Dear colleague
I hope you are well and have had the opportunity to enjoy some of the sunshine.
I’ve got a few things I wanted to update you on –
Homes for Ukraine
I am aware that some staff are hoping to welcome guests from Ukraine and just wanted you to know that SLT is very happy for you to use your 2 days volunteering leave to help your guests to settle in. Just talk to your manager in advance. Please note that this isn’t restricted to residents of Mole Valley. If you are a resident of the District and are taking part in the scheme it would be great if you could let Alison Wilks know.
In terms of the role we as a Council will play, we have made it very clear that we want to do all we can to support those arriving from Ukraine. details are still emerging but it looks like we will have a role to play in carrying out checks of accommodation and making payments to those welcoming guests and to those from Ukraine. We will provide further details as and when they are confirmed.
Staff Survey
I was a little disappointed by the response – so far only about half of staff have replied. While this would be a success in a lot of other places it’s low for Mole Valley! SLT has an away day on 7 April to consider the results and they will be key to thinking about how we move forward as an organisation so please help us by taking the time to complete it – it will be going live again for Monday and Tuesday. I don’t think there has ever been a more important time to provide feedback – I am absolutely committed to continuing to make Mole Valley a great place to work but many of my tried and tested ways of doing that are gone – please help me by giving me your ideas – I promise you that every single response is read and will be used to inform our discussions.
Pre-Election
We are now officially in the pre-election period so please take the time to read the guidance on Molly – it applies to all of us. For anyone new to local government please talk to your manager if you are asked to arrange or attend any meetings with councillors. Special rules also apply to any publicity you might want to do about events or things you are doing/planning – again please take advice from your manager or our communications team.
Cyber security training
A number of us have yet to complete this essential training (required by 31 March) – please make sure you do this. I have done it myself and can confirm that it only takes half an hour and is straightforward to complete. Given growing concerns nationally about an increased risk of cyber-attacks it is really important that we all know what to look out for. Please help us protect the organisation by undertaking the training as soon as you can.
The end of lateral flow tests
To the best of my knowledge these will no longer be available after the 1st April. We understand that new guidance will be published on that day which will help inform a review of our current risk assessments and rules. Clearly this will take a little time to digest and understand. However, in the meantime, we need to change the rules around testing and when you can and cannot come in to a council owned building or go out and about on visits etc. so –
- If you actually know that you or one of your household has covid then do not come in until you/they are negative
- If you have symptoms which might be covid but could also be a cold, flu or other infection then please do not attend until you are well. It is impossible for me to write specific rules or guidance around this – I’m afraid it will rely on us all using our judgement and having discussions with our managers – we may have to take different approaches e.g because we are visiting vulnerable client groups, have vulnerable members of our team or are working on something where there would be severe business continuity issues if we all went off at one time. Please bear with us and work with your manager as we all get used to this new way of working.
Once the guidance is issued, I will, of course, provide a further update. We are particularly keen to understand if there will be any special provisions for those of us who work with older and more vulnerable residents and have been liaising with social care on this in order to ensure that we are all working in the same way.
In the meantime, all other rules (including the need to wear face masks when moving about) remain in place. We will review this, along with all other rules, once the new guidance is issued.