Chief Executive Blog - September 2014
Hello again,
The summer holidays are just a fading memory now as the business of the council gets back into full swing and with the first cycle of council and committee meetings almost completed.
Many of the key issues that I and my fellow members of the corporate management team have been involved with in recent months remain high on our collective agenda, including the work of the area based review, the challenges of welfare reform and the sustainable education review.
The latter moves into the next important phase later this month when the final report from Caledonian Economics lands on our desks before being placed in the public domain ahead of a special meeting of the full council on November 3 at which the report will be debated fully.
It will be for elected members to decide which of the proposals presented to them by the consultants should be progressed to the next stage of what is likely to be a fairly lengthy and detailed process to ensure that, whatever the outcome, Moray has a school estate which is in tune with the 21st century and which gives our children and young people an education which prepares them for adult life and full employment.
Feelings are already running high, particularly in some quarters, as we await the final Caledonian Economics report and the timetable which has been drawn up for the weeks and months ahead takes full account of the need for openness and transparency and to consult fully with parents and local communities.
What can be said with certainty is that whatever decisions are taken will be in the best interests of our school pupils and their education.
Away from the office I joined my counterparts from many other Scottish local authorities at a development session for chief executives in Dundee as well as attending a service of commemoration in St Giles Church in Elgin to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.
I also had the pleasure of being present at the naming ceremony of the new Landshut Bridge spanning the River Lossie and part of the Elgin flood alleviation scheme. As many of you are probably aware, the bridge has been named in honour of Elgin’s long-standing twinning partnership with Landshut in Bavaria.
On a rather quirkier note, I and my CMT colleagues volunteered to take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge and were duly doused in front of an enthusiastic crowd of staff members in one of the HQ car parks. Having ice cold water poured over you is quite a shock to the system but it was all in a good cause, with the four of us making a donation to a worthy cause drawn out of a hat.
On a personal level, my son David has flown the nest and has started an engineering degree course at Aberdeen University while I have set myself the goal – don’t laugh – of visiting all the Highland League football grounds in Moray. I have already ticked Grant Park in Lossiemouth and Mackessack Park in Rothes and before the winter sets in I am planning expeditions to Kynoch Park in Keith, Victoria Park in Buckie and, last but not least, Mosset Park in Forres.