Working with our partners in the city

Hello everybody

Safeguarding children

For me, this week has been all about partnership and working together. After my regular Monday morning “week ahead” meeting with the Leader of the Council to compare and plan diaries, I had my regular accountability meeting with Graham Bartlett, the Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board. He is accountable to me as the chief executive, which is important to ensure that any concerns regarding safeguarding can be raised. I am pleased to say that not only did Graham not have concerns to raise, he also went to some lengths to praise the work of Pinaki and his team. He recognised the leadership that Pinaki demonstrated during the recent Ofsted review period, whose resulting report we will see before the end of the month.

Getting out of the office

Another example of working together came on Wednesday when the Executive Leadership Team and I met for an awayday to plan for the future and ensure that we are sustaining momentum with delivering on our plans, whilst at the same time forging new relationships with the new council. I also noticed that the poppies on the way were glorious, and the seafront at our lunch time break was beautiful. On the way I spotted our seafront lifeguard service, which is so valued by residents and visitors and works tirelessly together to keep us all and our beaches safe.

Poppies on Hove seafront

Paula Murray and Rachel Musson on the beach during our lunch break

Our seafront lifeguards

A landmark day for the i360

Thursday was a landmark day. The barge bringing in the 13 “cans” which will make up the i360 and the jacking tower (which will become the holder to assemble the tower) arrived by barge. It was a privilege to be amongst a number of invited guests who have had involvement with the i360 and to enjoy the glorious sunshine. It was also fascinating to hear the Chairman of the i360 company, David Marks, who is also one half of Marks Barfield, its architects, describe to us how they are building the vertical cable car. The 200 tonne crane known as T-Rex is now busily unloading the cargo. But as well as machinery the i360 project is hugely reliant on collaboration and co-operation and this was something David spoke of in his introduction. Eleanor Harris, Chief Executive of the i360, supported by her small, hard working team outlined some of the benefits that will come from the project; 200 jobs on site and 450 jobs through the supply chain is not to be sniffed at. The impact on the economy of the city will be palpable. The signs are good and the tourist trade is enthusiastically working on schemes to incorporate this new business. Finally, we were treated to a showing of the marketing film from the i360, something that is entirely put together by local volunteers. Why not have a look at the promo video for yourself - it’s fab.

Some of the 'cans' arriving at the i360

Julia Barfield and David Marks, architects of the i360

Finding out more about the i360

Our first new Policy & Resources Committee

This week has seen the first Policy & Resources Committee of the new municipal year. Although not a long agenda, two vital items were discussed. Firstly the draft out-turn report for the budget which I am pleased to say shows a break even position thanks to an enormous amount of hard work from officers across the council. There were challenges in the report, not the least of which are the pressures building in Adult Social Care through volume and cost of placements. The other significant item was the report to give outline agreement to the establishment of a Fairness Commission which will be discussed at the new Neighbourhoods, Communities and Equalities committee in a couple of weeks time and which it is hoped will start its work through the summer. The commission has support from all quarters and is hoped will be another example of partnership and learning, producing something valuable to help with planning fairness improvements for citizens whilst at the same time addressing significant financial challenge.

Our first Policy & Resources Committee at the Brighthelm Centre 

Our partnerships in action

And so partnership and accountability have remained themes right to the end of the week. This morning Paula Murray, Assistant Chief Executive, and I hosted a debriefing and learning session with a wide range of staff who had worked on the election to try and distil learning points for future improvement.

Election debriefing session led by Paula Murray, Assistant Chief Executive

We then went on to the Brighthelm Centre where I hosted a Members partnership induction session so they could understand our partnership arrangements and the value of them. I was deeply grateful to all our busy colleagues from health, police, business, CVS, probation and Brighton Dome and Festival who not only gave up time to contribute to the event but also were happy to spontaneously address the gathering with insights into their work in partnership and also prepared to stay for many enthusiastic and informative informal conversations. The session was an authentic representation of partnership in action.

Partnership induction session for Members

Mark  Streeter, CEO of the Police & Crime Commissioners Office, talking about our Safe in the City Partnership

Let’s hope the sun shines this weekend.

Best wishes
Penny