Inverness civic officer is Council’s employee of the year
Scott Taylor, Civic Officer at Inverness Town House, has been chosen as The Highland Council's Employee of the year. He received his prize from Council Leader Councillor Drew Hendry at the Council's annual Quality Awards, held at the Town House, Inverness, on Thursday night.
Scott’s nomination was made by his line managers, Allan Gunn, Head of Business Support and William Gilfillan, Corporate Manager and endorsed by Derek Yule, Director of Finance.
Over the past year, Scott has successfully delivered no fewer than 128 events at the Town House.
He was commended for his qualities of composure, resourcefulness, problem solving, respect for colleagues, and leadership. He shone during the recent Inverness office rationalisation project when an additional 100 members of staff moved into the Town House from premises on Church Street.
Mr Gunn wrote: “Scott’s outstanding ability to cope with multi-tasking shone through the flit. Whilst maintaining the highest possible service standards of civic support for the provost and his deputes, Scott worked hard to ensure that all the office moves went smoothly, leaving no stone unturned in the search for solutions to any problems placed before him. Scott is one who you can trust to deliver every time to the high standards and traditions of the civic office of the provost.”
Also short-listed for Employee of the Year for their outstanding contributions to the Council were Evelyn Miller, Cleaning and Facilities Management Manager, Education Culture and Sport, and Drew McNeil, Employment Support Adviser, Employability Team, Planning and Development.
A team and two individual members of staff received awards for being commended by their Community Council for special recognition.
The waste team at Wick was commended by the Royal Burgh of Wick Community for supporting Pulteneytown Academy Primary School win new football strips and warm up tops as well as a dream trip to Italy from a national newspaper by their endeavours .
Sheila Lamont, head teacher at Farr Primary School, near Inverness, was commended by Strathnairn Community Council for her outstanding service over 40 years to the school and the community.
Duncan Cameron, road worker in Strontian, was nominated by Sunart Community Council for his service to the community, particularly in adverse weather.
Team of the Year went to the Council team at Wick, led by Ward Manager David Sutherland, for managing the move of more than 90 staff from the Council’s offices in Market Square, Wick to Girnigoe Street. The move.is to accommodate construction of an £8million new office on the demolished Market Square site. The team were commended for minimising disruption during the move.
Trainee of the Year is Catrina Flannigan, Policy and Development, Finance. Innovation of the Year went to the cross-service team who implemented the Council’s Performance and Risk Management System.
Teams of staff presented their projects to a judging panel and the full list of category winners is:
Working Together for the Economy: Create & Employ, Planning & Development
Working Together for our Children and Young People: The Inclusion Room, Education, Culture & Sport
Working together for Caring Communities: Ormlie Junior Community Wardens, Thurso
Working Together for Better Housing and Infrastructure: Building Partnerships, Housing & Property
Working Together for Strong, Safe and Empowered Communities: Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferencing (MARAC), Health & Social Care
Working Together for Efficiency and Service Improvement: Business Support Transformation, Finance
Chairman’s Award: Mental Health Surveillance of Adolescents within a School Setting, Health & Social Care
The sponsors of the event were Morrison Construction, Fujitsu, Viridor and Zurich Municipal.-ends-