Workforce Support Team

Sophie Tyne Hughes

Hello everyone! I am now in post as Workforce Support Team Leader since September 2022 and following a number of developments in our small team in recent months it feels timely to update you all!

Team roles

The team's duties and job descriptions have now been updated, and Sian Iolen Pritchard is now leading on communications issues across the department. Her official title is Communications and Public Relations Manager and she is your point of contact on any communication and engagement matter; whether it relates to the public, staff or elected members Sian has worked in communications for some years and is more than happy to advise on any communication matters or to support you with creating promotional material or information documents - you are welcome to contact her.

Rhian Wyn Powell’s role has also changed Rhian is now responsible for several roles in one, acting as the team's Information Officer and also as an Administrative Officer for older people's services. Rhian handles all our information requests including FOIs and SARs It came to our attention some months ago that there were some requests for information about individuals reaching social workers or others directly from the police rather than following the correct channels

Please can we remind you that any information requests are to be sent to gcgc@gwynedd.llyw.cymru – there are very specific laws regarding the release of sensitive information about individuals so it is important that you do not respond to these requests yourself. If you are unsure about anything, please contact Rhian and she will be happy to advise.

There was one other member on our small team the last time we shared a newsletter! Lyndsey Marie Owen is currently taking a break from the administrative service after 19 years and is on secondment with Bangor CRT as a Social Work Practitioner As a team, we want to congratulate her on her success in preparing and applying for the role and wish her well for her time with the Bangor team. We hope to share Lyndsey's story with you in the next newsletter!

This is also an opportunity to thank the individuals who have been willing to step in to assist with tasks Lyndsey was previously responsible for.

In the Pipeline

Adults’ department website pages - Sian is currently working on our website pages and we’d ask for you to please contact her if you have any ideas on improving the accuracy of the information and how easy it is for a member of the public to find it.

Communication and Engagement Plan - The Council has now approved Gwynedd Council's Plan 2023-28 and one of the priorities identified under the heading Caring Gwynedd is the need to develop a communication and engagement plan to improve how we ensure the input of Gwynedd residents into the developments of our services. Sian will be leading on this work and so please contact her if you have any ideas that you feel should be addressed as part of it.

Information Retention Period Lists - we ' ve updated the lists giving us guidance of how long we should be keeping files, with thanks to everyone who took part in the workshops. We will work on some guidance for you over the next period but in the meantime, please contact me for advice on retention periods.

A new administrative assistant has now joined us and we will also be welcoming an apprentice to join the team in early July. I hope their time with the team will give them opportunities to get to know the department and services, to find out where their interests are for the future and to gain experiences of doing all sorts of different work. We will hear more about Iwan and Cadi in our next newsletter

Health and Safety– a number of issues are coming to our attention at the moment i e concerns about lone working, fire arrangements, risk assessments, officers working without appropriate equipment etc Please give attention to these matters in team meetings or similar to ensure you ' re fulfilling your responsibilities in terms of health and safety. As your departmental health and safety coordinator, please contact me if I can helpsophieannhughes@gwynedd.llyw.cymru

Offices – Thanks to everyone who contributed to the latest questionnaires on working arrangements; we hope to receive corporate guidance very soon on what the working model will look like to the future.