Latest staff news

3 April - Susanne Millar is appointed as new Chief Executive

Last week, it was announced that Susanne Millar (currently Chief Officer of Glasgow's Health and Social Care Partnership) will replace Annemarie O'Donnell as Chief Executive - after she announced earlier this year that she was retiring after more than 30 years working for the city.

It is anticipated Susanne will start to take on some of the duties of Chief Executive almost immediately, with a full handover complete before Annemarie retires in early May.

Susanne said: "I'm both delighted and really honoured to take on this role.

"I've known and worked closely with Annemarie for many years, and I think everybody understands she's going to leave very big boots to fill - but I can't wait to get started.

"As a Glaswegian, I've been privileged to spend my whole career working for the people and the communities of my hometown.

"I've enjoyed working with a really dedicated team at the Health and Social Care Partnership and I couldn't be more proud of them and the job they do for the city, day in and day out."

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of the Councilsaid: "We were lucky to have a really strong set of candidates demonstrating the real breadth of talent we have in the city, with deep personal commitment to improving the lives of Glaswegians. I'm very grateful to all of them.

"However, I'm delighted that we have appointed Susanne Millar, who will bring dynamism, energy and passion to the Chief Executive's office.

"Susanne has been a superb Chief Officer of Glasgow HSCP, driving real reforms which have delivered outcomes - such as a major reduction in rough sleeping and a transformation in our approach to supporting vulnerable children and families.

"She comes with a deep understanding of the damage inflicted on so many Glaswegian households by austerity and the urgency of lifting people out of poverty; but that alone does not define her vision of Glasgow.

"She also knows that there are incredibly positive things happening within Glasgow's economy right now; with record levels of investment, and that our shared challenge is to mobilise partnerships across the city to translate that into better lives and places for all Glaswegians, especially those who need it most.

"My experience of working with Susanne over the past few years has already shown me what an impressive person she is and I'm really looking forward to continuing to work with her as she takes this next step in her career and builds on the very strong legacy that Annemarie leaves behind her."

Susanne has spent her entire career working in social work and social care services in the city, then moving into work in integrated health and social work service. She started her career in residential care for older people, then working with vulnerable children and families.

After holding strategy and planning roles, she became the Head of Children's Services and Head of Homelessness and Asylum Services.

In 2012, Susanne became Assistant Director of Social Work Services in Glasgow, then Chief Officer for Planning, Strategy and Commissioning for the newly-formed Glasgow City HSCP, promoted in 2019 to the Chief Officer role within the HSCP, leading the team of 13,000 staff working across health and social work.

3 April - Secure your place at our next staff event : 24 April at 10am

Data is at the heart of everything we do across the council family. By improving our understanding about how to collect and use meaningful data we can add real value to a project or process and directly enhance the services we provide to our citizens.

Join us at the second instalment of our Data Makes a Difference event series on Wednesday 24th April at 10am, Satinwood Suite, City Chambers.

Secure your place today!

Places are limited and offered on a first come - first signed up basis. So do not miss out. Due to the popularity of the first event, we would encourage you to sign up today to secure your seat. You can Sign up here

On the day you will have the opportunity to hear from inspirational speakers from across the council family, talking through real life examples of projects which are using data to make a tangible difference to their work, including:

• using Dashboards for Absence Analysis
• enhancing our understanding of child poverty through data
• using Artificial intelligence (AI) to determine how busy our city spaces are
• how our Traffcom team uses data visualisations to support decisions around traffic management.

Following feedback from our first event - you will have more opportunity to chat to the teams in the demonstration area and talk with colleagues about how data can be used to improve our services, before and after the key speakers.

More Information

Read more about how staff use data every day to make a difference at Data Makes a Difference.

GOLD Course

You are encouraged to take our 'Getting Started with Data' course on GOLD as an introduction to understanding the different types of information used across our organisation and how your actions can impact this information.

You will find the course on GOLD under Core Programmes, in the section on How to Handle Information. 

3 April - Supporting our staff: new family friendly legislation due in April

The UK Government is introducing some key employment legislation changes to strengthen family-friendly workplace practices from 6 April 2024.

As Thom Hughes, HR Manager - Corporate, explains: "The changes coming into force will help to provide greater flexibility and support for staff in relation to flexible working, paternity leave and carer's leave."

