Carrying on at the Council Week In Week Out

focused in our medium-term financial plan for four years. We

will do our best to keep council tax at an imminent. But the

Independent Plaid Cymru opposition is worried, too. We can run a lean

council, but no need to make the council mean. Ferres appoint when

you can't keep cutting. To deliver a standard of service with the

standard of staff, it will be quite difficult. It is been very in

Monmouth. Jobs have already been cut in the refuse department. A

rise in recycling is saving money, Where we saved our money, we got

rid of four lorries from refuse collection, all from natural

wastage. We are trying to work smarter, not hard to. Rubbish is an

We have targets set by the Welsh Assembly Government but by it 2025,

we have to recycle 70% of what we pick up. We will be fined their

every amount we are under the targets. But 70% is a big ask.

only weeks left in her cleaning job, Guillain hits the streets of

Cwmbran to get work. Here is my CV and my experience. I am going to

hand it in and hopefully it is enough. I have made a lot of effort

with my appearance. I had my hair done and got new clothes and put

make-up on. You have got to look the part, really. I feel anxious

and scared. If you could have a look at it for

me. We haven't got anything but we will keep your CV. Brilliant. I

hear there is a job in Wetherspoons. I am here about a job and what

opportunities you have available. We haven't got everything right now

but with your CV, we will give you a ring if anything comes up. I have

not been successful today but you never know what might happen in the

days to come. But I will keep moving on and trying. It is all

change at County Hall. With a repair bill of �30 million, it is

time to move, but it is not just new offices. People won't have

their own desks any more. They call it agile working. It was obvious

that when I walked in the corridor, people were scattering in all

directions. There is that woman who will take our desks away from us

and change everything! Sian has been helping to oversee the move,

which is saying the public �250,000 a year in heating and lighting

costs alone. I am absolutely passionate about not wasting our

money. I pay �1,200 in council tax and a do not want somebody to waste

my �1,200. Paul Matthews is the council's chief executive and he

can't wait to leave the building behind. When I started in the

council a couple of years ago, all of this space we are looking at, it

was all my office. I had my own desk, two P As, a private shower,

private bathroom, a dining room. When I came here I thought, that

does not feel the sort of organisation we are looking to

create. He altered the walls to be knocked down so the space could be

shed. At the new office, he won't even have his own desk. We do not

value space. We value what people do rather than what we have Ince --

in terms of square feet. But some like their own space and do not

want to be agile. I like my desk, I like to know where I am, I like my

station. Wendy has worked in highways planning for 32 years.

is a new challenge. And I am not 100% looking forward to it but I

never do, it changed. But it is happening and that is it. I know

she will be OK. I know it will get better, I know I can nurture these

people through the change process. In the last year, 180 council jobs

have gone through a mix of redundancies, or retirements and

resignations. This Unison Stewart said it makes the remaining staff's

job even harder. -- steward. don't go into any department now

where people are not saying to me, they are starting to feel stressed.

Over 2800 days were lost in Monmouthshire council in just four

Mans last year because of stress -- months. That is a rise on the

previous year. It is not nice when you see people you have worked with

for a long time cracking because they cannot cope, and the work is

still there with the job losses, so they are being asked to do more and

more and they are afraid not to do it in case they are next in line.

The council says it is concerned and doing all it can to support its

staff, but cutbacks aside, the 1960s building is literally falling

apart and staff simply have to move. You have got danger of falling

debris around the building. Quite significant chunks have come off

that can weigh up to �20. You never know when the pipes are going to go.

