Hillview Team
Nominated by: Chloe Clarke
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
The team I’d like to nominate please, all support children and young adults with profound disabilities and challenging behaviour.
They never fail to think outside the box and go above and beyond to support our young people. We are very lucky to support the young people we do but I feel strongly that the determination in each individual’s success in achieving personal goals is motivated by and a testament of the inspirational, dedicated and compassionate team around them.
This outstanding team never fail to aim high. They help our young people believe in their own dreams and have touched the life of each young person and their families in so many different ways.
Hillview’s aspirational team help our young people to envision a great future by promoting smart targets, and encouraging everyone to be the best they can be, enabling them to achieve their full potential.
The work they do and support they provide can often be unrecognised. I’d like to highlight how much we do appreciate them and everything they do for our young people.
Enhanced Support Team
Nominated by: Vicky Clarke
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
The Enhanced Support Team are a huge investment of knowledge and compassion to safeguard against abuse and to ensure Building the Right Support is delivered in the most challenging of times and circumstances. The dedication shown demonstrates the resilience and enduring drive the team have to ensure equality and life chances for those most oppressed is admirable.
As a team they all work towards the same end goal; to allow people choice and control over their own lives. They work to take positive risks, with input from many other professionals, to ensure these risks are balanced. By acknowledging the skills and knowledge of the team, they are able to discuss and reflect on cases, extensively. In working towards increased choice and control for those who often have none, the team can work in a person-centred way, in the truest of forms. Work has been completed to move people closer to their families and into accommodation that suits their needs, often after long inpatient stays.
The team have supported several people to transition from inpatient services into the community and prevented anyone from returning to hospital. This has come from working together to support one another through difficult transitions and challenging MDT working. It is the communication and commitment of the team to ensure that people can live the life they want, which makes these transitions a success.
As a team, the Enhanced Support Team are insightful into what the team need to learn, develop, and support one another. Protected time for peer discussions are prioritised and have transformed over time to meet the changing needs of the team. The team successfully support ASYE social workers who have been able to progress within Derbyshire County Council.
This work is ongoing and the dedication of the team will ensure success continues.
Elective Home Education Team
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
The Elective Home Education (EHE) advisors were all new to the team in Oct 2023. Since then, they have worked tirelessly to clear a monumental backlog of unseen children that they inherited from a legacy team. They have worked hard to create new processes and forge new relationships with colleagues to ensure all children in receipt of elective home education have access to suitable education and are safe.
They are incredibly solution focused and always strive to improve the service, which has already improved beyond all expectations. They have improved relationships with the EHE community and never fail to be on hand to help families in need. The result being that we are now no only able to better identify children who are home educated, but we are also now able to offer advice and support to nearly 1500 EHE families, delivering a gold standard service. This is a fantastic turnaround in such a short time and was brought about by an amazing and diligent team.
Business Services Central Support
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating this team for the High Performing Team Award.
This team meets the criteria for this award due to the continuation of delivering of a service to either internal or external customers, have are continuing to deliver exceptional results for the council, evidenced good communication, collaboration and a commitment to work being assigned to them, developing and supporting each other.
Even with many changes of staff leaving and new staff starting with the high demand of work they have continued to deliver work why being understaffed. They have been given a lot of work on top of a heavy workload and still managed to put guides together, maximise team support along with supporting each other.
With the major changes to the team and workload the expectational work being delivered started on May 2023 and is still ongoing.
Delivery team within the Learning and Development Design and Delivery Team
Nominated by: Lisa Sheldrake
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate the delivery team from the design and delivery arm of learning and development.
Following a significant redevelopment of the organisational structure in 2020 the design team have encountered many highs and lows, as new teams often do. They have faced challenges head on and embraced the opportunity for new development on an individual and also team level.
Due to departmental changes following a reduction of personnel in July 2023, it meant there was only two people remaining in the team who could deliver the moving and handling course. This is deemed essential training to certain departments and it meant that the remaining two staff members faced an impossible task in meeting demand and that service delivery could be considerably compromised. After putting a request out to the team of facilitators, six people put themselves forward to help address the issue.
The two existing facilitators were able to maximise their own skills and knowledge to design and deliver a two-week intensive train the trainer session for their colleagues. As a result the ability of the team to deliver moving and handling training has increased significantly. There are now eight facilitators trained and skilled up in this subject area cumulating in exceptional results for the council and a substantial cost saving by not having to commission in other services.
The process has showcased workers ability to communicate effectively, work collaboratively and achieve a shared goal. This was ultimately achieved by having an agreed focus on what learning was required, a realistic plan of how to achieve this learning and a supportive and encouraging team attitude. There is now a much bigger team trained and skilled up to deliver this aspect of essential training as defined in learning pathways.
ICT Operations Network Team
Nominated by: Peter Turner
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating the ICT Network Team for High Performing Team of the Year. They have been inspirational in delivering incredible things in the last 12 months. They currently support and maintain 200 Derbyshire County Council Sites and delivered new technology to 20 adult and children sites in 2023, bringing much better internet facilities to the sites. They have recently delivered the Boythorpe Quad site, facilitating the staff moves into the site and providing high speed network and internet facilities which will serve the staff and community moving forward. Further with very limited resources they are helping multiple sites move into the new facilities at the Quad and are hand holding the teams to assist the moves. The team have engaged with the property teams, adults team and building teams to ensure success. The work they undertake enables the council vision of serving communities and helping them thrive moving forward to achieve its full potential.
ICT Operations Server and Computer Team
Nominated by: Peter Turner
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating the ICT Operations Compute and Storage Team for the High Performing Team Award. The Team have upgraded 150 Windows Servers in the last 4 months which is incredible and saved the council £1m in upcoming extended support costs. Their hard work has meant that money can be spent wisely to move the operations team forward and remove the risk of having unsupported servers in our data centre. The work took place between Sept 23 and Jan 24.
Practice standards and quality team
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Hard working (very small) team totally new to quality assurance (QA) works who have self-developed an array of skills in this area in a short period of time to support and strengthen Derbyshire County Council’s QA and practice standards (a vital element with upcoming CQC inspection). They have devised, trialled, piloted (with frontline teams) and streamlined a practice standards QA tool. This tool incorporates the practice framework, lived experience feedback from adults and/or their representatives and practitioner reflections. This really pulls on the co-production element of the council’s plan. The team recognise barriers in practice can’t be tackled alone and adults with lived experience are invaluable to improving their experience.
This mammoth work alone was undertaken in a 6-month window, resulted in 24 compliments logged for practitioners, an adult volunteering to be a part of the stakeholder engagement board and a good practice log being collated to celebrate the amazing work colleagues carry out. This log will be used moving forward to inspire and example good practice in future learning sources, such as connect pages. This also influenced the team when they worked alongside Children's Services to plan and host Practice Week in January 2024, to further celebrate good work with the theme of Think Family. Data analysis of Practice Week is still in early stages but a whopping 511 colleagues attended 1 or more of the Practice Week sessions, which is excellent for their first Practice Week.