For example, from this date the regulations include:

• staff being able to make a request for flexible working arrangements from their first day in their role - instead of having to wait until after 26 weeks of continuous service
• new fathers being able to take their paternity leave at any time during their baby's first year - as opposed to within the first eight weeks. Or being able to split their two weeks leave into two separate blocks of leave, if suits them better doing so, or
• staff with long-term caring responsibilities being able to take up to one week of unpaid leave per year to help balance their duties as carers alongside their busy work and personal lives.

As Thom explains: "These family friendly arrangements will help to improve the work life balance of our workforce and reduce, where possible, additional stress during important life events. All HR colleagues and Service managers have been briefed on these changes to update their teams, and our HR policies and guidance have been updated online to reflect the new arrangements to support our workforce. Staff are encouraged to read our policies to better understand how they can benefit from these changes, should the need arise."

Support

• If you have any questions or need support understanding the changes and what they mean for you - please contact your Service Strategic HR team.
• You can read our Employment Conditions of Service, policies and procedures on our Staff Webpages and guidance is on Connect.
• Please just refer to the right section for the relevant information such as Worklife Balance, Flexible Working, Paternity Leave and Leave.
• Additional Staff Health and Wellbeing Support information

3 April - Enhance your skills through supporting others: Glasgow area seeks volunteers!

Support children and young people through supporting Panel Members - become a Panel Practice Advisor

The Children's Hearings System is Scotland's unique care and justice system for children and young people in need of care, protection and support. We are committed to #KeepThePromise to Scotland's infants, children and young people.

Panel Practice Advisors play a critical role within the local team supporting Children's Panel Members. 

The Glasgow Area Support Team is seeking to recruit volunteers as Panel Practice Advisers (PPAs).  If you have good assessment, observation, interviewing and communication skills and are able to regularly give your time to the Children's Hearings System, please contact us to find out more information.  You will be equipped with training and support to fulfil this role.

Panel Practice Advisors are responsible for selecting and recommending Panel Members for appointment. They also regularly observe Panel Members within children's hearings and feedback so improvements can be made. Their goal is to support Panel Members through feedback to ensure the strongest possible decisions are being made for children and young people.

Application

For further information: please visit chscotland.gov.uk, or for an informal conversation about this role please email sharon.angell@chs.gov.scot

To apply, please complete the online application: Vacancies (chscotland.gov.uk)

3 April - Equally Safe at Work: council award

Equally Safe at Work is an innovative accreditation programme for employers, developed by Close the Gap and funded by the Scottish Government. The programme is to help support and improve employment practices to progress gender equality at work and prevent violence against women. It enables organisations to progress through a tiered system - from building a foundation for change to embedding a strong culture of gender equality within the organisation.

Award

The council has been participating in this programme since 2022 and we're delighted to announce that 12 March 2024, we were awarded Development accreditation. Shona Thomson from GMB accepted the award, on behalf of the council, from Laura Martins at Close the Gap.

Christine Brown, Head of HR explains: "Achieving Development status is a real boost for the council as it provides us with an excellent foundation to start progressing our key priority of gender equality in the workplace and provide better support for victim-survivors of gender-based violence.

"We are committed to the health and wellbeing of our staff and it's important, therefore, we create a working environment where any affected employees feel safe and confident in seeking support and assistance. As we work towards achieving the next programme level, not only are we demonstrating our commitment as sector leaders to prevent violence against women, but we will continue to regularly review and update our HR policies and practices to make sure that they are reflective of the needs of our workforce. This also aligns with our Equality Outcome commitments to create and celebrate a diverse and inclusive workplace and reduce barriers faced by women in the workplace."

More information

• Equally Safe at Work
• Workforce Wellbeing - staff support
• If you need help right now  

3 April - Home care unveil rest and reflect benches

Glasgow City Health and Social Care's home care service donated a 'rest and reflect' bench to Govanhill Community Remembrance Gardens in memory of colleagues and service users who have passed away over the last few years.

Julie Stuart, Quality Improvement Officer said "We marked the unveiling of our memorial bench in Govanhill Remembrance Gardens with a short service, sharing tributes to our colleagues and service users who are no longer with us. It was attended by managers, home carers, family members, the volunteers from the garden and other individuals from the community. There was time afterwards to grab a cup of tea and a cake and share our memories.

"We hope the benches provide a place of peaceful comfort for our staff and the community or family to come and remember those who we have lost."

Clara Garner, Area Operations Manager said "It's important to keep memories alive and honour our colleagues and service users. The benches give us a space to go for quiet reflection."

Another two memorial benches will be placed across the city so that carers and family members in other areas have somewhere to remember their colleagues and loved ones. The benches were funded by the charity 'To Absent Friends', who aim to support organisations in providing opportunities for remembrance. The charity is part of the 'Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief' organisation.

