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The Council’s winter roads maintenance stand-by arrangements operate from the end of October until the middle of April each year, although the planning for this begins much earlier, around the start of autumn. Pippa speaks with Callum Robertson, Assistant Network and Standards Manager, about the preparation for winter and the logistics of keeping people safe on the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute road network during the cold, dark mornings and nights.

The Council’s annual Learning Awards pay tribute to employees who have achieved a professional, academic or vocational qualification linked to their role. This year’s event was held in partnership with the Health and Social Care Partnership and the ceremony was conducted via Microsoft Teams. It was a real honour for Pippa to present some of the awards at the event and, immediately following the ceremony, having the pleasure of speaking with the event compere, Carolyn McAlpine, along with award recipients Cameron Bonnar, Claire McLachlan and Maureen McSporran. There is also a recorded message from Carol Allibone, who was unable to attend the event to receive her award.

As part of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in 2022, the UK Government has launched civic competitions which include granting ‘city status’. ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ is entering one of our main towns, Oban, into the competition, and Pippa catches up with our Head of Development and Economic Growth, Fergus Murray, who has been instrumental in preparing the bid for city status.

You can find out more about the bid for city status for Oban, and show your support, here on our website - Back the bid for Oban city status

With the recent announcement that a consultation will be opened early in 2022 for members of the public to have their say on proposals for where to position future electric vehicle chargers in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute, Pippa chats with Mark Calder, Project Manager, and Victoria Weir, Project Officer, from our Roads and Infrastructure Service, about the proposals, the existing infrastructure and the ongoing work to improve access to charging points.

In the final podcast for 2021, Pippa is joined by our Executive Directors, Douglas Hendry and Kirsty Flanagan, to thank everyone for their hard work during the year, to wish all a safe and happy festive season, and to look positively towards the New Year.

¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ has signed up to meet Scotland’s target of achieving ‘net zero’ by 2045, and during the week before COP26 came to Scotland in 2021, we held our first ever on-line Climate Summit hosted by the Education Service. With COP26 now behind us and as we embark on a New Year, we look to our younger generations who are already making a difference in the fight against Climate Change. Pippa chats with pupils from Barcaldine Primary School (James, Orion, Eva and Michael), along with their head teacher Julie Watson, and also with Linda MacBeath (head teacher from Rhu Primary School and convenor of the Education Climate Summit), about the environmentally sustainable education work going on in schools across ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute.

Balancing everyday life with the requirements of work and home can create pressures for all of us. Today Pippa chats with Jane Fowler, Head of Customer Support Services, about the Council’s Employee Assistance Programme which provides support and information, and can assist staff in achieving the work-life balance. More information can also be found on the .

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Our schools, pavements, potholes, bins, grass cutting, community regeneration and many more everyday essential activity is affected by the annual Council budget process and this podcast provides a guide towards understanding the size of ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥â€™s budget, how it is funded, limitations on spending decisions, the budget development process and how decisions are made.

To accompany the podcast, there’s a

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February 3rd is Time To Talk Day, an opportunity to talk to people around us and normalise conversations about mental health. Pippa chats with support workers and members of the Kintyre Link Club about their experiences with mental health and how the Club provides support and activities to help promote the welfare of those who suffer or have suffered from mental ill health.

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The Our Modern Workspace group is doing a lot of work just now to transform Council offices so that long term we can move to the home/office mix of working that most staff have told us they would like. This week Pippa chats with our Change Manager, Shirley Johnstone, and Head of Commercial Services, Ross McLaughlin, along with Chris Malcolm from Ryder Architecture, who is assisting the Council with the Our Modern Workspace project.