From this QA work many themes have been identified for further development to help Adult Social Care and Health continue to strive for improvement. The team actively seeks ways to involve adults with lived experience and colleagues to approach these works creatively and efficiently. The team are aware that changing a culture that shies away from quality assurance or celebrating practice is a big ask and are constantly forging new ideas to support this process.
The Outback team
Nominated by: Vicky Wilson
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating The Outback team for the High Performing Team Award.
The combined team at The Outback have worked with numerous families but I have witnessed first hand this past 12 months how they have worked with families and assisted children in returning to their families as opposed to living in care. The positive results are a testament to the positive way in which the team work with families and the young people. The team use 'nurture' as a model for when working with their families and young people.
Community Contract Team
Nominated by: Gemma Ashby
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
The Community Contracts team is made of 7 contract managers, 4 purchasing officers, 2 assistive technology brokers and one business services assistant. Contract managers have a dual function, in that they are responsible for completing procurement exercises alongside managing a portfolio of contracts. This is incredibly helpful and a real benefit as this informs the procurement process based on knowledge of the supplier market, previous performance standards, and any difficulties or barriers. Contract management and procurement is supported by the other officers in the team, either through direct involvement in tenders or via contract monitoring.
The focus for 2023/24 has been an immense plan of procurement activity. Due to the covid pandemic a range of contracts were extended as other areas of work took priority. However, many of these contracts were no longer fit for purpose and needed to be re-commissioned. This has resulted in the largest annual procurement plan the team has ever faced. The team works very closely with commissioning colleagues whose role it is to determine the business need and to shape the service design, while the Community Contracts team identifies the most effective way to procure the requirement and how to best shape the contract design.
The total value of the plan was approximately £307M. The Plan included a range of procurement activity, tenders, quote processes, and direct awards. Notably, a number of large-scale, high-risk procurements were involved, including the Homecare tender, Community Equipment, Assistive Technology, Carers support and Advocacy. The team’s role within this is to ensure a compliant procurement exercise that meet national and organisational regulations. Contract officers advise and lead on such matters as thresholds, advertising, evaluation criteria and methodology, technical (quality) assessments. Contract officers also lead on any potential challenges or dissatisfaction with tender outcomes. We work hand in hand with expert commissioning colleagues, for example, in delivering tender information session to the relevant markets, and overseeing the evaluation panel.
Did the team complete the plan on time? Yes!
Did the team do this without legal challenge? Yes!
We fail or succeed as a team, not individually, so we work together to make this happen. While one officer may lead on the design of a procurement exercise, others in the team supply their expertise, such as IT, and support by being a critical friend and sense checking all documentation and design before it is finalised and made available to the market. They also provide essential cover for such areas as answering clarification questions and downloading bid submissions.
Our effective approach is:
Inclusive – we bring in people we need when we need them, and we can do this because we maintain positive working relationships with relevant colleagues, for example Legal Services, Accountancy, involving them ‘early doors’ and demonstrating how their contribution is valued.
Supportive – we work as a team supporting each other and sense checking, utilising strengths. This is possible as we have created a culture in the team whereby people feel able to ask for help and are willing to share their expertise.
Well planned and organised – key skills of a contract manager are planning and organisation. Using these skills alongside effective documentation we can collectively manage and complete a high-volume workload to a high standard.
Response/overcoming barriers – we remain solution focused whilst understanding the legal and regulatory framework in which we operate. This involves us having a high level of knowledge and understanding of this, and by swiftly and effectively assessing options available to us and making decisions.
At the team's core is passion and a commitment to social care foremost, along with high levels of skill and knowledge of procurement and social care markets. They are outstanding!
Highways Gritting Team
Nominated by: Bronwen Terry
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating our Derbyshire County Council gritting team for the High Performing Team Award. This team work unsociable hours while we are asleep at night to ensure that our roads are safe the following day for all users. They provide exceptional results throughout the winter season by working as a team to ensure that all key routes are gritted. They work not only with each other, but our contractors and with other authorities at border locations.
The result of their outstanding work means that the roads are gritted ready for our journeys. Without their commitment to this job then our roads would be icy and there may be more accidents. The teams who do this job do this on top of their normal day job as well.
The team are continuously expanding to train new team members by sharing expertise on the gritting routes to futureproof our workforce.
The gritting season is from October to March each year.
They are committed to our Council Values as they work with local colleagues and communities across Derbyshire to ensure a County Wide gritting coverage and without their actions our communities would not be able to thrive as they would not be able to travel out of their communities due to dangerous conditions.
I feel that they should be put forward as finalist for this award as in general our gritting teams are often criticised in the media as nobody has 'seen a gritter' but in reality, they are out gritting when we are all tucked up in bed!
Chesterfield Early Help Team
Nominated by: Zoe Timpson and Claire Ford
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
The Chesterfield Early Help provide an excellent service to our local community and service users, the whole team go above and beyond on a daily basis for the families they support.
Working in close partnership with agencies and the local community to empower our families to achieve great things, we believe in our families and this reflects in the work and changes we are able to make for the families.
We support our families to access good quality housing, access to education, support for finances, support for mental health offering a clear and robust plan to support sustainment for the long term so the family do not come back into services
We provide a high level of parenting support through the group deliveries which offer containment as well as parenting strategies and relationship building techniques.
The Early Help team is a supportive team and we excel at sharing our knowledge and experiences to enhance our work, and create positive outcomes for our service users, remember it takes a village to raise a child.
We have very limited funds for resources, so as a team we work smart and again use our vast experiences to think outside of the box when it comes to doing direct work with our children and families.
The close and honest relationships we are able to form with our services users mean that they feel able to contact us for advice/reassurance when their cases are closed to us, which in itself reiterates the great relationships we are able to build and maintain
We feel the Early Help team are integral to Children's services and the work and outcomes produced are outstanding.
Van delivery service team
Nominated by: Annaliese Bedford
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I am thrilled to nominate the entire van delivery service team at Derbyshire County Council for the High Performing Team Award. Their collective dedication, professionalism, and collaborative spirit make them invaluable contributors to our operations in supporting our library teams to work effectively.
This nomination aligns seamlessly with the award criteria. The team consistently demonstrates a commitment to excellence in their day-to-day roles, going above and beyond to ensure the success of our delivery service. For instance, they communicate effectively with colleagues at our libraries, ensuring all needs are met promptly and efficiently. Their flexibility and willingness to assist, whether it's adjusting delivery schedules, moving items between libraries and our other offices, or providing additional support, greatly enhance our service delivery.
The team's professionalism, adaptability, and proactive approach to problem-solving and delivering a high level of service is outstanding. They prioritise safety and efficiency, ensuring items are delivered promptly and placed in safe locations. Staff and customers alike appreciate their polite and friendly demeanour, which reflects positively on the image of Derbyshire County Council.
