It has been another eventful year and my last column of 2024 gives me an opportunity to thank you all for your hard work and dedication over the last 12 months.
The public sector continues to face unprecedented challenges but I’m incredibly proud of the the services we continue to deliver for our communities.
While most of us will be enjoying some well-deserved time off over Christmas and New Year, some of you will be on-call, while others will be continuing to work to provide crucial services for our communities and some of North Ayrshire’s most vulnerable residents.
A huge thanks to all of you and I appreciate the sacrifices made for the benefit of others.
I have had the opportunity over the last few weeks to visit some of you as part of the locality visits I have been carrying out with the Leader, Councillor Marie Burns.
We managed to visit four of our localities – with Arran and the Three Towns scheduled for early next year – and it’s always a great opportunity to meet staff and learn more about the work going on.
There is an article in this edition of Staff Talk which outlines the places and services we visited. A huge thanks to all those who showed us around.
A special mention to our extremely entertaining tour guides – Lochlan and Roma – who showed us around Montgomerie Park Primary School. Their knowledge and pride in their new school was fantastic to see.
The early part of 2025 will be dominated by preparation of next year’s budget. Our budget consultation exercise saw more than 4000 responses to our survey and it was a brilliant response and will help inform us as we move forward in taking some important decisions.
The uncertainty is never easy but we will be as open and transparent as possible and will keep you updated as we move forward.
This year saw a change in the working arrangements for many of you as part of our rationalisation of our Irvine properties. Many of you will now will have moved to Cunninghame House and I hope the move went smoothly for you and you are finding your feet. If you have any issues, please let your line manager know as soon as possible.
Cybersecurity (or Cyber-attack) remains a critical concern, cyber-attack can lead to significant operational, financial and reputational challenges for organisations.
Whether working from home or in the office it is vital to remain vigilant when opening emails, clicking links or accessing websites. If you notice anything unusual, or you think you may have inadvertently interacted with something potentially malicious it is important this is reported quickly to the Cyber Security Team. Early intervention is vital in limiting the impact of any cyber incident.
That just leaves me to wish you all a very merry Christmas and happy New Year when it comes. I look forward to seeing you and working with you all in 2025.