We’re shortlisted in local government ‘Oscars’

Some great news for all of us this week – we have been named one of the UK’s best councils in this year’s Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards. We’ve been shortlisted by them for the top award – Council of the Year. There was a record number of entries and judges said we stood out because we’re a professionally led transformational council that demonstrates we are making a difference in our communities. The awards are regarded by our peers as the local government Oscars, and we’ll find out in June if we’ve won. In the meantime, I want to thank you all for your efforts. Getting to the shortlist in a competitive field is testimony to your hard work.

Cabinet has agreed our budget plans for the 2025/26 financial year. There will be a final decision on the proposals by Full Council on March 6. It’s a process that started last October and I’d like to thank again everyone who’s contributed, particularly Ben Smith, Sarah Willis, Liz Rees and their teams in Finance.

Yesterday cabinet and CMT took part in a workshop to test out what we would do if our services came under a sustained cyber-attack. It reinforced the message that every member of staff has a responsibility to be vigilant every day against criminals aiming to do us harm by stealing our data. It takes just one successful attack to do untold damage so find out more about what you need to do here.

Last week I mentioned the launch of a key part of our induction programme where there was an opportunity for all new starters to meet with our corporate management team. The launch page includes an opportunity to watch the first welcome event hosted by me and our directors. Similar events will take place four times a year and I will be reviewing the feedback to decide on how we roll out future sessions. But  all staff can now review the recording and my apologies for the technical glitch when it was posted last week

On behalf of us all, the Leader and I have signed-up to a new charter setting out how we’ll act to support those bereaved by a major public incident like Hillsborough or the London bombings. Such things are thankfully rare but it’s important our residents know we will be there for them.

Feedback from the staff survey highlighted your wish to know more about staff achievements and long service. This week I’m delighted to congratulate Elaina Brutto from our housing team. Elaina (fourth from the left in the back row) has been recognised though our reward and recognition scheme for transforming their approach to training, development, upskilling, personal growth and career support for housing staff.

I also want to say well done to Matthew Watts and Kathy McGibney of the East Side housing team for helping a vulnerable tenant find an appropriate home. A family member was so impressed by their support and compassion that he wrote to the Council Leader to say thank you. I add my thanks to theirs.

And it’s farewell to Nigel Fletcher, Contracts and Projects Manager with the waste team, who retires this week. Next month Nigel is collecting a top award from the Welsh Blood Service for donating more than 75 pints to the lifesaving cause. Giving blood is an issue close to my heart so I thank Nigel for his contribution both to the council and to our community.

You also said in the staff survey you wanted CMT and heads of service to be more visible, meeting and learning direct from staff in their workplaces. So, I want to say thank you to the Pupil Referral Unit for hosting a meeting of CMT this week and taking the time to brief us on a revitalising service which makes a real difference to the lives of some of our vulnerable young people. We’re very keen to do more visits of this kind, so please get in touch if you’d like to host a visit either for myself or our collective CMT.