Their pride in their work is evident in the consistent high level of performance they deliver. They understand the importance of their role and are mindful of how their actions impact both colleagues and customers. As a cohesive unit, they embody the values of Derbyshire County Council and are instrumental in maintaining our reputation for exceptional service delivery.
In conclusion, the van delivery service team exemplifies the qualities of a high-performing team and is deserving of recognition for their outstanding contributions. They are essential to our ability to deliver a high level of customer service and are invaluable assets to our organisation.
Derbyshire Business Centre
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate the Derbyshire Business Centre. Within the Derbyshire Business Centre there are a variety of teams (postal team, van delivery, scanning and digital print). They all work together to support their colleagues enabling them to carry out their important work within the community. They listen to their colleagues and adapt to meet their requirements. Through the Derbyshire Business Centre's support urgent letters/print/equipment is delivered efficiently and effectively. I am proud to work in this team and hope to carry on in the future.
Management Information Team - Adult Social Care and Health
Nominated by: Bryde Beighton
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
This team are highly driven into making resources that are helpful and supportive to a range of different services in adult care. They have demonstrated unique skills to be able to get the best out of people and they have such an enthusiastic attitude when it comes to problem solving. The work they produce is outstanding and helps not only internal colleagues in their action plans, but overall helps the clients in our community with up to date and useful technology. They are a small team but deserve to be recognised of how hard they have worked to develop the brokerage and short-term services workflows.
Discharge Assessment and Review Team
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Nominating the Discharge Assessment and Review Team - for high performance team. It's a brand new team established from April 2023 to look at bringing down the average time someone discharging from hospital gets an full assessment. The team of 3 social workers (2 ASYES) and 9 SCP's all brand new to adult social care for Derbyshire County Council.
The Team Results (Work From October - December):
In December 2022, there were 407 active interim homecare Purchase Orders (PO) open for more than 28 days, suggesting the review/re-assessment had yet to be completed and was overdue. The average number of days they have been active is 111 days (15.9 weeks).
During this period, our average time that an interim purchase order was open for is 22.4 days (3.2 weeks)
Current weekly average to review differs by 12.7 weeks
Care hours generated per week: 2547.52 hrs - equates to a potential of 161 packages of care with care calls of 45, 30, 30, 30 mins per week during the 12.7 average review difference.
Our first initial review time for cases from our team is 4.1 days
Our team supported 276 cases of Hospital discharges from August onwards
Feedback from local people:
"Nicole has amazing customer service skills that if she says I'm going to do something she does and couldn't thank Nicole enough"
"On behalf of myself and my parents I would like to sincerely thank you for your support….You have delivered excellent support to me, and I would like to thank you for your advice and guidance with navigating this complex and somewhat challenging field"
"Thanked Amy for her “emotional reassurance”
“Everything is going sweetly and falling into place which it hasn’t for years”
“Thank you, Jo, for making things easy”.
"Daughter told Nicole that she saved her as she was at rock bottom but now she feels so much lighter and she has laughed for the first time in a long time last night with her husband"
Call Derbyshire Team
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
Call Derbyshire - Over the Christmas period.
Taking calls for the other departments when they went on their Christmas parties and on annual leave
Being the first line response for customers.
Dealing with the public over potholes and bad weather crisis #stormbabet
CST Property Tree Team
Nominated by: Rob Whiteman
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate Gerard (Ged) Roberts, his Tree Team and Mark Wilson, (one of my team who joins them at times of high demand) for their sterling work clearing trees and making them safe across the whole county during this winter's storms. Christmas was interrupted for this dedicated team, who's work became serious and challenging, just as others of us took our leave to spend Christmas with family.
Working together and with a variety of contractors and other teams they did sterling work, around the clock, to make sure communities stayed connected and roads were safe as quickly as possible: their efforts kept Derbyshire moving when the weather showed no mercy; when at times it felt like one clean-up had only just finished and another storm was on its way.
I work closely with this team and throughout the demands placed on them this winter, I have found them determined to complete every mission to clear our roads, and constantly demonstrating solid and reliable professionalism.
Business Services Accommodation Team
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
The team are committed to ensuring everyone in the department is supported throughout all move processes. The listen to the needs of services and advocate for them when discussing options with colleagues across other departments (e.g. Property Services/ICT) to ensure transition to new space is as easy as possible. They all work hard to ensure employees impacted by a change in office location, building/site are included in the journey, understand what is expected of them and are clear about actions and timescales.
The team work closely with colleagues in other departments, especially Property Services and Corporate ICT to help deliver this change and to find the most appropriate solution for all involved.
There are a large number of projects underway spanning a short space of time, some led by colleagues in other departments, others being led by the team, each one is delivered to the highest standard by the team ensuring the best outcomes are reached for all services impacted or involved.
The team always give 100% commitment to their work, as they know that the residents of Derbyshire, the frontline services and individuals who make up those teams are at the heart of everything they do.
This is only possible through them maintaining strong links to partners (internal and sometimes external), good clear communication and the commitment to always respond to requests as quickly as they can.
The team continue to collaborate with services across the department, colleagues across other departments, external individuals/companies who may be supplying a service as well as keeping senior leaders across Children’s Services up to date with progress, challenges and successes.
They work hard to improve the way they work, looking at good practice and sharing their experiences to continue delivering as a high performing team.
Children's Services, Business Services - Child Protection and IROs Team
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
The operational team supported by this Business Services (BS) team, work to very strict statutory timelines, so rely on the BS for their tasks to be completed quickly, to a high standard and including all key individuals and partners as necessary. There had been significant vacancies within the team for the last two years, meaning that priorities were constantly reviewed. All individuals in this team are passionate about their work and have continued to work to high standards even when the pressure was so high, understanding the changing priorities.
There is a strong ethos of growth and development across the team, which has meant some people have quickly progressed to promotional roles outside of the service. This would add to work pressures where it created more vacancies.
The team have remained positive and once they were back up to capacity, welcomed new team members, taking time out to explain their roles and train on systems.
The team do not work directly with external customers, although they do communicate with partner agencies, this is always to a high professional standard. They are aware of the impact their work has on the operational teams who do work with external partners and our communities, and work hard to support them to achieve good results. They look at areas for improvement and have been involved with working groups to find ways to reduce time for tasks, which not only help their team, but also the operational teams and other frontline services.
The team regularly need to communicate with professionals within Derbyshire and external partners, ensuring this is clear, appropriate and showing great respect.
They have worked hard through challenging times and will continue to do so.
Public Health Knowledge and Intelligence Team
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I am delighted to nominate the Public Health Knowledge and Intelligence Team for the High Performing Team Award in recognition of their exceptional contributions and achievements that align with the criteria outlined for this award.
The Public Health Knowledge and Intelligence Team has consistently demonstrated exemplary performance and dedication to our values. They have effectively collaborated with colleagues, and stakeholders, recognising that complex problems require collective effort to address. Their open-mindedness, honesty, and accountability have ensured fair and transparent decision-making processes, fostering an environment of mutual respect and trust.
