One of my Tour of Britain images used on the Norwich City Council\'s internal newsltter

1. ISSUE 154/20 SEPTEMBER 2010
STAFF from our legal team will be joining forces with two other local councils
in an exciting move to create a shared legal service.
The new service – nplaw (Norfolk
public law) – will go live on Friday 1
October and once up and running will
have a total of 78 staff.
Of these, 12 will be sourced from the
city council and seven from Great
Yarmouth Borough Council. These 19
staff will TUPE transfer to the county
council with the remaining 59-strong
workforce being drawn from county’s
legal team. All will initially be based at
County Hall.
Core legal services the team will
provide include prosecutions,
litigation, dispute resolution, child
protection, education, social services,
public procurement, planning,
housing and antisocial behaviour.
Moving to this way of working will
mean an improved service, career
development opportunities for staff
and financial savings.
Three steering group members have
shaped nplaw and will continue to be
involved in its overall delivery. They
are Philip Hyde, our head of legal and
democratic services, Victoria McNeill,
head of law at the county council, and
Chris Skinner, head of central services
at Great Yarmouth Borough Council.
“A lot of hard work has gone into
creating a new shared legal service
for the three authorities,” says Philip.
“We’re all looking forward to getting
underway and providing a high quality,
value for money service that can deliver
excellence through an experienced,
motivated and valued team.”
A shared legal service
Bicycle race: some of the world's
best cyclists were welcomed by
crowds as they rode through the
streets of Norwich last Thursday
for the Tour of Britain.
Our 12 members of staff who
will be working for nplaw have
racked up an incredible 147
years of service between them.
Five of these – Hazel Simmons,
James Robinson, David Lowens,
Nigel Brims and David Johnson
– have each worked at the city
council for more than 20 years.
On 28 September, all of them
will be formally recognised for
their service to the council in
the Lord Mayor’s parlour.
PicturebyAlanBennettofMedia&ImagingSolutions.
Clickheretoseemorepictures.

2. The big switch-off
This system, called ‘voltage optimisation’,
takes the electricity supply we receive
and conditions it to the optimum
voltage for our electrical equipment.
In preparation for 2 and 3 October,
staff must be aware of the following:
• Computers and laptops must be
shut down, otherwise the machines
may be damaged.
• Fridges will need to be emptied.
• It will not be possible to access IT
services (including networks and
telephones) on Saturday or Sunday.
This includes remote offices and
internet on BlackBerry®
s.
• All electrical equipment fed from
the mains supply in City Hall will
be affected.
POWER will be switched off in City Hall for the first weekend in October while
new eco technology is installed to help the building run more efficiently.
Plans to boost play
People will be asked why they use
the play spaces, what they like and
things they’d change at an event,
which takes place in the gardens
between 10am and 4pm on
Saturday 9 October.
Feedback will inform the project,
which has more than £190,000
allocated as part of planning
conditions placed on the developers
of Chapelfield shopping centre.
Parks and open spaces officer
Maggie Finck is managing the
project, with support from
community engagement officer Jeff
Compton and landscape architect
Sally Ward. Other specialist
support will come from council
departments including finance,
procurement and communications.
The team will also be working with
nearby organisations to find out what
people want from the gardens before
any plans are made. It is hoped these
will be drawn up in spring of next year
ready for further consultation and that
the work will take place in 2012.
PLAYTIME in Chapelfield Gardens is to get even better and those who
use the park will help to decide the changes being made.
This is one of a number of projects
we are undertaking to make use of
developer contributions
to improve play in
our parks and
open spaces.
Richard Willson, environmental
strategy manager, says: “The work
will improve how we use our power
and save nearly £11,000 a year, while
also cutting 65 tonnes of CO2,
which is amazing. We really need
staff to help make it go as smoothly
as possible.”
The council’s web pages will not be
available at all during this time. A
message notifying people will be
displayed and this will be flagged up
in advance.
For more information about the
project, please contact John Dougan
on 212545 or by emailing
johndougan@norwich.gov.uk

