Our Derbyshire issue 27

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Message from our Chief Executive, Ian Stephenson

As you might have seen from media reports, Chesterfield Borough Council has decided not to join Sheffield City Region.

We’re pleased with this decision and it means that we don’t need to go ahead with a referendum, which would have asked the people of Chesterfield for their views.

We believe that it’s the best possible outcome for everyone living and working in Derbyshire and we’re now looking to a future where we can continue to deliver services for Chesterfield and the rest of the county.

Kind regards

Ian

Opportunities for young people

Do you know anyone looking to start or even change their career? We’re recruiting more than 100 apprentices in 20 different occupations.

We’ve got the following apprenticeships available:

Adult care catering
Bricklaying
Business administration
Construction technician
Digital learning and design
Electrical
Estimating
Health and social care
Horticulture
Infrastructure technician
Joiner
Landscape contruction
Mechanic – heavy motor vehicle
Mechanic – landscape machinery
Mechanic – light vehicle
Painting
Plumbing
Road working
Roofing
School catering
Street lighting
Surveying technician

The closing date for applications is 16 July, so please spread the word to anyone you think could be interested. There’s more information on our website.

Website content freeze

We're changing the content management system we use for presenting, managing and editing information on our websites.

We'll soon be moving www.derbyshire.gov.uk to the new system. To help us do this as efficiently as we can, there'll be no updates to this website from now until the transfer is complete – around mid-August.

If you do need any urgent changes because of a legal requirement, please email econtent@derbyshire.gov.uk with details.

All other council websites can be updated in the usual way.

If you have any queries, please contact Robbie Sinclair – 01629 539245.

Staff discount – summer cycle hire offer

From now until 20 August 2017 there is a buy one, get one free offer on cycle hire at Middleton Top for county council staff.

Hire an adult bike and get another adult bike to the same or lower value for free when you pre-book.

Bikes must be hired before 10.30am and a £20 refundable deposit is payable. All you need to do to get the offer is show your ID badge. The offer allows each member of staff to hire four bikes for the price of two. Groups of six or more can make use of the pre-bookable group rate.

To make your booking, call Middleton Top on 01629 533294.

You can find more information on our website.

We’re recruiting children’s social workers across Derbyshire

We’re looking for experienced, newly-qualified and graduate children’s social workers for our child protection, children in care and disability teams across Derbyshire.

If you know someone with a social work qualification who may be interested in working for Derbyshire we’d love to hear from them.

We’re currently investing in our service and offer many benefits including excellent team support, training and career development opportunities.

Applicants can email us their CV or apply online and, if they’re suitable, get a quick turnaround on interviews.

Find out more on our website and if you see any of our posts on Twitter and Facebook please share.

Don’t get caught out on social media

There have been a few incidents recently where employees have been subject to the disciplinary process because of things they have posted on social media.

Some cases have involved employees discussing their workload and in the process, disclosing personal details of service users.

Other instances have seen employees making derogatory comments about colleagues, managers, or the council.

Whether accidental or not, incidents like this serve as a reminder that it’s really really important that you think before you post.

You can read the social media policy on our website.

Direct care recruitment open days

We’re currently recruiting people to support elderly and disabled residents live well and independently for as long as possible in care homes and their own homes.

To give people a chance to see what’s on offer and what a career in care work could be like, we’re taking part in a number of recruitment events across the county:

Wednesday 28 June – 9am-12pm – Swadlincote Jobcentre Plus, the Delph Centre, Swadlincote.

Wednesday 19 July – 9am-12pm – Burton-on-Trent Jobcentre Plus, Crown House, New Street, Burton-on-Trent.

Friday 28 July – 10am-1pm – Proact Stadium, Sheffield Road, Chesterfield.

Staff from our adult care teams will be on hand at all events to have a chat and answer any questions.

If you know anyone who’d be interested in making a difference to an older or disabled person’s life, please tell them about these events. You can find out more on our website.

New internet and email services

We previously told you that we’re moving our email service from Fujitsu to Microsoft, starting in July this year. Before this happens, we need to upgrade to Office 2013 and this will mean Microsoft programmes such as Outlook, Word and Excel will have a different look and feel to the current Office 2010.

You can find more information in these guides

Outlook – What’s New in 2013

Word – What’s New in 2013

Excel – What’s New in 2013

When we come to moving everyone’s email, this will take several weeks because of the amount of data that is stored.

It will help if employees could delete any emails they don’t need – particularly large ones. You can find tips on how to reduce the amount stored in your mailbox with Outlook – Reducing Your Mailbox Size guide. Over the coming weeks, employees with particularly large mailboxes will be contacted by ICT Services to help them reduce the size of their mailbox.

For more information contact Jon Rogers - 01629 538937.

Skills festival volunteers

We’re appealing for volunteers to help out at the annual Derbyshire Skills Festival this September.

It’s the largest careers information and guidance event in Derbyshire and is open to young people aged 15 to 19, including those in Year 11 who are considering their options after school.

Volunteers are needed to welcome visitors, direct young people around the event and take evaluations from young people as they leave. Volunteers helping for a whole event will be given a meal voucher for food on the day.

If you’re interested, speak to your manager about whether you can do this in work time or whether you’d need to use flexi or annual leave.

There are events in Chesterfield and Derby

Chesterfield – Queen's Park Sports Centre – Thursday 14 September
Derby – The Roundhouse, Derby College – Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 September

The events will open from 3.30pm to 8pm, and there’s more information on our website.

What would you like to know more about?

If there is anything you would like to know more about, or would like to feature in Our Derbyshire, please email our.derbyshire@derbyshire.gov.uk

Missed an edition?

If you missed any editions of Our Derbyshire, you can find them on our website

Employees without a council email address

If you are responsible for employees who do not have a Derbyshire.gov.uk email address please share the contents of this newsletter with them. Employees can also sign up to receive this newsletter using a private email account. You can do this here.

More information

If you’d like any further information about any of the stories please call Jennie Hodgkinson on 01629 538234 or Annabel Holden on 01629 538216 or email our.derbyshire@derbyshire.gov.uk

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