Emma use of offices have been flooded, ceilings have come down --

part of offices had been flooded. They are struggling to keep County

Hall in working order whilst facing redundancy. With the start Social

Club and canteen long gone, Steve Williams is now helping to sell

fixtures and fittings. He spent 34 years looking after the building.

hope to get another job with perhaps the council but at the

moment we have been put at risk so we don't know yet, and until we do,

it is a bit of a worry. Steve used to be deluded in caretaker. He even

had his wedding reception in the main hall -- live in caretaker.

has been in my working life all the way through. I can't take it on

board yet that it will be demolished. It is a busy Monday

morning in the council's social services department. Every call to

this office is a referral about a child who needs help. The team

never know when or where they will be needed next. We seem to get 30

referrals on a Monday and then we get about 50 by the old time the

week has ended for. The council spends �34 million the year or

social services and there has been a 40% rise in child protection

referrals since last year. This case has been known to us on one

previous occasion for domestic violence. The child is 13 and they

had been injured while their parents have been physical. I had

another referral this morning from a midwife who is concerned about a

mother who tried to self-harm at the weekend. It is about making

sure the baby is born safely. are 101 children in council care

and 83 on the child protection register. Councillors who decides

spending priorities want to know if the system can cope. The thing that

is concerning me is whether we have got the capacity to cope with a

growing number of families under pressure. I don't think it is that

negative that we have an increasing number taken into care. Far better

that than the odd one slip through the net and to be damaged for life

or lose their life. Another team is investigating a tip-off. The mother

of a chart with disabilities is suspected of having an alcohol

problem. Jane Martin knows the family. Parents to get under a lot

of pressure. -- parents do get. You are mindful of that. They are often

at the end of their tether. You still have to deal with it in the

child protection a rematch. Anybody working for a local authority would

always say you do not have enough and you do not have the control of

your work flow so there needs to be enough staff to pick that up.

Providing a round the clock social services is a challenge the council

simply must meet. Any point I think we cannot meet demand in a safe

manner, I will be raising that straight away and I expect to get

the response I have had up until now, which has been supportive.

Services for older people is under pressure, too. 83-year-old

Elizabeth Lloyd is recovering after fracturing her legs. With the help

of carers and therapists, she is recuperating at home and not in a

care home. Our model is different. We encourage people to get their

meals and then it is just common sense, just to pull back and allow

the person to take more control. People are going to need support

long-term but we want to make that bespoke. We want to make it a

minimum of what they need so that they are doing the maximum of what

they can. You don't remember when you got

stuck downstairs? No! Carers were calling twice a day. Now it is just

three times a week. It is cheaper for the council and a means

Elizabeth and her husband David can stay together. -- and it means.

soon as they came and gave her assistance and all of that and made

recommendations, it really did pay- off. She gradually gets up and

gives the evening meal now and things like that, you know. I still

make a lot of cups of tea but...! The cost of meals on wheels has

risen by 6%. But having this model of care at home is invaluable to

the Lloyds. The change to these services could save the council

millions long term. Spending cuts mean hard choices. 17-year-old

Sophie Stevens is severely visually impaired. She wants to live

independently and work in the performing arts. If I want to see

details, I am ended up a couple of centimetres away, just to see

facial expressions and any writing on the screen. After finishing

mainstream school, Sophie was offered a place at a college for

the Blind in Hereford. It costs �88,000 for a two year residential

course. I said it would be money well spent because I will work my

socks off! Monmouthshire council could only play -- page �22,000,

covering half of the first year. A social worker had to break the bad

news. You feel very much in the middle sometimes because you do

know what is best and you have done your assessment, but also you know

exactly what the managers are up against and the budget constraints.

She could have stayed at home after finishing school, claimed benefits

and did nothing, whereas she says, you support me for two years and

after that, I can carry on and find a job where I am not claiming

benefits. But Sophie has been able to follow her dreams. Her social

worker helped to persuade the Welsh Assembly to pay for the rest of the

fees. I want to have the same opportunities as everybody else, be

able to do what they can do. I need this place. I don't think it should

be as hard work to get here as it was for me personally.

APPLAUSE This is Monmouthshire council's new HQ.

It is in Magor, eight miles down the road from Cwmbran. 400 staff

will share 200 desks. It is modern, efficient and cheaper to run but

not everybody is happy with their shiny, new surroundings. They think

it is too bright. We have had complaints about the light from the

weight seedlings and desks. We have had no complaints that people have

not been able to find a desk. staff have been warned not to

personalise their desks. We have tried to be gentle. I had an issue

this morning, asking people, take the stuff down from your desks.