One of the key reasons for this nomination is the team's remarkable ability to maximize their individual skills to achieve collective success. They have successfully delivered a comprehensive Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program covering a range of essential topics such as Health Needs Assessments (HNAs), intelligence skills, and literature searching.
Furthermore, the team's transformative efforts in redefining the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) have had a profound impact for Derbyshire and wider! Their dedication and commitment to this project has resulted in a more streamlined and efficient process, enabling us to better address the needs of our communities and allocate resources effectively.
Additionally, the Public Health Knowledge and Intelligence Team's contributions extend to their support in delivering Adult Social Care Surveys and facilitating multiple evaluations. Their focus on learning, development, and mutual support has been instrumental in achieving exceptional results across various projects.
This outstanding performance and commitment to shared goals have significantly contributed to the success and advancement of our organisation. The Public Health Knowledge and Intelligence Team's achievements have taken place over the course of the past year, showcasing their ongoing dedication to excellence and continuous improvement.
Their collaborative efforts, exemplary performance, and unwavering commitment to our organisation's values make them highly deserving of the High Performing Team Award.
Adult Social Care Commissioning Team
Nominated by: Sue Whetton
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
During 2023, alongside our expert Contracts colleagues, the team have faced a challenging year of service re-design and recommissioning of a large number of services which all provide vital information, advice and support for our Derbyshire residents who need to draw on care and support. Despite the tight timescales and the enormous amount of work required both the commissioning team and the contracts team delivered everything successfully against the required timeframes... no mean feat!
The team have also been working in partnership with developers and care providers to increase the range and quality of our accommodation and support, particularly for those people with the most complex needs who have been living in long term hospital placements. This has resulted in some impressive new buildings designed to support people with sensory needs to live in a suitable environment in their own home and close to their families.
The team have also been working in partnership with experts by experience alongside health professionals across the JUCD system, to co-design and co-develop the new community mental health offer ‘Living Well’. This has been incredibly challenging especially in terms of governance and information sharing and forging new roles and partnerships, but the model is now being rolled out across the county will mean that Derbyshire people will be able to access a range of help and support more easily in relation to their mental health and wellbeing.
They have also developed and published our ASCH Adult Housing, Accommodation and Support Strategy, have refreshed our ASCH Older Adult’s Market Position Statement and have also developed our ASCH Prevention Strategy and our ASCH Workforce Strategy.
The team have also been supporting the department in getting ready for our CQC Assurance Inspection providing data and information to support our evidence library and on creating storyboards to assist wider colleagues to understand the work that is going on across the department to improve outcomes for our Derbyshire residents.
And last but not least, they have also recently been successful in securing a significant grant through the DHSC Accelerating Reform Fund. We have been awarded £905,056 for our joint bid with Derby City and wider ICS partners and work over the next 2-3 years will focus on reimagining carer’s assessments; developing best practice that proactively reaches out to and involves, unpaid carers throughout the hospital discharge process; better identifying unpaid carers in local areas and promoting access to carer services. This work will have a huge impact on the many unpaid carers across Derbyshire.
The team covers a range of complex and challenging work, but they work so well together, supporting each other and building on each other’s strengths. They rise to any challenge and they are all very deserving of recognition for all of their hard work and commitment to improving outcomes for our residents of Derbyshire. They are nothing short of brilliant!
Emergency Planning Team
Nominated by: Neill Bennett
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating the Emergency Planning team for the High Performing Team Award.
In the past year they have dealt with a huge volume of demand on their service through numerous severe weather events, the business as usual, coupled with changes in their leadership and structure through the formation of the Derbyshire Resilience Partnership whilst juggling with vacancies.
Despite this the team has come together to work through all of these challenges whilst providing a professional service to all of its stakeholders often in very trying circumstances. It is clear that the team want to develop and innovate and they work tirelessly, showing great togetherness, encouraging each other, and importantly they are very caring, ensuring that the well being of team members and the team as a whole, is a key component in the delivery of a great service.
Smart Asset Management Systems (SAMS) Team
Nominated by: Neill Bennett
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating the Smart Asset Management Systems (SAMS) team for the High Performing Team Award.
The SAMS team have worked incredibly hard over the last 3 years in preparing, designing, and implementing a new Highways asset management system. They have been faced with huge challenges in bringing together multiple systems, working with new suppliers and collaborating with an array of stakeholders. For a small team to do what they have been able to do in this period has demonstrated a continual focus and a determination to deliver the outcomes and benefits that the implementation will bring, despite the inevitable issues and problems that arise on a daily basis with such a significant root and branch change in the systems that the service uses on a daily basis.
In this very challenging environment, I am incredibly proud how the team have come together and developed as a team, with a common aim to ensure that the service has systems that can support the Derbyshire Highways Programme and provide the innovation that will be needed to help to drive the service forward.
Alfreton Centre Team
Nominated by: Lisa Hartley
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I joined the Alfreton study program team September 2023 and I can honestly say I've never worked somewhere with such a caring and hard working team. I was made to feel a part of the team from the moment I worked with them. The relationship they have with the young people is amazing! I love being part of this team and it makes me feel very proud how we help our wonderful young people. In the hospitality class we cooked a Christmas Dinner for the whole centre with the young people and have recently made pancakes for everyone too. We support each other as well as the children and I think it shows good role models for them.
Ambergate Workshop
Nominated by: Shane Brown
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
Ambergate Workshop deserve some recognition for delivering a high turnaround of police and council vehicles that come through our doors. The volume of work far exceeds any other workshop and my team work extremely hard to deliver this and meet contract requirements.
Bolsover & North East Derbyshire Parenting Assessment & Family Time Team
Nominated by: Brian McKeown
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
The Parenting Assessment and Family Time Team (PAFT) undertake assessments on parenting capacity and manage supervised Family Time to children and their families.
They are consummate professionals going above and beyond expectations to support the children, families and foster carers. Referrals involve succinct planning and coordination of Family Time sessions that present varying challenges and barriers.
To deliver change and improve learning, staff engage in development sessions involving partner agency inputs such as the Fire and Rescue Service, Derbyshire Recovery Partnership and the NHS.
The team provides exceptional service despite being the busiest area for referrals whilst operating with the same number of staff as other localities. Performance is of a high standard (quality and quantity) due to that desire to achieve sustained positive outcomes for children and young people to improve their physical, social and emotional well-being and safety. This is despite difficult circumstances for families whereby all children are in foster care or open to social care. Parenting assessments are complex and intrusive yet must be to a high standard for court.
The team manage a complex matrix of Family Time referrals including managing pre-planning meetings, children’s transport, liaison with schools and Foster Carers, room bookings, administration, travelling across the country. The team have adapted and streamline administrative systems and processes (to deliver change) in response to the new role since the Early Help review in 2019 until the present time.
The team work ethic, pleasant approach, professionalism and dedication is exceptional despite frequent verbal and physical challenges from parents, chaotic Family Time Sessions and reluctance to engage. Staff go beyond their role to manage parental expectations, navigate sensitive situations ensuring confidentiality while protecting children. One example is a mother using racist language towards a worker with children present and was abusive and agitated. The worker remained calm to minimise harm to the children whilst having to terminate the Family Time. Close relationships with the Fostering and Adoption Team and Supervising Social Workers is exceptional.
