Chief Executive Blog - April 2015
Colleagues,
There was scarcely a community, large or small, in Moray that was untouched by World War One and, a century on, it still evokes feelings of suffering and sacrifice, pathos and pride.
It was a great privilege, therefore, to be invited to what was a truly moving ceremony at Dallas two or three weeks ago when the village gathered to remember one of its own, Cpl William Anderson, almost 100 years to the day after he was killed on the Western Front.
His death came only hours after he displayed such courage in the face of the enemy that he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military honour for bravery.
Despite being born in Dallas, Anderson’s name, for whatever reason, was never commemorated on the local war memorial. That omission has now finally been rectified with the addition to the memorial of a sandstone tablet which was unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant in the presence of Anderson’s descendants, local residents and guests.
The event was a credit to the village and to those who worked so hard to ensure that the name of their local hero should be given its rightful place on the war memorial.
It is noteworthy that of the 633 Victoria Crosses awarded during the Great War, no fewer than five of the recipients were from Moray.
The work of the corporate management team has been focusing largely on next year’s budget and that will continue over the coming months as we once again examine where savings and efficiencies can be made. The past month has also seen the first meeting of the leadership forum for first, second and third tier officers. It is intended that, in the initial stages at least, the forum will meet quarterly to ensure that everyone is clear about the council’s priorities and is pulling in the same direction. For those who have not had an opportunity to look at the corporate plan, it can be accessed here
Earlier this week I was in Edinburgh, along with other Scottish local authority chief executives, to meet John Swinney and Shona Robison as the integration of health and social care entered its transitional year before becoming fully bedded next April.
Friday of last week saw me at the regular monthly meeting of Cosla and I also chaired a meeting in Aberdeen of the three north-east local authority chief executives, plus representatives of Police Scotland and NHS Grampian, on issues concerning adult and child protection.
Finally, I am looking forward to the next round of service learning visits which see members of CMT getting out and about and visiting staff at their places of work and discussing with them any issues or concern they might have. I have always found these informal sessions extremely useful.
April will also see me getting into some serious training for the Benromach 10k event at Forres on May 9, which is approaching fast – and certainly much faster than I will be on the day.