Staff news

Great British Spring Clean Our Recycling and Ranger teams are looking for staff to join them on Tuesday 21 March to take part in a litter pick in support of Keep Britain Tidy’s annual campaign the ‘Great British Spring Clean’, which runs throughout March.  The campaign, which is in its eighth year, has been a great success in encouraging members of the public to join forces with a variety of organisations to help clear up our surroundings. The campaign runs from 17 March to 2 April and we'd love people to get involved in litter picks in their communities and share their achievements with us.  The staff litter pick will start at 1.30pm, meeting in the main hall of Old Forde House and will focus on areas along the Aller Brook nature reserve (alongside Forde House), Penn Inn and some areas of Brunel Industrial Estate. All equipment will be provided along with refreshments. Please ensure warm and waterproof clothing is worn along with sturdy shoes.  It's a great opportunity to get out into our local environment to help make it a cleaner and more enjoyable place, and to encourage others to take action too.  If you would like to join the teams, please add your name and contact details to the sign up sheet by Tuesday 7 March.

Forde House is on the move....

Move dates are fast approaching for all services, and our Property team and Strata will be busy moving us from our temporary desks to our new offices spaces, starting at the end of this month.

The time taken for these moves will vary, from just a day to several days, so there is likely to be some disruption for everyone while this happens, but every effort will be made to minimise this. 

Managers have the detailed plan and a guide to the move (on the CMT Teams) to discuss with staff ahead of their move date.

Find out about the moving dates and help us make our office space a great place to work.

Corporate Membership offer Don't forget to take advantage of our staff membership deal with Teignbridge Leisure, which offers a Jam Packed Membership deal for less than half price! Not only is the cost just £19 per month but there is no contract and no joining fee for Teignbridge staff and the Jam Packed membership package gives you unlimited access to public swimming, gym, exercise classes, indoor racket sports, and much more at any of our centres.  You can sign up by visiting any of the three Teignbridge Leisure Centres - Newton Abbot Leisure Centre, Broadmeadow Sports Centre, or Dawlish Leisure Centre Check out the intranet for full details of the great deal on offer from Teignbridge Leisure.

Where in Teignbridge? And if you fancy giving the Jam Packed membership a try...  don't forget there's a free month's membership up for grabs for a randomly selected colleague who correctly guesses where in Teignbridge this photo was taken.  Answers to the Communications Team.  The winner will be picked at the end of the month.

Taking advantage of social media opportunities

At Teignbridge, social media is one of our main communication methods, used for everything from publishing information, campaigns, press releases and for receiving an increasing number of customer enquiries, comments, and engagement. As well as our main corporate account, we have accounts for service areas such as Teignbridge Leisure, Economy and Regeneration, Housing and Planning. Increasing numbers of services are realising the benefits of using social media to involve and inform our citizens, so we have created some resources to help support you. Social media schedule  A social media scheduling timetable will help manage the content across our platforms. If you would like use our corporate accounts for your campaigns, information, or consultations, please look at the schedule and then email the Digital Comms and Social Media Officer to book your slots and discuss your content further. Social media guide A social media guide has been written to help colleagues use our channels effectively, please ensure you read this before using social media. Social media – helpful guides On the intranet you will now find useful guides to the main social media platforms. These will help you decide what and where you want content to be published.  If you need advice or help with social media, please contact Sarah Shervington – Digital Comms and Social Media Officer.

Talking tec

Council news

Budget survey findings support council priorities

Significant support for our priorities of tackling climate change, housing and jobs was the headline finding in our recent budget survey, which was completed by more than 1000 people.

An analysis of the feedback shows that 67% of respondents supported this year’s plan to increase council tax by 2.99% (the equivalent of £5.54 per year for a Band D property) to help maintain essential services.

But in future, 78% of respondents thought the best way to balance the budget was for us to generate more income with 35% preferring more budget savings and 23% council tax increases.

Ahead of finalising the budget for the next financial year councillors will see that 74% of respondents agreed that we should work with others to support climate change initiatives; 69% thought we should continue to support housing as a priority; and 78% supported strengthening the economy and boosting jobs through improving town centres.

Improving transport links received strong support (79%) as did attracting new businesses into the district (87%) and investing in schemes that promote better health and wellbeing through leisure and recreational spaces (75%).