Bolsover South Social Work Team
Nominated by: Nicola Chambers and Alex Hood
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
We are nominating Bolsover South for the High Performing Team Award as we feel that is exactly what they are. We want to applaud their consistent work ethic, dedication to the public and their unwavering support of one another. This is reflected in a fully staffed, motivated team who offer positive experiences to students and apprentices regularly. The team’s performance, notably over the last 12 months, has resulted in great success for the organisation as well as the adults we support.
A new duty system has created availability of 3 workers per day to respond to duty requests, carry out urgent home visits and triage safeguarding referrals. This system has resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of the service we provide as we operate a no or low waiting list, meaning those in need of their first assessment or urgent response can be seen or spoken with on the same or following day. The team’s effort to transform safeguarding practice is especially impressive, reducing the number of open concerns from 90 to 20 within the same timeframe. The team are proactive and efficient in their enquiries, whilst upholding the principles of Making Safeguarding Personal which has improved the Derbyshire Safeguarding Adults Board data for our area.
A notable achievement for the team is their contribution to the local financial spend. Robust strength-based assessments, creative support plans and the exploration of alternative funding streams are having positive outcomes for clients and council alike. The team have built effective working relationships with our partner agencies and continue to welcome and adopt new initiatives such as ‘Team Up’. The team are conscious they are protectors of the public purse, whilst effectively fulfilling their duties under the Care Act. The team are quick to identify reablement potential and utilise the START offer, promoting independence and removing or reducing the need for formal support wherever possible.
There are so many more reasons why Bolsover South are high performers, but these examples specifically meet the criteria for this award category and we hope the team’s growing glowing reputation is recognised far and wide.
Business Services – DACES Amber Valley
Nominated by: Kathy Whiteley
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I as Business Services Officer for the Amber valley team within Derbyshire Adult Education Services, would like to nominate all of my Business Services team, who have provided an outstanding service and often go 'above and beyond' to ensure that we continue to provide learning opportunities for all Derbyshire residents. When faced with challenges, a recent example being having to re-locate some of our classes to different venues due to an urgent temporary closure of our building, the team pulled together and kept the services going, thus enabling the learners to continue with their studies. And despite the challenges faced by the current budget cuts, the team continue to support one another despite the added pressures that are being put upon them.
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery Team
Nominated by: Sarah Chubb
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
The team at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery has dealt with extraordinary challenges over the past year, due to the sudden closure of the museum in May 2023, and the absence of their manager since June 2023.
One of the first tasks facing the team was how to decant all the artefacts from the gallery spaces. With only one part-time museum professional in post, the rest of the team had to rapidly learn specialist skills in order to handle, package and document fragile and valuable artefacts that dated back well into prehistory. The team worked closely, embracing the challenge, sharing skills and experience, and working together to devise systems to efficiently pack and process the artefacts.
Whilst managing the decant, the team have also maintained their commitment to the public service even though the museum is closed. There has been a continued focus on maintaining digital engagement through social media, responding to enquiries and keeping the public up to date wherever possible. The team have also dealt with, and made decisions about, many unexpected and complex matters that have arisen as a result of the closure, and which would otherwise have been handled by a manager. It is a testament to their professionalism and ability to work under pressure that such issues have all been handled smoothly and without any adverse outcomes.
Dealing with an unprecedented situation, and without a manager to take the lead, this small team has worked closely together to meet many new demands. They have all shown a strong commitment to each other, the museum and its customers, and been eager to embrace opportunities, continually learn and develop their skills and knowledge, and make the best of a very difficult situation.
Careers Service
Nominated by: Becky Stancill
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
The careers service is accessible to both internal staff/teams and Derbyshire residents. They provide information, advice and guidance (IAG) support to Derbyshire County Council staff going through reviews and are integrated within internal departments including Libraries, Live Life Better Derbyshire and Derbyshire Adult Education service, and external providers including Jobcentre Plus and local employers. The Careers Coaches take pride in providing impartial IAG and support customers to explore work and learning opportunities.
As a result of their dedicated and supportive team, they have collectively supported almost 2000 Derbyshire residents over the last year providing employability support, careers guidance and identifying suitable progression opportunities.
The careers and Business Services team work collaboratively and support each other to share and implement ideas of how to continually develop the service by offering in-person and virtual support including employability workshops to best meet the customer’s needs. As a result of the highly qualified, diverse and dedicated team, they contributed to towards the National Careers Service being awarded an ‘outstanding’ grade from OFSTED during the Prime contract holders most recent inspection they have exceeded their contractual targets. As a result of their commitment and dedication to their role and customers, they now have the potential of being awarded a larger contract which would enable the team to support more Derbyshire residents and increase funding back into Derbyshire County Council.
Child Protection Legal Team
Nominated by: Jane Lakin
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I would like to make a very well deserved nomination for the Child Protection Legal Team. This is a team located with the Regulatory, Safeguarding and Litigation Legal Team.
The Principal Lawyers within the team are: Jeanette Bloor, Linzi Olney, Lisa Brewin, Angela Baldwin and Kerry Gration.
The Principal Advocates within the team are: Naomi Hickman and Ben Slater.
The team undertook a review, alongside Children’s Services colleagues in 2021-2 looking at how child protection litigation was undertaken. The review highlighted the benefits of creating a larger more resilient team in order to keep cases in house and to have the capacity to undertake advocacy in house. The team have worked incredibly hard to introduce the recommendations and create a strong resilient team who now conduct the vast majority of cases in house.
A specialist advocacy team has been created and these in – house advocates specialise in conducting proceedings on behalf of the Counsel. Other members of the team also undertake advocacy for the council of a very high quality before all levels of the Courts. This has reduced expenditure on external counsel and has also enabled these skills to be retained and developed in house. The number of cases being dealt with externally has reduced to an almost negligible degree. The team are considered experts in their field and one of the advocates, Naomi, recently presented guidance on attending court to over 150 senior professionals, from organisations across the social care sector.
All the child protection lawyers and legal support officers have worked incredibly hard to deliver on the changes within the review and their commitment to this area of work is evident in all they do. They have shown tremendous determination to provide the very best and most cost effective service for the council.
Community Safety Team
Nominated by: Colin Potts
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
This nomination is for the Community Safety Unit (CSU) team. Since the Head of CSU played a key role in obtaining agreement to a new structure for the partnerships dealing with community safety in Derby and Derbyshire in 2022, the CSU team has played a pivotal role in developing the thematic boards established under the new structure. Each member of the team has been, and continues to be, instrumental in driving this work forward.
The members of the team have, for the thematic boards under their respective remits:
- drafted and sought agreement for Terms of Reference, Key Performance Indicators, strategies and / or delivery plans, and highlight reports to the main Safer Communities and Safer Derby Boards
- reviewed membership of the thematic boards, encouraging existing and new members to contribute thereby improving the effectiveness of the partnerships
- co-ordinated a draft information sharing protocol
This work has been carried out whilst maintaining their existing workloads.
