Created: 13/6/25
What makes men healthy – physically and mentally? (Thursday 19 June, 10-10.45am)
This engaging and insightful session will help to raise awareness of the importance of men’s health, both physical and mental. The session will help to understand the stigma that often surrounds men talking about their health and offer practical strategies to encourage a more open conversation and proactive approach to men’s overall wellbeing.
See Connect article for full details including Teams link.
Created: 12/6/25
Free staff event: Wednesday 25 June, 9am-3pm at Kilncraigs
For more information contact: spaterson@clacks.gov.uk or Emily.callan@sustrans.org.uk
Created: 5/6/25
From Monday 9 June reception will open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. Last payments will be taken at 4.30pm.
The cash office relocated to Kilncraigs reception on Monday 2 June and will be open during the current hours of Monday to Friday, 10am-3pm for the first week.
e: customerservice@clacks.gov.uk
Created: 28/5/25
Step on Stress is a free stress management course for anyone with mild to moderate stress, living or working in Forth Valley over 16 years of age.
Each series is live streamed monthly and is pre-recorded with a question and answer facility. It is not group therapy or one-to-one support; therefore you do not talk about your problems in front of others. Just sit back and learn some great ways to step on stress.
Upcoming dates for 3 online weekly sessions
See Connect article for full details and online booking link.
Created: 28/5/25
A PAM Wellness webinar taster session on ‘stress reduction skills in practice’ is now available to view. Please visit Connect for full details including the link.
Created: 23/5/25
The Council's mandatory training programme for 2025/26 has launched, with a deadline for completion by all staff of 1 August. All courses can be completed by logging onto the Clacks Academy. Please refer to the Connect article via the link given above.
e: training@clacks.gov.uk
Created: 7/5/25
Please refer to important cyber security alert on Connect.
Created: 2/5/25
A number of services and colleagues are finding that phone book entries are not being kept up-to-date. Managers and staff should arrange to check their service, team and individual contact details as soon as possible.
Council mobile telephones numbers must be recorded in iTrent and the phone book. If one has been allocated to you, ensure the number is held on your COIN phone book entry.
Please refer to full Connect article for more information.
Created: 1/4/25
The latest edition of Connected is available via Connect.
Created: 1/4/25
A copy of the latest Employers' Liability Certificate is available via Connect and should be displayed in all council buildings.
Created: 27/3/25
HR and Payroll deadlines for 2025/26 are available via Connect.
Created: 27/3/25
The Annual Statement of Accounts must be submitted to Council and the external auditors by 30 June.
For the 2024/25 Statement of Accounts, the Year End Timetable gives the final dates for completion of tasks and the required information to be provided to Accountancy including, order processing, goods receipting, invoicing, service accruals, stock, bank reconciliations, Council Tax and NDR processes etc.
Please refer to the Connect article via the link given above.
Created: 20/2/25
Due to the ongoing security audit of ID badges and door access cards we will no longer accept requests or changes to ID cards from individual employees.
All ID card request/change forms must be reviewed, authorised and emailed to idcard@clacks.gov.uk by the individual's line manager.
Kilncraigs staff are reminded that the building's operational hours are 7am-7pm, Monday to Friday. Outside these hours all ID badges will be disabled. Please refer to full Connect article for further details.
Created: 7/2/25
Retirement might be up to 10 years away but it’s never too soon to start planning. This course is perfect for anyone thinking about retirement or already in the planning stages.
Dates: Tuesday 8 July, 9.30am-12noon via Teams | Monday 10 November, 1-3.30pm via Teams
Please refer to Connect article for more information including course agenda.
Created: 30/1/25
Please refer to the Connect article on the latest update on staff benefits.
Created: 28/11/24
There is a new video available on Connect demonstrating how to record sickness absence.
Created: 26/11/24
Please refer to Connect article for new user guide for Council Chambers.
Created: 14/11/24
Please refer to Connect article about new procedure for accessing reception meeting rooms.
Created: 12/11/24
The Freepost service is no longer in use. We have moved to a new service called Business Reply, which operates similarly to Freepost but with an updated licence number. Please refer to the full Connect article via the link given.
Created: 4/11/24
To better manage the growing number of requests being received by IT, all office and IT kit moves must be submitted as a CHES call. This helps your IT colleagues organise and respond to requests effectively and efficiently.
Please refer to full Connect article via the link given.
Created: 5/9/24
To ensure the security of data, we would ask that staff do not install third-party apps in the corporate Microsoft Teams environment. Please refer to full Connect article.
Created: 14/8/24
We need your immediate action to ensure the continued smooth operation of our email services. Our mailboxes are approaching their storage limits, and failure to address this issue promptly may result in disruptions to our communication channels.
Please take a moment to clear out any unnecessary emails and attachments from your mailboxes. This will help create space and prevent emails from being undeliverable due to full quotas.
Action Steps:
Note: emails may not be delivered until adequate space is made available in the mailboxes.
Thank you for your cooperation in resolving this matter swiftly.
For any assistance or queries regarding mailbox management, feel free to contact itcustomerservices@clacks.gov.uk.
Created: 11/7/24
Both lifts in Kilncraigs are connected to a monitoring company. If you become stuck in one of the lifts please follow the procedures detailed in Connect article.
Created: 5/6/24
Over the last few months work has been ongoing to update the mapping capabilities on the Council's website and to remove many of the PDF documents that have been uploaded over the last few years.
Using the Council’s corporate mapping supplier CadCorp, a number of new webmaps have been created, which cover a range of themes and topics and are intended to allow users of the Council’s website quick and easy access to council held information.
Please refer to full article and contact details on Connect via the link given above.
Created: 1/3/24
The staff, building information and Union noticeboards are located in the atrium, 1904 building. Any notices/posters should be posted on these boards only.
Please do not attach any notices/posters to any doors or windows throughout the building.
e: resilience@clacks.gov.uk
Created: 5/1/24
Staff are reminded that in line with the National Code of Conduct, as adopted by the Council, where they undertake additional employment outwith the Council they are required to seek appropriate approval. Please refer to the article on Connect.
Created: 25/10/23
Colleagues are reminded that it’s important to update their personal details on iTrent regularly, to ensure that they are accurate. See Connect for more details.
Created: 21/9/23
It is important that all staff understand how to defend against cyber attacks. Please read the Connect article on guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre.
Created: 8/8/23
As employees and managers of the Council, we all have a duty to ensure we follow the 7 principles of public life and the code of conduct for local government employees. All staff should review and refamiliarise themselves with this code, which is available via Connect.
Created: 22/6/23
If you have a repair to report for Kilncraigs, please do so by emailing caretaker@clacks.gov.uk. This allows the caretaker to keep track of any repairs, some of which he can fix himself, and/or be prepared for the arrival of a contractor if necessary.
Created: 15/6/23
Please refer to the Connect article about the importance of communicating with our Community Councils.
Created: 13/6/23
See Connect article for DPO, DPO service coordinator and FOI monitoring officer contact information.
Created: 12/6/23
For useful tips on using public wi-fi safely, please refer to the Connect article.
Created: 7/7/22
An important reminder article to all Council vehicle drivers is available via Connect. Please make sure all of your staff are aware of their responsibilities when driving one of our vehicles.
e: smarttravel@clacks.gov.uk
Created: 21/1/22
Social media can be good way of keeping in touch with colleagues and remote working has seen an increase in the number of staff using social media as a way to communicate.
Please be aware that platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger are not secure and should not be used to communicate or share sensitive or official information.
All staff should ensure they are familiar with the Council’s Social Networking Policy which is available on CONNECT.
Cherie Jarvie
Senior Manager – Partnership and Transformation