'Coming home'

It’s a busy week this, with six staff forums and a heads of service management meeting covering around 1,500 staff. We’re half way through these sessions and it has been great to hear from many staff with their questions, challenges and observations about how we move the organisation forward. We have updated on the recent senior management restructure, the new business plan 2013-17 and the headline messages from the peer review. It’s important that we all get involved in these sessions because it’s how we can understand what’s happening, share our concerns, and learn together. That way we are stronger and better able to meet the challenges ahead.

I am writing this blog sitting in the refurbished council chamber in front of our 98 elected members. I have a real sense of  'coming home' and it’s great to see democracy in action in the proper place; the debating chamber. I would like to thank Julie Anderson-Hill and her team for delivering such a great facility, ahead of schedule and on budget. The facility has electronic voting and webcasting and we shall see the members using these facilities next year to really open up what goes on to all our communities and staff.

On Friday this week I am attending the autumn ACCE meeting – the association of county chief executives. It’s a good opportunity to catch up with colleagues and share learning on the major issues that we collectively face; safeguarding, highway maintenance, economic growth and financial sustainability as well as future development of the Local Government Association (LGA).

Speak soon and see you in Chippenham tomorrow and Salisbury on Thursday if you are attending the staff events.

For daily updates, discussion, personal opinion, comment or just to connect or keep in touch you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/drcarltonbrand.

Carlton