Chief Executive Blog - June 2015
Hello everyone,
The main three areas of focus this month have been working with my colleagues in CMT on the budget, a Best Value inspection and of course for corporate services director Mark Palmer this has been an especially busy time as returning officer for Moray with the General Election taking place and all the work that entails.
Locally I attended a service learning visit to Bishopmill Primary School which gave me a good insight into the workings of a modern day primary school. I was also very pleased to join the convener and other elected members at the recent long service awards ceremony – you can see pictures from this in the most recent edition of Connect.
The listening meetings I talked about last month have now taken place. These are always a useful forum for me to sit with service managers and talk with them about the priorities of the Council, but also for me to hear first hand about the good work being done across the Council, as well as hearing about the main issues of concern.
Myself and the directors met heads of service as part of our regular series of meetings. As you would imagine there is always a full agenda with plenty of important issues to discuss, however on a lighter note several of us agreed to a challenge which saw us take part in the Benromach 10k run at the beginning of May.
Further afield I attended the opening of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland with the convener in Edinburgh and gave evidence to the Rural Affairs Committee at the Scottish Parliament on the future of the Crown Estate. As a point of interest, did you know that 15% of Crown Estate revenue comes from Moray and that is the second largest after Highland?
As honorary secretary of the chief executive’s group I also attended an office bearers meeting with Sir Peter Housden, Permanent Secretary for Scotland and his management team looking at the future of public services in the post election era.
One of the main highlights for me this month has been the very positive feedback on the inspection of the Educational Psychology Service and seeing two Moray businesses recognised through national awards. Bill Robertson received a lifetime achievement award and Springfield Properties were named Scottish Housebuilder of the Year 2015 at the recent Homes for Scotland Awards, both shining examples of how Moray punches above its weight in the house building industry.
One of my main challenges this month is the recruitment of a new director to complete the corporate management team and I am hoping I will be able to tell you about the successful candidate in next month’s blog.
This month I am particularly looking forward to visits to Milnes High and Buckie High schools to discuss their achievements with the corporate director for education and social care Laurence Findlay and head of schools Vivienne Cross, and as well as this I am also looking forward to receiving the best value audit feedback.
On a final note its been a great month for music lovers with a new album from Palma Violets and the Vaccines coming out, and for the 70s music lovers Sparks making a comeback along with Franz Ferdinand as a supergroup!
However, while the festival season also approaches with the likes of Glastonbury and T in the Park, we shouldn’t forget that locally we have some great music and events right across Moray including Piping Hot Forres in June, Speyfest in July and many others and I hope to get to see at least some of these during the course of the summer.