They cut except it. I think it is childish. Administrator Barbara has

been asked to keep a personal belongings out of sight. This is

our mascot, and our butterflies. They were here. We don't people do

have old-fashioned working methods. They need to be flexible. They add

colour in my life! If you stop work in the old way, quickly everybody

else will go back. They have had to go in the team. Every once in a

while, we would take them and jacket at the girl next to you to

relieve stress! -- and throw it. Just to break the monotony of work.

If we are working in a business environment, we are A team of

Monmouthshire. -- Team a Unison representative Jan Davies

has a right to give the building a once over. -- has arrived. She

quickly spot a problem. I don't It is very impersonal, isn't it? It

is very stark. There is a problem with the carpet. It makes you feel

giddy when you are looking at it, it takes you a while to get your

orientation back, I suppose. Especially for epilepsy and anybody

suffering from my grains. That could potentially be an issue. --

my grains. You can see it moving as you are looking at it! The carpet

has been laid along the entire length of the first floor. We have

got to recognise that it is a genuine concern, so I think the

three people who have been affected, we will be looking to see if we can

help them get over that but I can't see much wrong with it myself. We

won't be putting a new one in, put it like that! Cost-cutting means

thinking outside the box. The council spends �420,000 on street

lights so why not given them? This engineer is trying to enlighten the

Monmouthshire County Council, looking to install new lighting.

From about 10pm d6 AEM. I read in the paper about it. It affect the

people that go out at night with evil thoughts in mind. But you

still have a good level of lighting everywhere, and you wouldn't notice

the difference to the naked eye. It Okay, so here we are, a brand new

gritting lorry. Let the local media know what is going on. And reassure

the public of Monmouthshire that we are ready for the winter.

council's press office has organised a press shoot. It is

explaining why new gritters are been bought when money is so tight.

Glyn would rather be out with his workers are done here in the

limelight. I know you want them working, I want them in the photo!

He is reluctant to be photographed or anything like that, but he would

play the game for us. Here we go. You will stand there and look

Report is want to know why they are spending �300,000 of public money

on new vehicles -- reporters. You're looking pensive. You're

excited! Trust me, I am in PR. Brian Jones has to answer to the

council tax payer. Joe Public has a right to know what we're doing with

his money, they are entitled to know. Those doing the job say you

cannot keep the county's roads clear without the new equipment.

you haven't got the modern day vehicles to deal with these

problems, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. We have

got to be able to respond, provide a service for the residents of

Monmouthshire. Despite having such a huge road network, with gritted

the equivalent of twice around the world last year. That is quite a

lot of miles, and we didn't run out of road salt. OK, you're off the

hook! Labour councillor on and what regularly uses the Freedom of

Information Act to keep tabs on the Tory-led council spending. My job

is to scrutinise, and sometimes the information you request is not

forthcoming, so you may have to put a request in. Regrettably, then, it

is a game of cat and mouse. Coming under scrutiny is a high-profile

business event the council staged last June, starring billionaire

entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews. was interested to see why they have

put this together, who was invited, was it a waste of money? I had some

genuine concerns about what it would cost the authority, could we

afford it? It was a real statement about Monmouthshire, being in the

game for employability. The net cost to where organisations, give

or take, about �3,000, with around 700 participants. World class

because, feels like good value for money to me. The council says the

event has helped create over 200 new jobs, but one that she has also

been revealed as the slowest Council in Wales to pay its bills -

- Monmouthshire. I would hate to think it has put local businesses

act jeopardy. But I do think it is in the public interest. The council

promises to do better. This councillor says he will continue a

Back in the highways department at County Hall, the big move is

imminent. But is Wendy getting used It is all working quite nicely, it

is lovely to be able to go and have a look at the different

applications. I am going to have to learn how to do it to stay in a job.