Their efforts have ensured that the aims of the new structure (to improve co-ordination, reduce duplication, and ensure consistency by better integrating community safety structures across the City, County and District/Boroughs) has been met. Partners are now better placed to make decisions in relation to priorities and allocation of resources, and to work more collaboratively rather than working in silos.
The commitment and dedication of the CSU to see these changes through, will undoubtedly improve the lives of those living and working in Derbyshire with the more effective use of scarce community safety resources.
The work of the CSU was acknowledged by Councillor Hart (Chair of the Safer Communities Board) in June 2023, during an update of the progress of the new structure, as she commended the fantastic job a small group of people are doing to bring all this together.
County Transport HQ
Nominated by: Jeanette McRobert
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate County Transport HQ, Ambergate. I had a heart attack and stroke at the end of September 2023. The team have been amazing, covering the work I usually undertake but mostly their caring attitude towards their employees is outstanding. They sent me thoughtful and meaningful gifts and cards, kept in touch throughout my recovery. They have lifted me in the most challenging of days, I can't thank them enough.
Derbyshire Highways Flood Team
Nominated by: Julian Gould
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
Derbyshire County Councils flood team has had to deal with the investigations and responses to a year with an unprecedented amount of flood events, including Storm Babet! The team has gone above and beyond throughout the year to respond to our communities and residents on a Countywide scale, which for obvious reasons is very challenging when dealing with the emotive subject of flooded properties etc. The small team has risen to the challenge, met communities and residents face to face administered the setting up of the property level flood resilience grants. Offering assurance and advice to those that were flooded on top of delivering their already very busy business as usual activity. Derbyshire is very lucky to have such a very competent and dedicated flood team.
Digital Adoption and Change Team
Nominated by: Lee Bryan
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
The Digital Adoption Team at Derbyshire County Council meets the nomination criteria by embodying a collaborative and user-centric approach to digital innovation. Firstly, the team actively listens to and engages with colleagues ensuring responsiveness to their needs and priorities via the Digital Champion Network. The team ensures that digital initiatives align with the concerns and aspirations of the community, fostering a culture of inclusivity and participation for all levels of digital literacy.
Secondly, the team demonstrates a forward-thinking and aspirational vision for the future of digital technology within Derbyshire County Council. Through engagement, encouragement, and support, they empower individuals to excel and realise their potential in embracing digital tools and resources. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement, the team inspires colleagues to embrace innovation and adapt to technological advancements, thereby enhancing the overall digital readiness and resilience of the business.
Lastly, recognising the complexity of modern ICT challenges, the Digital Adoption Team collaborates extensively with colleagues. They understand that effective solutions require simple and effective knowledge sharing which is achieved through popular live workshops and centralised resources via the Learning Centre SharePoint site. The team leverages collective expertise (digital marketing, project management, education, asset management and frontline service delivery) to provide innovative and creative engagement activities with an audience it understands. This collaborative approach not only enhances the effectiveness and impact of digital initiatives but also strengthens the adoption of ICT across the council to ensure we keep pace with a rapidly changing digital world.
Dronfield and Whitwell Library Teams
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
Nominating the staff at Dronfield library who have worked throughout the winter. They have worked in freezing conditions without much heating to deliver excellent customer service and to keep the library open. Also, Whitwell had no heating and a water leak, truly dedicated staff who need appreciation.
Education Data Hub
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Education Data Hub is made up of 3 outstanding teams.
Data Management provide Integris MIS Licence & Support to schools. In 23/24, they saved schools, who bought the service, £386,598.40 compared to them buying directly. They support 334 schools, of which 9 are Out of County, 80 are Derbyshire Academy Schools and 245 are Derbyshire LA Maintained schools.
In 2023 they delivered training to 198 school staff, assisted 3833 helpline support / emails and produced 21 detailed step by step guidance documents including DfE Censuses & statutory processes plus regular newsletters with timely reminders, hints & tips.
The Cyber Security team rolled out the council’s Cyber Security Project for maintained schools, delivering staff training, carrying out reviews against the DfE Cyber Standards, presenting them with a gap analysis and providing them with valuable remedial support.
Over 3200 Derbyshire school staff now have been trained, with a whopping 366 delegates in one session.
The feedback from this training is outstanding and the impact demonstrable.
In addition, they have taken responsibility for Online Safety Training following the Online Safety Act. Delivering hard hitting, effective training in an engaging way.
The Data Protection team support almost 400 schools across all of England, bringing new business into Derbyshire from big, notable Multi Academy Trusts.
In 2023 the team took on 65 new school clients, delivered training to 82 schools, handled 605 requests for information and handled 724 security incidents, of which, 20 were Cyber related.
The whole team have worked incredibly hard to grow EDH to be the 4th largest traded service in Derbyshire, with an outstanding reputation, fabulous feedback and being completely cost recovering and generating a small surplus in 2023/4.
Education Legal Team
Nominated by: Jane Lakin
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
High Performing Team: The operational team supported by this Business Services team, work to very strict statutory timelines, so rely on the BS for their tasks to be completed quickly, to a high standard and including all key individuals and partners as necessary. There had been significant vacancies within the team for the last two years, meaning that priorities were constantly reviewed. All individuals in this team are passionate about their work and have continued to work to high standards even when the pressure was so high, I would like to nominate the Education Legal Services Team. This is a small but mighty team which forms part of the Regulatory, Safeguarding and Litigation Team. They provide legal advice and support to both the council and also to Derbyshire schools by way of a discretionary service which is purchased by schools. The team draw upon both their own expertise and also that of colleagues in other areas of Legal Services and carefully procure external specialists where necessary to provide a much valued service to schools and the Council.
The team receives excellent feedback from schools and colleagues across the council who value their careful and consistent support and diligent attention to issues. A recent recipient of the service commented “thank you for your extremely helpful and supportive advice on all this. We are most grateful for the way you have advised us”.
The team have and continue to navigate the rapidly changing legal landscape of education law. They support colleagues in the council with regard to traditional areas of education law, including admissions, exclusions and appeals with an increasing focus on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). School queries have become increasingly complex often relating to contract matters, employment issues or novel new areas of law requiring detailed research. They work closely with colleagues to provide support and assistance on all these areas. Their ability to adapt their skills and knowledge to the changing landscape is admirable and shows versatility and agility within the team.
Education is often an area which elicits strong emotions and responses. The team manages all engagement in a professional and supportive manner which ensures swift resolution to issues and enhances the council’s reputation.
As a provider of this service the team are also contributing to the enterprising culture of the council.
Elvaston Castle County Park Estate Team
Nominated by: Peter Hogg
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
I have been in the position of operations manager at Elvaston Castle for 12 months. It has been a very challenging 12 months too. When I arrived I only had 4 staff on the ground a business services assistant and retail staff
Recruitment was a priority along with bringing the estate back into good order. Unfortunately previous staff with the knowledge and experience had moved onto pastures new. The remaining staff really had to step up and get stuck in across the estate with roles that were unfamiliar to enable us to keep the park running and in good stead for the community.
