary is a focus on getting the fundamentals right straight away.

That principle is never more important or relevant than in the area of customer service.

On this theme, this week, a report on how the Council is progressing complaints was presented to the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT).

That report showed that resolving complaints within targets, was becoming increasingly challenging.

There may well be extenuating circumstances as we are going through a process of change which means many services are being delivered in a different way, a situation some people will object to.

But I think there is also more we can do when it comes to listening to our residents, understanding their issues and acting to address them. This goes to the heart of Vale 2030 and the objective of being the best Council we can be.

We will soon be publishing a Brilliant Basics Charter to guide staff, which contains the two targets referenced below.

• We live up to our customer service charter and take ownership of customers’ issues. If it matters to them then it matters to us.
• We get things right the first time. People get the service they need when they need it and we are not creating more work for ourselves in making up for mistakes.

The bottom line is all our residents are customers who pay their council tax and are entitled to a good level of service.

It is important we all remember this throughout the course of our work, and in every interaction with residents.

I know our staff are conscientious and values-driven – I know this as I see it in action every day of the week and our recent independent Panel Performance Assessment also came to that conclusion. That said, we can always do better and  we must always strive for more as we look to take this organisation to the next level.

It is also important to emphasise that when we do get things right, which we do far more often than not, we also get some fantastic feedback from residents.

Earlier this week, Jayne Case – a social worker - and Janine White - a Social Care Finance Co-ordinator - received a lovely message from the family of residents who are being supported by social services.

They wrote to  express thanks for the help and support that their family had received from social worker Jayne Case and finance officer Janine White. The correspondence referred to their professionalism, support and kindness that made an enormous difference during a very challenging time for the family.

They also referenced the patience, understanding, support and guidance throughout the process and the help they received when having a care package put together, all of which led to no unnecessary delays when leaving hospital. This example shows what a real difference our work can make to our residents.

I often hear of significant delays in hospital discharge in many parts of Wales, but the work of colleagues like Jayne and Janine and other colleagues within our Social Care teams means that the vale continues to perform extremely well in this area.

As well as directly contributing to our Vale 2030 objective of ‘Being the best council we can be’, this work is also fundamental in ensuring that we continue to meet another key objective of ‘Supporting and protecting those that need us’. 

Thank you Jayne and Janine for your compassionate work supporting Vale residents - gwych!

In other news, I’m glad to announce that our new Project Zero Portal has now launched for staff.

As a reminder, Project Zero is the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s response to the climate and nature emergencies, important work that is closely aligned to another of our well-being objectives as set out in Vale 2030, namely ‘ Respecting and celebrating the environment’.

It brings together the wide range of work and opportunities available to tackle climate change, and we have already made changes across the organisation to reduce our carbon emissions and support nature, which can be found here.

The new portal is designed to make it easier for you to find out more about our Project Zero work, and how to get involved.

There are six sections, specifically designed for staff to easily access Project Zero resources in one place – including Project Zero training modules, staff sustainability rewards, information about our Climate Change Challenge Plan as well as a dedicated area for staff to share ideas to better support our Project Zero ambitions.

As a Council, we have committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 - and as we’re only five years away from that target - tackling the climate and nature emergency has never felt more important.

I hope that the new Project Zero Portal will encourage us all to consider how we can all play our part to create a better future for everyone.

Well done to Susannah McWilliam and Jake Fido for getting the Project Zero Portal up and running. Da iawn chi!

In the spirit of recognising great work, the Healthy Living Team recently held a celebration event honouring the young people who have been participating in the Coaches of the Future and Young Sports Ambassadors schemes.

Coaches of the Future aims to inspire a generation of young coaches and encourages young people to become more active, whilst Young Sports Ambassadors is part of a national programme which aims to empower and inspire young people to become leaders through sport.

The Olympian and Welsh boxer Rosie Eccles also joined the celebrations at the Memo Arts Centre in Barry.

Since April 2024, over 1600 children and young people have been involved in at least 150 different engagement sessions and events as part of these initiatives and have also contributed to over 1200 voluntary hours.

The Coaches of the Future and Young Sports Ambassador schemes align perfectly with another of Vale 2030’s well-being objectives of ‘Creating great places to live, work and visit’ by empowering our younger residents to lead more active and have healthier lifestyles with better physical and mental well-being. Of course, this work is also closely aligned with another well-being objective of ‘Giving everyone a good start in life’.

Congratulations to all of the young leaders who have participated and volunteered as part of these initiatives. Your dedication, passion, and hard work are an inspiration to us all. Llongyfarchiadau i chi gyd.

Next, I would like to mention some important training on Fraud Prevention that will be landing in your inboxes soon.

Fraud is a growing threat, and as Council employees, we all play a vital role in protecting public funds. That’s why we’re introducing a brand-new Fraud Prevention eLearning module on iDev.

This training is particularly important in helping to recognise any fraudulent activity. The module will aim to help us spot the signs, reduce risks, and take action to prevent our work being affected by fraud.

How you can prepare

• Keep an eye out for further details on how to access the training
• Be ready to complete the module once it’s live, it may be a required part of your role
• Start thinking about any fraud risks in your area, this training will help you address them

I’d encourage everyone to complete this training as soon as possible as it is essential in supporting the Council’s commitment to fraud prevention, compliance, and integrity.

This week also saw public organisations across Wales come together to sign a new charter to ensure a more compassionate and accountable response to public tragedies.

The Charter for Families Bereaved by Public Tragedy aims to transform how public bodies engage with bereaved families, learning from past tragedies like the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

Signatories included the Welsh Government, local authorities – including the Vale of Glamorgan Council – as well as police forces, the Welsh Ambulance Service, and fire services, with all committing to support families before, during, and after major incidents.

Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Council and Tracy Dickinson, Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development both attended the event to sign the charter on our behalf, which ensures that families' needs are met with care and respect in the aftermath of a tragedy.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate Bernice (Bernie) Bird, one of the volunteers at Wenvoe Library, who was recently shortlisted for the Libraries Connected Awards 2025 in the Children’s category.

Bernie was nominated for going above and beyond as a volunteer, and her work in developing a varied and innovative programme of events and activities for children and their families.

Reacting to the news of being shortlisted for the award, Bernie said: “I am totally embarrassed about being shortlisted for this award, I do it because I enjoy being able to provide the opportunity for pre-school children to have a pathway to playgroup and nursery school; whilst Introducing them to books, play and song within a friendly social environment.”

The annual Libraries Connected Awards celebrates the achievements of library workers who have had an exceptional impact on their library service, users or their local communities. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in June.

The work of our volunteers is essential in keeping our library services running and accessible to all, and they provide such a wealth of resources for communities across the Vale. Well done Bernie! Pob lwc!

That’s all from me this week - for those of you not in work, have a relaxing and enjoyable couple of days off.

Diolch yn fawr iawn,

Rob