The proposal to refund £5.54 as a one-off cost of living payment for all those eligible to pay council tax on their main home attracted 42% support with 37% opposing the idea and 21% neither for or against the proposal.

Views on council performance

Questions were also asked in the survey to gauge people’s views on the way the council was performing and 48 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with the way the council was run compared to 21% who were not. 

Waste and recycling and street cleansing services were given a thumbs up with 76% and 46% respectively satisfied compared with 15% and 29% who were not.  Some 80% were satisfied that Teignbridge was a good place to live with a similar percentage believing they were kept informed by the council.

Trust

Asked who they trusted most to make decision about services, almost 60% of respondents backed the council compared with 3% who opted for the government with 33% not trusting either.  Councillors were also trusted substantially more than MPs or Government Ministers to make service decisions.

Applications for Green Business Grants live The first of five projects to be launched with funding from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), Green Business Grants is now live for applications. In addition to businesses, charities and not for profit organisations can also apply for grants providing the funds can be spent before the end of this financial year. Applications for grant funding  - which will cover 80% of the cost for businesses and 100% for charities and not for profit organisations and be paid in arrears - must be made via our website at teignbridge.gov.uk/greenbusinessgrant. Companies can apply for grants ranging from £3,000 – £25,000 to pay for improvements such as LED lighting, low energy heating systems, heat pumps, double/triple glazed windows and doors or thermal insulations. Read more

Help available from Household Support Fund If you are struggling with cost of living pressures remember the Household Support Fund provides short-term financial support to meet immediate needs. If you have not received either a £650 cost-of-living payment or a previous Household Support Fund payment and are struggling to afford food and other essentials as well as paying your energy and water bills, you can apply to the Fund for support. Anyone who meets the criteria, which aims to target our limited funds to support those who need our help the most, can apply via our website. The fund will close on 31 March unless all the funding has been spent before this date.

Make a pancake diary date

Children, teachers and parents from Wolborough Primary School will be flipping pancakes on the Market Square on Tuesday 21 February 10.30-11.30am to celebrate Shrove Tuesday.

They will race against each other and the winning child team will compete against a team of staff from the school. The staff team will also compete against a team of parents.

Why not watch the fun event and  and afterwards have a coffee and a bite to eat in one of the cafés on the Market Square?

Council vacancies – Conservation Officer, Landscape Officer, Shaldon Golf Attendant

Leisure vacancies – CSA/Fitness Instructor, Leisure Assistant, Casual leisure roles - Sports Coach Level 1, Sports Coach Level 2

Full details of all vacancies and closing dates for applying are on our jobs portal.

Senior Impact and Partnership Development Manager - Housing Commission Head

An opportunity for a 12 month appointment for a Housing Commission Lead has arisen through the Team Devon partnership. The Commission’s role is to conduct an in-depth analysis of the various local housing markets, related socio-economic profiles and model demographic change to make the case for a step change in social and housing policy and pragmatic solutions to be delivered locally moving into the next decade, The closing date for applications is 23 February and a job profile gives more details including a job description.  If you know anyone who might be interested, please share these details with them.

Other news

Looking after children's mental health To mark Children's Mental Health Week, run by charity Place2Be, Devon County Council produced a special Connectme news update with lots of useful information on supporting children and young people’s mental health.

Coronation plans

A new Coronation website has been launched with the latest information about what is happening over the weekend of 6–8 May, details about how to get involved and other information about the Coronation.

Funding from £300 to £10,000 is available for events and activities through the National Lottery ‘Awards for All’ programme.  Although there is no deadline for applying, it can take up to 12 weeks from the point of application submission to receiving funding if successful. This means applications for the Coronation weekend should be made before the middle of February.

Demonstrating a system-wide commitment to tackling racism

Partners across Devon are working together to co-produce an anti-racism statement – and you are being asked to help shape it.

The project is spearheaded by the Devon-wide Ethnic Equality Network, which was relaunched in July 2022, and developed the concept for the statement as part of Black History Month celebrations in October.

The statement aims to demonstrate the commitment of the One Devon Partnership to tackling racism and actively working towards being an anti-racist system.

Read more