Following the appointment of 5 further staff they started to engage with the wider community, stakeholders and had a big volunteer recruitment drive to support all the good work that goes on across the estate in various work streams. The garden staff for example have not worked alongside volunteers before but there is an understanding with that team and the estate staff as a whole that to get to where we need to be we can't do it without volunteer support.
All the staff have embraced the different approach to the running the estate and we now have 6 separate volunteer groups that support our work along with other charitable organisations and corporate volunteers. I could list all the projects that the staff and volunteers have been involved with but they are too vast to note however if you are familiar with Elvaston Castle you can see such an improvement which is down to the hard work and dedication of the whole Elvaston team of whom I 'm really proud of.
Fostering Business Services Team
Nominated by: Clare Barnett
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
The fostering service have recently undergone an Ofsted inspection where the team had to provide intense support throughout, providing information at very short notice, working on data urgently and having to reprioritise workload, and the whole team throughout this process went above and beyond to support everyone involved in the process. Not only throughout this process but every day this team go above and beyond to support each other and their foster carers, and putting other first.
Ilkeston Library Team
Nominated by: Sarah Ball
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
When the Cotmanhay and Ilkeston Adult Education closed at short notice the YES Derbyshire moved to work out of the library for 3 days per week. All the team have been so supportive of the YES Derbyshire team and the young people we work with. They have bought the young people into our room; enrolling them in to the library and supporting them to access the IT systems. For many of the young people this is the first time they have accessed the library and they found it a bit overwhelming at times. Many of the young people have extreme anxiety and diagnoses of learning difficulties but the library staff have been very patient and gone out of their way to support them. These young people are mostly confident with digital skills and social media but are not confident with accessing information in printed form.
Thank you to everyone.
Lea Green Development Centre Team
Nominated by: Vicky Green
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
We held the annual Heads of Outdoors Conference at Lea Green Centre (29-31 January 2024) to showcase accessibility in the outdoors. The team went above and beyond to provide an excellent experience to all that attended. The Centre was immaculate, the food mouth wateringly good and the instructors knowledgeable and friendly. The centre was able to show the accessible activities on offer, including the wheelchair abseil, high ropes and zipline as well as the amazing facilities in Meadow Lodge the accessible accommodation. Talks from the Virtual school about trauma informed practise and executive functioning were well received giving the delegates lots to think about as they returned to their centres.
North East Derbyshire South Adult Social Work Team
Nominated by: Helen Brands
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate the North East Derbyshire Adult Social Work Team for this award in recognition of their unwavering dedication to provide a safe, quality and cost effective service to our clients in spite of significant challenges being faced by the team and department as a whole.
Due to capacity issues and increased demand the team hold very high caseloads, however, due to a strong value base they continue to support clients to live the life that they want and remain safe and well.
The team repeatedly go above and beyond for clients to support them to achieve their outcomes due to an intrinsic respect and compassion for all clients they support.
The team are working with clients with increasingly complex needs and situations; however, they work together to share a wealth of knowledge, skills, and experience. They are also very dedicated to continued professional development and are extremely reflective in their practice.
The emotional support that the team members provide to each other is second to none. They can notice small changes in colleagues and will reach out to offer any support they can despite their own high workload.
It is an honour working with the North East Derbyshire Adult Social Work Team.
Public Health Strategic Intent Team
Nominated by: Ellen Langton
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
The Public Health Strategic Intent Team have had an exceptionally busy year and have picked up significant programmes of work related to developing a new Health and Wellbeing Strategy and a new Public Health Strategy. This has involved extensive engagement with partners, colleagues and elected members across the authority over the past 9 months to co-design and develop the relevant strategies. This strategy development work has been addition to a significant business as usual portfolio of work supporting performance management, risk reporting, running senior team meetings and coordinating projects across the department. The team collectively and as individuals have had to work to tight deadlines and turn work round very quickly. The team have been dynamic, flexible and have worked with a strong collaborative culture to make sure all the work is covered and the outputs and outcomes desired from work has been met. I have been really impressed with the culture of the team and the positive 'can do' attitude that runs through the team.
Public Health Substance Use (Alcohol and Drugs) Team
Nominated by: Rosalie Weetman & Ellen Langton
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Members of the Public Health team who work across the commissioning and substance use functions have delivered an exceptional year of successfully re-commissioning all substance use services for adults and children to a high standard and in a short timeframe. These 7 contracts support alcohol and drug users seeking community and residential treatment services as well as their affected families, as well as pharmacy-based needle exchanges helping to reduce the harm of blood borne viruses to individuals, and the potential harm communities through reducing discarded needles in public spaces.
The team’s work across two functions of the public health department is a fantastic example of innovative matrix working, marrying the expertise of the subject area with the appropriate knowledge and skills of the commissioning managers, to deliver something greater than the sum of its parts. Their collaborative approach is all the more noteworthy as a number of the team were new to the agenda and/or their current roles: they have therefore had to accumulate a significant amount of knowledge in a short space of time, identifying shared goals and evidencing high levels of communication to achieve these outcomes by learning together and supporting each other. Delivery against key milestones was often pressured and the whole team had to pull together to get actions completed.
Furthermore, additional time-limited grant funding from central government over the past three years has added welcome resources to Derbyshire but at the same time, has increased the pressure on this team. Their response to this challenge has been to work closely together to identify, develop and action ambitious plans improving access to treatment services, healthcare, and for offenders leaving prison or working with probation, plus a renewed emphasis on sustainable recovery, with a strong commitment to co-production with people with lived experience.
Regulatory, Safeguarding and Litigation (RSL) Team
Nominated by: Jane Lakin
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate the Regulatory, Safeguarding and Litigation (RSL) Team within Legal Services for the High Performing Team Award. This is a large team with over 60 team members with all the team making a very valuable contribution.
Whilst the officers have particular professional disciplines and specialisms they support RSL in working together to provide the best legal support to council colleagues.
Delivered a change or exceptional results for the council
The team have transformed the way in which they conduct child protection litigation reducing the reliance of external provision and developing skills in house. This has increased the strength and resilience of the team and reduced external expenditure.
Maximised their individual skills to achieve something better together
Team members are undertaking the Level 7 Leadership Apprenticeship and putting into practice the key areas of learning from this. Solicitor apprentices and trainee solicitors are well supported in the team to achieve qualifications and undertake careers in local government.
Evidenced good communication, collaboration, and a commitment to their shared goals
The team make excellent use of technology and the space available within Legal Services to share knowledge and work collaboratively on projects. Data protection colleagues provide advice when projects are being considered and the teams support each other in providing advice in relation to key governance issues and employment issues. Personal Injury specialists and litigators can be called upon to advise at relevant points to provide a thoroughly comprehensive service to client departments.