Things move on, and I have got to do it. Like it or not, it is going

to happen, we are going to have to try. It is going to be a big change.

Over at the new headquarters, people are learning to live with

the new carpet. And making He is up there, and he's quite

happy. I hope so. Nobody has said anything yet. Hopefully, he is

But just at that is trying to save every penny, the council has been

told the demolition cannot go ahead until the authority pays for a

colony of bats on the site to be rehoused. They have not costed it,

but it is obviously many thousands of pounds, and one of the proposals

that is been voiced is providing aid Doherty metre-long by 60 metre-

high wall for the bat, with boxes full summer roosting bat, and other

boxes on the rear for winter resting backs. No one knows how

many of them are nesting here, but the council has to provide them

with a new home before this one is a flattened. Yes, it is the law of

It is November, and Jan Leeds strike action at the new

headquarters. In Wales, 90% of schools are either fully or

partially close. Council services, courts and public transport are

I have sympathy for anybody standing up for their rights and

their terms and conditions. I think the general public's view of the

moment probably isn't over sympathetic to this. We know this

isn't an issue between the unions and the caddy Council, it is

between the unions and the government, but life has to go on,

The galling part about it is all this high-principled people who say,

I do not believe in unions, they still stand there with their hands

out for anything that we fight for. It is the last Christmas at County

Hall, and the new year brings big changes. Cleaners Eva Atfield and

her son Nicky are losing their jobs. 24-year-old and Niki still hasn't

found any other work. We put the It is the toilet brush holder! That

has been chucked out, we rescued it. She is Aaron Personal Womble.

dairies sparkle of a different kind in the building tonight, as the

cleaners prepare for their For now at least, they are

And home-made vodka jelly gets the Well, it is a lovely night, but it

is going to be a sad one. We have come to the end of an era, we have

done a wonderful job over the years, you take the good with the back.

Don't make us cry! I know we are all sad to see the building go, but

times are changing. You will all do well, and don't use to grub up

well? All good things come to an end. The reality will hit home when

everything finishes and it goes quiet, and you don't have anywhere

to go into work, any work to go Meanwhile, across the caddie, the

new gritters are being put to the test. -- across the county. We are

out at unsociable hours, where everybody else is now having their

tea, watching telly, later on, they will be going to bed, and they will

be saying, we haven't seen a critter. You will not see one When

you're in bed at night! If we have another harsh winter this year, the

potholes will increase and the roads will deteriorate. Generally,

there is a lack of investment, it is the first thing that is always

cut. Monmouthshire has over 900 miles of road. To repair the Mall

could cost up to �80 million. This year, the council's road

maintenance budget is 2 million. That would be Yori servicing

programme wiped out for the entire year. -- your resurfacing programme.

They are the stark choices that our political leaders have got to be

constantly aware about, all the time, really. And like all Welsh

councils, they face more difficult decisions, including how many more

council jobs will have to go. will continue to be open, we will

continue to be guided by our values, and should we be in a situation

where we have to reduce our numbers, then we will do it in a humane way.

It is Quinn's last cleaning shift at County Hall. She still hasn't

got another job. Feeling quite I have learnt a lot, grown up a lot

My retirement! God! Others are leaving, too. Only a handful will

stay until the building is demolished in March. Most haven't

found new jobs. But they will miss more than just a regular wage

packet. I don't think they think we are real people, we are just

numbers. But we are people, and we do matter. It is about the people,

isn't it? It does play on my mind, it plays on all of our minds, I

talk about efficiency savings, the downside of that is people have

lost their jobs to make us more efficient and save money. We know

that. And we don't get any pleasure out of that. But at the end of the

day, we have to run the council like a business. After 34 years,

Steve Williams is now serving his redundancy notice. It is a

marvellous place, really. You don't realise, they think it is just

Brits and mortar. But there is more to it than that. As demolition day

approaches, full part and his team, it is the end of an era. -- for

calf. Probably, I will be the last person out there but I would