6 March - Using Outlook: have you got the right email signature?

All staff are required to adhere to our Corporate Identity Guidelines to make sure that our council brand is used and portrayed in the correct manner. By doing this we present a clear, consistent and quality image - both internally and externally. 

Our email signature forms a key part of our Corporate Identity Guidelines and how we present our organisation in a professional manner with everyone who interacts with us.

We all have a role to play in representing our council brand and our email communication is a fundamental part of this.

Actions to take

Please take time to make sure that your email signature is:

• formatted correctly in line with our corporate guidelines  - as shown in section one of our Guidelines
• does not contain any logos or icons - this includes all partnership/programme logos
• that your email out of office message is formatted correctly in line with the guidelines.

Email signature example:

• Please follow the layout shown in section one of our Corporate Identity Guidelines
• Your email signature must be the same font size as the text in your email, minimum 10pt.
• Your email font should be Arial
• It should be black text on white background - no colours or italics to be used.

Please make sure that you have no reference to Covid, or the impact of Covid on your working arrangements and service delivery within your email signature. This is no longer required.

Out of office email example:

Please use the format shown in section one of our Corporate Identity Guidelines

More information

Visit: Glasgow Intranet - Corporate Identity Guidelines for more information on:

• our guidelines
• a copy of our corporate PowerPoint template
• details on how to format your profile photo in Teams and Outlook
• how to order a corporate lanyard.

6 March - Vehicle users: important information

As we continue to deliver on our Transport Strategy as part of our ambition to become a Net-Zero Carbon city by 2030 - we are continuing to replace our traditional, diesel fuelled, council fleet vehicles with Electric Vehicles (EVs).

In turn, this is seeing more EV charging bays being installed across the council at our depots, offices and other work locations. These charging bays are essential refuelling points for our EV fleet - to make sure we can continue to deliver vital services to our citizens. 

We would like to remind all staff of the etiquette regarding the use of our fleet EV charging bays. 

Key information

If you use a vehicle to get to your work location, please park responsibly and remember that:

• An empty EV charging bay should not be viewed as a vacant car parking space for any vehicle - including personal EVs.
• These EV charging bays are for the sole use of refuelling our council 'plug-in' Electric Vehicles.
• Please be mindful that electricity is an EV's only source of fuel - and if our fleet vehicles can't charge, then they are unable to deliver essential services to the city.
• Only park in an EV charging bay if you intend to charge your council EV.
• Once your EV has finished its charging session, please move it to a regular parking place.
• We have more Electric Vehicles in our council fleet than we have charging bays so please move your vehicle on, once it's charged - to allow others access to the charging infrastructure.
• Do not unplug another user's vehicle when it is in the process of charging.

It is crucial that we all understand and respect the importance of keeping these Electric Vehicles charging bays clear and free when they are not in use. This is so that they are available for use, as electric fuel points, when required by our fleet of Electric Vehicles.

6 March - Easter Egg Collection: can you help?

A charity Easter Egg collection has been organised in the City Chambers complex.

Collection bins will be available in the reception areas at City Chambers East and West and 231 George Street.

Staff have been very generous with Easter Egg and Christmas gift donations in recent years and donated eggs will be distributed to charities and young people across the city.

6 March - Julie gets the chop for children's charity

Julie Stuart, Quality Improvement Officer at Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership recently chopped her hair for charity.

Julie said "Little Princess Trust is a charity that provides free real hair wigs to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or other conditions. I have been growing my hair so that I could go for the chop and donated 20 inches to the charity for the creation of wigs.

"I wanted to support this charity as my aunt lost her hair when undergoing treatment for cancer and the difference a real hair wig made to her self-esteem was priceless. I wanted to help children in the same situation as her. My hair grows fast, and I know it will grow back quickly; some kids undergoing cancer treatment or with medical conditions aren't as fortunate.

"My colleague's wife actually surprised me by turning up at the hairdresser on the day I went to get it cut. She presented me with a bunch of flowers on behalf of my team, which was very thoughtful and lovely for them to show their support.

"In addition to donating my hair I also raised £780 to put towards covering the cost of the wigs to be made. I set up a just giving page for friends and family to donate to and did some fundraising activities around Blair Court which my fantastic colleagues participated in. I sold a variety of home baking and football cards and this helped bolster the donation."

Well done to Julie from all her colleagues in care services, they are all extremely proud of you.

6 March - 'Make it easier' with Multiply123 - free local numeracy courses

Adults across Glasgow City Region are being urged to take part in a new programme helping them 'make it easier' to use numbers and maths.