A focus on learning, developing and supporting each other
Colleagues within the team are confident of being able to call upon each other for advice and support. They support colleagues who are undertaking training programmes and share with genuine enthusiasm their success and have a shared pride in the provision of an excellent service.
Research and Information Team (Strategy and Policy)
Nominated by: Mel Turvey
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
The Research and Information Team have a wide range of skills and in-depth knowledge which they are consistently willing to share and nurture with others whether its software based learning or new ways of working. The team have a wide area of responsibility and will go above and beyond to develop evidence and insight in support of the wider team, division, department, council, key stakeholders, customers and the public.
Over this last year, the team have successfully delivered and supported on a range of projects from the 2024 Electoral Division Boundary Review, Council Plan, Economic insight, 2021 Census analysis, Derbyshire Observatory maintenance and redevelopment, consultation including BME forums and Your Council Your Voice and support for various needs assessments and strategy development via advice, data modelling, evidence and insight. The majority of this work is ongoing and remains a priority for the team.
The team are dedicated in their approach, are willing to take on new responsibilities and ways of working, and also embrace emerging technologies and see these to fruition where possible. The team are excellent in their collaborative approach to working and problem solving and work across all departments and levels of the organisation.
They really are a team in every sense of the word, helping to develop each other’s skills by holding regular training sessions and sharing knowledge; supporting each other and pulling together their vast array of knowledge, skills and specialisms in order to deliver whatever is required of them and quite often at short notice and always with a smile. The team are, in my opinion, very worthy of the High Performing Team Award.
White Hall Centre House Staff Team
Nominated by: Robin Heath
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I am delighted to nominate the White Hall Centre House Staff Team for the High Performing Team Our Derbyshire Award. Their dedication to maintaining top-notch catering and cleanliness within White Hall Centre significantly contributes to its performance and the delivery of outstanding outdoor education to over 6000 Derbyshire young people annually.
The catering team's tireless efforts ensure that every young visitor enjoys healthy, wholesome, home-cooked meals, fostering positive eating habits. Meanwhile, the cleaning staff consistently uphold spotless conditions despite the challenges of outdoor education, creating a welcoming atmosphere that receives glowing feedback from visiting groups.
The team's ability to sustain impeccable standards, even in adverse conditions, is truly commendable. Their commitment to excellence not only enhances the visitor experience but also contributes to the centre’s success.
White Hall Centre House Staff Team exemplifies the qualities of a high-performing team: dedication, excellence, and a commitment to exceeding expectations. Their invaluable contributions to the centre’s operations make them truly deserving of the High Performing Team Our Derbyshire Award.
Ada Belfield Centre Team
Nominated by: Michaela Langsdon
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
The whole Ada Belfield Centre team are outstanding. The cooks and domestic staff. The laundry staff, the agency workers. Our amazing team of senior care workers. The managers. The FMA who actually belongs to Vertas and the BSA's. The NHS workers - physio's, OT's. The ACPs.
Nothing is too much trouble - everyone strives for excellence and 'thinking outside of the box'.
With all the daily tasks it can sometimes be missed to show our appreciation and the appreciation of people using the service as well as sharing the positive feedback we receive daily.
Our staff use their job title effectively - there's ample 'care' in all the workers.
Childrens Service Development Team
Nominated by: Debbie Hadley
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate the Derbyshire County Council 7Development team. The advisors have worked with our schools and partners since 2019 supporting them with the changers in Early help. They have written and delivered briefing sessions, supported Schools and partners with Early help work. the youth and community workers have tirelessly supported the community groups in Derbyshire. Very proud of them all.
Trading Standards Team
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating the Trading Standards team for the delivery of excellent results, despite massive challenges and pressures faced by the service. This has been by working collaboratively with range of partners, maximising their efforts in protecting Derbyshire consumers.
Whilst sustaining vacancies in the service, staff have continued to work tirelessly across their specialist fields, across over 250 complex consumer and health and safety laws.
In the last 12-18 months the team reported the following, as examples of the excellent outcomes -
Ran the Derbyshire Trusted Trader scheme - retaining 930 small business as members. The scheme provides reassurance in £283 million worth of consumer contracts, and generated an extra £29million of business for members.
Provided anti-scam advice to 139 residents and saved victims of fraud £216,190 through our 1-2-1 intervention. This included intensive work with two vulnerable residents, concluding in banks refunding £170,000 to the victims.
Removed over 63,000 unsafe consumer items from the market, including 8,300 vapes worth £90,000
Undertook emergency responses to Avian Flu outbreaks, where officers contacted 21,000 residential premises, and patrolled over 110 sq km of countryside
Inspected 192 high risk food and feed businesses to ensure goods were produced safely and legally
Worked for a number of years with regional partners to secure convictions in serious unfair trading fraud, conspiracy and money laundering cases against rogue Derbyshire businesses, totalling 25 years in prison. The three businesses involved targeted hundreds of elderly and vulnerable residents - mis-selling energy products and home improvements.
Investigated a further five businesses illegally selling knives, alcohol and vapes to children.
Brought the closure of seven shops, run by organised criminals, involved in sales of £100,000's worth of illegal cigarettes and tobacco.
Ensured the safety through inspection and licensing of 7.5 million litres of petrol and 41 tonnes of explosives stored across the County.
The team are incredibly dedicated and both support each other operationally across their specialisms, and also collaborate extensively with partners such as Adult Care, Police, District Councils, Emergency Planning, DEFRA, Food Standards Agency etc.
Departmental Data Protection Officers
Nominated by: Jane Lakin
Department: All
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate the Departmental Data Protection Officers (DDPLO) and Deputy Data Protection Officer (DDPO) Sinead Roberts for the work which they do to keep Derbyshire residents and Derbyshire County Council’s data safe. As the council’s Data Protection Officer, I consider that I am extremely fortunate to be so well supported by such an excellent group of colleagues.
The DDPLOs are:
Martin Stone – Children’s Services
Neil Brailsford – Adult Care and Health
Tracey Clark – Place
Mark Smith – DDPLO for CST
The DDPLOs have fully supported the development of a new system for assessing whether a Data Protection Impact Assessment is necessary via the completion of a screening tool. If a DPIA is required then the DDPLOs have shared their expertise in supporting colleagues in completing the DPIAs. The new system has helped to identify where DPIAs are not necessary and thereby ensured that their expertise is used most effectively. The essential role which they undertake is additional to all the other duties which they perform and they have accepted the challenges which this brings with tremendous good grace and enthusiasm.
The DDPLOs are central to cascading good practice across their departments and again do this with great enthusiasm and determination. They are all committed to ensuring the safety of data for individuals who utilise the council’s services and ensure practice evolves to support this.
Sinead Roberts is the Deputy Data Protection Officer and provides invaluable support in this capacity, particularly in relation to data processing issues and the identification of mitigations which can be put in place to support data subjects and data security. She is very committed to ensuring that individuals who interact with the council can be confident that their data is processed lawfully and in accordance with the data protection principles.