Recognising outstanding efforts

Hello everybody

I hope that if you have had some holiday over the last week and that it has been relaxing and restoring; it certainly was for me. I am grateful for my colleagues who held the fort and covered my responsibilities, including my 'gold' cover - that’s my out of hours duties for major emergencies in the city.

Heroic efforts on the seafront

Of course many of our staff were working hard and an email I received whilst I was away outlining the heroic efforts of Chaz Branson of our seafront services is just one example. Over the weekend, Chaz rescued a struggling swimmer at 7am in the morning and later gave first aid at both a traffic accident and to somebody who dislocated her hip on the beach. Well done to him and all the team for those efforts. It’s just a reminder of the important and often unsung work that is done by so many colleagues in the council.

Chaz on the seafront

Big Difference shortlist

It is fitting then that we are planning the Big Difference Awards which will be held on Thursday 20 November. I can announce that those shortlisted for the team award are: 

• a project team from Mears - for their sensitive work with a housing tenant when working on a property, and
• the Cityclean contact centre with the corporate support team - for their work during the refuse and recycling disruption over the past few months

On the individual shortlist are:

• Sam Rouse in public health for his work with the taxi trade to improve air quality in the city and
• Paul Diplock in procurement for his work to solve a difficult case with a housing tenant.

Work to rule suspended

 

Another vital service that I often mention is that of refuse and recycling. It’s frequently one of the only services that residents recognise from the council. Of course they get very upset and concerned when their collections do not come as expected.

So I am really delighted and appreciative of the fact that the drivers have voted to suspend the current industrial action and I can assure them that the work to review and redesign the service is being taken seriously and will take place at pace. I know that Richard Bradley, head of Cityclean and City Parks, is keen to ensure that normal services are back up as quickly as possible and that a good reputation can be restored. We very much want to see the service being able to grow its business and a reputation for reliability is absolutely essential for that to happen.

Safe and Secure

Today, I undertook my Information Governance training which is something every member of staff must do. Information Governance is not only about written information or computerised information, it it also involves being aware of security in the buildings for example tailgating when you go through restricted access doors. The training is very easy to undertake and can be accessed through Surf2Learn on the Wave. Can I ask that you do prioritise a short period of time to do the training? At the end of it there is a test and I am pleased to say I achieved 92%, I will be going back to try and get those last two answers right!


Going through the Safe and Secure training

Remembrance Sunday

Finally, just to note that Remembrance Sunday takes place this weekend and I, along with colleagues from ELT, will be attending services at the memorial in the Steine, Grand Avenue, All Saints Church in Hove and the Synagogue.

Art work at Hove Junior school

This year’s anniversary has certainly caused a great deal of heart searching and creativity and I am reminded of the wonderful visit I did in the year to Hove Junior school where they had dedicated a school project to the First World War and had developed some amazing writing and art as a result.

Sadly I haven’t yet seen the poppies at the Tower of London but they have been a source of emotional journey for many people and provoked an interesting set of discussions in the media. I was given one of the ceramic poppies for my birthday and it will arrive when the installation is taken down.

Enjoy your weekend.

All the best

Penny