3. IN BRIEF
Census day jobs
Census day is on 27 March 2011 and to
make sure it runs as smoothly as
possible, the Office of National
Statistics has a range of temporary jobs
to fill across the country.
With roles requiring a range of skills,
differing work patterns and length of
contract, there’s something to suit
everyone.
James Roe, director of census
recruitment, says: “Census jobs offer a
unique chance to get involved in a
national project that has the potential to
deliver real benefits to them and their
local community.
“We are looking for individuals who can
spare some time to help gather the
information we need, while earning
some extra money and helping to
change things for the better.”
For more information about the Census
2011 and jobs available, please visit
www.censusjobs.co.uk – despite the
security warning, the website is safe to use.
Be an ambassador
If you’re proud of our fine city, why not
spread the word and become part of
the new Norwich Ambassador Scheme.
It’s designed to help those whose jobs
involve dealing with visitors and local
people. However, it’s also open to
enthusiastic members of the public who
are keen to broaden their knowledge of
what the city has to offer.
Two sessions are being held at The
Assembly House in Norwich on Tuesday
19 and Wednesday 20 October.
Sessions cost £25, including a buffet
and information pack with money-off
vouchers for city attractions.
For more information and bookings visit
www.norwich12.co.uk
A real HONOR
HONOR (Healthier Options Norfolk) will
be introduced on Wednesday at a
special event at City College Norwich.
The initiative aims to inspire businesses
to offer meals with lower salt and sugar
content, use less saturated fats and
increase the use of fruit and vegetables.
Chris Gooding, our food safety officer
who is overseeing the new scheme, says:
“We want to encourage the food
businesses in Norwich to get on board.
“It’s not about restaurants offering
nothing but very healthy dishes; it’s
more to do with giving customers the
choice when they eat out.”
OUR food safety team is launching an exciting new scheme
to encourage restaurants and caterers to offer healthier choices.
Blooming great
MONTHS of hard work and dedication paid off last week when
the winners of the Anglia in Bloom awards were announced.
Norwich won silver gilt in the small
city category, and silver awards in the
Urban Regeneration and Community
section went to Mancroft ward, The
Lanes, Sewell ward, Town Close ward
and Thorpe Hamlet.
The city also received eight
certificates of recognition for special
projects, including work at Lakenham
Way, the Assembly House, the Castle
Entrance, Mousehold Heath and
Mousehold Defenders, Magdalen
Gates Pre-School and Strangers’
Hall Gardens.
“This is great news,” says the
council’s horticultural sponsorship
officer Terry Bane. “The Friends of
Norwich in Bloom team aims to
encourage as many wards as
possible to enter the competition,
showing all that can be achieved in
each neighbourhood.
“Hopefully one day all 13 wards will
be entered and a winner will go forward
to the UK Britain in Bloom finals.”
There were 66 entrants this year from
across the region, with 12 achieving
gold standard and 28 silver gilt standard.
More information about Norwich in
Bloom can be found at
www.norwichinbloom.co.uk
To qualify for an HONOR award, all food
premises have to demonstrate they
have healthier options on their menu
and are allergy and nutrition-aware.
Our revamped food safety web pages
now feature business merits alongside
the new food hygiene rating. This
means you can find out which
places offer healthier options, are
breastfeeding-friendly, source food
locally and have wheelchair access.
Census 2011

4. Welcome to Bollywood
Neighbourhood wardens
(west) team
Community engagement officer
Louise Curtis would like to say how
much she appreciated the help of
Andy Rodwell, Mick Ashby and
Diddy (David) Smith on some recent
community work.
“A coach of young New Day
volunteers came to Bowthorpe to
litter-pick the area and paint part of
the community centre. The wardens
were a great help in supervising the
group and it was really appreciated
by both me and the local vicar.”
Tourist Information Centre
Congratulations to our team at the
TIC, whose help prompted a visitor to
the city to get in touch. In the email,
the lady from Yorkshire praised the
team’s efforts and said: “You sent lots
of information, which helped us plan
our holiday in Norwich and when we
came to the Forum, nothing seemed
too much trouble.
BOUQUETS
Information and data assistant Robert
Parish is a member of Roteract, a club
for 18 to 30-year-olds who like to
socialise and make a difference to their
communities in the process.
He is helping to stage a Bollywood-
themed night in aid of the club’s chosen
charity for the year, Autism Anglia; and
it also supports other causes as part of
its monthly events.
“It’s set to be a great evening,” says
Robert. “There’ll be Indian-style snacks,
henna painting, pub games and the
chance to learn a bit of Bollywood
“Norwich felt like a city that has pride
in itself – we will certainly recommend
it to others and hope to visit again soon.”
Revenues and benefits team
members
Congratulations are due to Jill Healey,
revenues and benefits manager; Julie
Gowling, benefits subsidy and
performance officer; Sue Gray
training officer – revenues and Jan
Ferguson, revenues reconciliation and
returns officer, for their success in
achieving the IRRV technical
qualification. Appeals, liaison and
overpayments team leader Jenny
Buck says: “This is another benefit to
the service following hot on the heels
of the current LEAN process. Well
done to them!”
Lisa Kidd, recovery officer
Customer contact adviser Caroline
Lagden would like to thank Lisa for
her help recently: “I needed
assistance with a customer and Lisa
went well beyond the call of duty to
resolve the issue. It was so helpful
to have someone with the expertise
to respond to the query, which was
proving difficult to resolve.”
dancing. Everyone’s welcome so get
dressed up and bring along some of
your friends too.”
The event takes place on Friday (24
September) at the Hog in Armour on St
Benedicts Street. It all kicks off at
7.30pm, tickets are £5 and can be
bought in advance by contacting
Robert on 214104 or just turning up on
the night.
Anyone interested in finding out more
about Roteract can log on to
www.rotaract.org.uk or you can look
them up on facebook.
IF YOU fancy a night out with a twist then there’s fun to be had at
another charity event being organised by a member of staff.
Robert Parish
TIC staff