Chief Executive Blog - April 2013
Dear Colleagues,
“Hundreds line up to join protest march”
You will possibly have seen the latest headlines in the local media reporting on community reactions to the various budget savings options that the Council are proposing. Not surprisingly there has been substantial media coverage of the proposals. What this has also shown is the passion and strength of community spirit within Moray - something that the Council finds useful when making key decisions about current and future services.
Sometimes however, despite the strength of local feeling, difficult decisions have to be made. As I have said before, this is currently the situation the Council is in and will be to the fore in many of your minds just now, possibly more so as the first employees to voluntarily leave the Council due to budget savings start to go.
Something positive which I can tell you about is that as part of the vacancy monitoring process undertaken while the financial planning continues, a number of employees have been successfully redeployed from their ‘at risk’ positions to other permanent posts within the Council – early indications that the Transform approach of an internal jobs market will help to place some staff in alternative positions rather than having to leave the Council.
Work is continuing on the Area Based Reviews as part of the financial planning process to achieve the required £30M savings.
It was with the inevitable mixed feelings that I attended an event to mark the end of Grampian Police as they move to form part of the Single Scottish Police Force.
There has also been the normal round of external meetings that I have attended on behalf of the Council which has included the CoSLA Annual Conference where keynote speeches were given by the Cabinet Secretary John Swinney and others on the key priorities and challenges ahead for local Government.
Of all the things I have been involved in over the last few weeks, my favourite moment was when visiting the Keith Leisure Centre where I met a group of staff with an impressive number of years service between them whose dedication and enthusiasm for their jobs was clearly evident.
April is of course a busy month between people either taking time off with their families during the school holiday period or those simply taking some time off out with the school holiday period. I am particularly looking forward to work beginning in earnest on the Area Based Reviews.
Finally, I hope that you, like me, are enjoying the longer, lighter evenings now that the clocks have changed, marking the beginning of British Summer Time. Hopefully the recent cold snap is also over signalling the start of warmer weather so that I will be able to train for the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow in October which I have now officially entered. There is no turning back!