Chief Executive Blog - January 2013
Dear Colleagues,
Firstly I would like to say Happy New Year to you - I hope you all had a good break and are feeling ready to meet the challenges of 2013. How many of you have made New Year resolutions and are still sticking to them? One of my resolutions for this year is to build on engagement with staff at all levels and continue to develop relationships within and outside the Council.
However as we move into another year there are plenty of other things I need to attend to. The main issue over the last few months has been the work that has been undertaken with the financial planning for the 2013/14 budget which should be complete by June. Because of the continuing financial pressures the Council has to operate under the corporate management team are using all possible measures to maximise how money is used throughout the Council. One of the ways we are doing this is to monitor the vacancy process, making sure only essential vacancies are advertised. We have also been working on the Best Value Inspection which took place in November 2012 and Procurement Capability Assessment.
New initiatives that the Council is involved in include the Area Based Review. This involves working with our community planning partners to ensure that a clear vision for Moray is set out and the various actions are put in place to work towards achieving that vision. Work has already begun on this process and I look forward to working closely with a variety of stakeholders over the coming months to progress this.
Recent local events have included the Community Workshops as part of the budget consultation exercise which mostly took place in November of last year - although we were only at capacity for a couple of workshops the events were well worth putting on with very interesting feedback and ideas generated.
I've also travelled a bit further afield to CoSLA and SOLACE meetings in Edinburgh, to an Adult Health and Social Care Integration meeting with other Chief Executives in Aberdeen and to the Chief Executive Public Protection Group meeting, also in Aberdeen. Although I try to keep travelling to a minimum it is important that Moray is recognised as a robust 'player' in the public sector in Scotland - meetings such as these not only let us see what other local authority and public body organisations are planning, but also allows them to hear about the progressive work we are doing in Moray. This was recently reflected in favourable comments from government ministers - so we are being noticed in a positive way!
I would also like to mention how impressed I was with the way staff responded to the un-forecast storm of the 17th and 18th December - an excellent example of staff willing to go the 'extra mile' when the community needs them most.
The main challenge for this next month is finalising the budget work with the Administration Group so that we can put the budget to Full Council on 13th February.
Scheduled events for me this month include a meeting with the Moray Trades Union Council, the Community Military Covenant Grant Awards Scheme (funding of community projects) and a meeting with new Chief Constable for Scotland, Stephen House, which I'm very much looking forward to.
My final thought as the Burns Supper season beckons is that I've already spotted the first Easter Eggs on sale in our shops ….. nothing like being prepared for future events!