Cardiff Council Update: 11 March 2022

Here is the latest update from Cardiff Council, covering: free driving lessons offer to new care workers; work begins on first primary school to be built under Cardiff's Local Development Plan; Norwegian Church to reopen next month under new custodians; and coronavirus in numbers.

Free driving lessons offer to new care workers

Cardiff Council has unveiled a series of innovative measures, including free driving lessons, to attract new recruits into its social care services.

The authority has vacancies for carers throughout its network of residential homes and day centres, along with the teams providing support services for people in their own homes.

And in a bid to generate interest in social care as a career, Cardiff Cares Academy - the council's care recruitment and training unit - is offering a range of new incentives to prospective employees, including:

Up to 20 free driving lessons, if needed
Free theory and driving tests
Free DBS (police background) checks
Personalised training and support

Cllr Susan Elsmore, the Member for Social Care, Health and Wellbeing, said: "It's well documented that the social care sector right across the country is in urgent need of carers, especially those who are able to drive, and in Cardiff we're committed to doing everything we can to ensure those residents who need it get the best care possible.

"Cardiff Cares Academy has great expertise in recruiting and training carers and since October last year it has helped 52 people get into training and enabled 30 people to find work. Now these new initiatives should help even more to address the staff shortages we're facing all across the city."

Her Cabinet colleague, Cllr Chris Weaver, the Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance, added: "It's clear that drivers are most in demand and we want to give people who are already learning an extra hand in getting their licence. We're willing to pay for the cost of the theory and the driving test itself and pay for between 10 and 20 lessons if it's felt that is all that is needed."

All the available roles pay at least the Living Wage, a commitment by the Council to all its workers.

To promote the council roles, and other vacancies at some of the council's private partners in the care sector, a series of 10am-2pm drop-in sessions are planned over the coming weeks, including:

Ely Hub - NHS Roadshow, March 14
Alexandra House Job Centre, Cowbridge Road East, Canton - 10am-noon & 1pm-3pm, March 17
St Mellons Hub, Crickhowell Road - NHS Roadshow, March 23
Eastmoors - NHS Roadshow, March 28
Cardiff Central Library - NHS Roadshow, March 31

Work begins on first primary school to be built under Cardiff's Local Development Plan

A special ground-breaking ceremony marks the start of construction on a new primary school to be located at the St Edeyrns development.

The new £6million primary school will be the first provided as part of Cardiff's Local Development Plan (LDP) and will become the brand-new home forSt Mellons Church in Wales Primary School, which will relocate from its current site inLlanrumney.

The ground was cut at the site by Leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, Cardiff Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry, St Mellons CIW Primary School Headteacher Jane Marchesi and Chair of Governors Gary Twell.

Pupils from the school also attended the event and were joined by representatives from Halsall Construction and Persimmon Homes East Wales.

Delivered by Halsall Construction on behalf of Persimmon Homes, the new school will serveparts of Pontprennau and Old St Mellonsandwillbe located east of the Pontprennau link road. It will be a 1 form entry, accommodating 210 pupils including a 48 place part-time nursery with the opportunity to expand to a 2 form entry (420 place) in the future. There will be a community facility linked to the school with private entrance and interconnecting entrance providing benefits to the wider community.

Cabinet Member for Education Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry said: "This ground breaking marks an exciting milestone for the new school site which when complete, will provide staff and pupils with a modern, state-of-art learning environment to inspire.

"The housing development at St Edeyrns is already very popular, generating a significant increase in the demand for school places in the area. The new school will have a community focus providing opportunities for local people to access facilities as well ensuring availability of school places."