8 local authorities have joined forces to promote the Multiply123 numeracy programme - hundreds of funded courses and activities, free to local residents and available across the Region's eight council areas.

Are numbers getting in your way?

Research from the National Numeracy Charity shows that 40% of the UK's working-age population have the expected numeracy levels of a primary school leaver, and 30% of school leavers feel anxious about using maths and numbers.

Multiply123 will allow you to access fully-funded courses near you - across any of the eight Glasgow City Region council areas. The courses can help you to get better at budgeting or even help the kids with homework alongside feeling more confident with numbers in everyday life - such as working out how much to pay in a restaurant.

Get involved!

• You can contact Multiply123 on their dedicated freephone 0808 171 3030 - and the team will connect you with Multiply support in your local council area.
• Their website at www.multiply123.co.uk showcases all the help and support available across the whole Region.

Multiply Programme

The Multiply programme is funded by the UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund. Multiply courses and activities are available for anyone aged 19 or over; without a maths qualification above SQA Level 5; and resident in Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Renfrewshire or Renfrewshire.

Full story at 'Make it easier' with Multiply123 numeracy courses and support — Glasgow Life

6 March - Watch how we are supporting our citizens: maximising independence

Glasgow City HSCP's new Maximising Independence (MI) video shows how people and organisations are putting the MI approach into practice across the city.  The video has been produced working with key partners, community organisations and people we support, to help raise awareness and understanding about the MI approach.

Maximising Independence means supporting people, who can and want to, to remain living at home safely for as long as possible with the right support in place for them, and for their carers if they have them. This doesn't mean living without any support at all - it's about living as independent a life as you can, making choices about the things that matter to you, to live as full a life as possible, with support when you need it. We want our Glasgow citizens to have strong and reliable health and social care not just now, but for future generations too. So, we will talk, listen and work together to build a sustainable way of supporting people, so that everyone can achieve their full potential for health, wellbeing and independence.

Alison Noonan, Head of Maximising Independence and Transformation, HSCP, said "We know that the best way to share the message about how the Maximising Independence approach can make a difference is to show it in action, and I think the video shows the valuable work that our partners and colleagues do to improve outcomes for the people they support and the wider community. I hope the video will be a useful resource for anyone looking to find out more about MI, or to share information with their own partners and stakeholders.

"I'd like to extend a huge thanks to everyone who gave their time, energy and creativity to make the video happen."

The video will be shared across Glasgow City HSCP's communications channels, and also used for staff induction and training, as well as a range of partner and stakeholder engagement events to raise awareness and understanding about Maximising Independence approach. Shorter versions will also be produced over the coming months, focussing on specific topics.

For more information

• Visit Maximising Independence or email Marion Ballantyne (on Outlook.)
• Watch the video here.

6 March - Meet our new MCR Ambassador Lisa!

Lisa Brooks, Senior Homelessness Worker has been mentoring for the past two years. She has recently become our new Glasgow City Council MCR Ambassador for Social Work, fulfilling the role previously held by John Hampson.

Lisa says, "I first came across MCR Pathways when I was at university, I did a joint honours degree in Education and Social Policy, the subject of my dissertation was 'Poor educational outcomes in looked after and accommodated children'. As part of my research, I learned about MCR Pathways and used the initiative as an example of good practice. It gave me a good understanding of mentoring and how beneficial it can be for the young people involved.

"When I started working at the council three years ago, I discovered we had a partnership with MCR Pathways and was keen for the opportunity to get involved and become a mentor.

"I haven't looked back and it's been great to see first-hand how positive an experience mentoring is for young people. My relationship with my young person is flourishing. She is very similar to me in that she's outgoing and chatty and as time has progressed we are more comfortable with each other.

"I think there's a preconception that as a mentor you are a career's advisor but that's not the case at all. You are there for an hour a week to listen and chat to the young person. You don't need any qualifications to become a mentor- MCR will support you through training. I would say if you've been thinking about you should attend an information session or approach your service ambassador to find out more. I'm always happy to discuss my experience with colleagues and encourage them to take the step."

If you would like to find out more about MCR mentoring pop into our drop in, half hour information session on

• Monday 11 March, 3.30pm, 40 John Street, G1 1JL

Please email Donna Cunningham (on Outlook) to book a place as numbers are capped due to room capacity. Attendees should please report to reception on the day.

If you can't make this date,  you can sign up anytime and take yourself through the online information session - MCR Pathways Online Sign Up.