Chief Executive Blog - July 2013
Dear Colleagues,
Well – its almost holiday time for many of us and I can now confirm that it is officially summer as I have been able to wear my shorts at least once – and perhaps the only time - we’ll have to wait and see!
Work is still progressing with the Area Based Review Working Party which as you will remember is establishing a vision and a plan of actions for service delivery in Moray in 2023. This requires careful planning. Such a radical approach to the long term future of Moray will also require involvement of all staff to ensure success. In the meantime the Working Party is receiving in-depth support from senor staff and Council services as the Working Party gathers evidence on current and future service needs.
All this is to be seen against the continually reducing Council budgets and the continuation of the consultation process undertaken last year.
Moving from the future to the present, the Youth Awards Ceremony which I attended recently in Elgin was a wonderful showcase for the achievements of young people and their contributions to our communities and it was heart warming to see the abundance of skills and talent in Moray.
Last month also saw the official opening of Elgin Academy’s new building, by our Convener, Councillor Cree. Naturally we are all now looking forward to the day when the new Elgin High School will open.
I had a number of meetings in Edinburgh this month, including a Chief Executives’ seminar on Getting It Right For Every Child and the quarterly meeting of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities which I attended with our Council Leader, Councillor Wright and Councillors Creswell and Leadbitter.
As I’ve said before, although we try to keep travelling to a minimum, it is important that Moray’s voice is heard at the most senior levels in Edinburgh, not least to ensure that others are aware of all the good work and progress the Council is making in numerous areas but also to keep up to date on what is happening and what is likely to happen in the future in the public sector. With much smaller Councils like Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles promoting themselves so strongly it is important for Moray to ensure it is firmly on the map at all times and we do not to lose out on any opportunities that might be out there which would be for the good of Moray.
My final thought for this month is back to the topic of summer holidays. I expect you will all be looking forward to having some time off from work, whether you are staying at home, travelling in the UK or venturing abroad. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your efforts and hard work during the first half of 2013, I hope you all have a restful and refreshing break and look forward to seeing you again after the summer holiday period is over.