Chief Executive, Angela Leitch
Later this month the next three year Council budget will be set. On the 31st January the Scottish Government finalised details of their budget which includes the levels of funding for local authorities. The special Council meeting on 12 February will set the 2019/20 budget and full details will be provided to staff in an Inform update. Our transformation journey becomes even more essential in the light of the financial choices we have to make. 
The Council continues to provide high quality services to our local residents, businesses and visitors and there are always new innovations or ways of working being initiated and taken forward by colleagues. Many of these developments are recognised at our annual staff STAR Awards but the Council Management Team want to highlight the ongoing good practice throughout the year. In this Inform we have a Roll of Honour listing recent achievements and asking for submissions of others. One recent example is our school meals service who have achieved the Food for Life Served Here Bronze award for the sixth year running. In addition to providing freshly made meals within our primary schools, our procurement of sourcing locally grown produce supports local businesses.
Partnership working continues to support our service provision. The East Lothian Partnership Against Rural Crime brings together a range of organisations to advise and help our rural communities on preventing and tackling rural crime.
Thursday 7 February is Time to Talk Day – a day when everyone is encouraged to have a conversation about mental health. Time to Talk Day is run in Scotland by See Me, in partnership with Time to Change, to help spread the word that anywhere can be the right place to talk about mental health – including at work.
East Lothian Council supports Time to Talk Day and we want everyone who works here to feel they can be open about their mental health, and ask for support if they need it.
Finally I want to congratulate the ELC team that has just returned from scaling Kilimanjaro in aid of Cancer Research UK. I hear it was a challenging adventure and the team has now flown the East Lothian flag from this, the highest free standing mountain in the world. In the last 6 years the team has raised an amazing £70,000 for cancer charities.