Better together – the value of collaboration

Much has been said on social media and in the press about fabulous Pride last weekend. Let me just add my two pennies worth.

Celebrating Pride

The day was a really fine example of the city coming together and attracting people from all over the country to celebrate openness, acceptance, and happiness. It was a delight to meet our staff on the LGBT Workers' Forum bus. And it was special to talk with Miss Trans International, Dee Burger, who later told me that the bottle of water I gave her prevented her from wilting! 

LGBT Workers' Forum Pride float

 

Miss Trans International - Dee Burger

Having waved all of the floats off, I was able to follow the parade in an open top bus with my colleagues Paula, Martin and Richard. There we met Joy who had travelled up from Devon for a week in Brighton. Her happiness, the exuberance of the crowds along the way, (20 to 30 deep at some points) and then the bustle at the park were quite awe-inspiring. I am sure Paul Kemp who organises Pride must have felt very proud if a little exhausted. This event gets bigger every year and the feedback that I have received tells me that the organisation this year was excellent. The work to ticket and manage the St James’s Street party in the evening was a success too. So thanks to all involved who made this annual event so spectacular and heart-warming.

A fantastic event

 

First World War Memorial Service

Monday began with a more sombre event when we marked the joining of the First World War by this country.

Poppies in our city

A short commemorative service at the Royal Sussex Regiment war memorial was attended by Roger French, Deputy Lieutenant, the Sheriff of East Sussex, and a number of councillors, senior officers, local MP Caroline Lucas and members of the public. However the event became lively as Father John blessed a commemorative World War One heritage bus and it was launched on to our roads carrying us to the Mayor’s Parlour.
 

World War One heritage bus

You will see it running routes across Brighton & Hove throughout the four years of commemoration of the First World War. The work undertaken by the bus company, the council and The Keep combines together to produce a travelling memorial and history exhibition; a really creative idea.

The lively Emporium

On Tuesday, I had a number of meetings including with Richard Bradley, the new head of City Clean, who I wish very well in his new and vital role. I also visited London Road and the Open Market. We were there to meet the new Minister for High Streets and Seafronts, Penny Mordaunt MP. We waited for her in the Emporium on London Road, a lovely café and theatre bar run by Chris Gull, who is also vice Chair of the Rainbow Fund.

Chris Gull at the Emporium

There I talked with Greg Hadfield of Brighton & Hove Independent and councillors Geoffrey Bowden and Ian Davey, Joe Nichols the London Road City manager, Ann Townsend, chair of the Portas pilot and local business man Trevor Freeman. 

With Rev Philip Wells

All of these colleagues had been brought together by Rob Dawson from our economic development team. They have been supporting the Portas pilot on London Road and have been very successful. It was encouraging to know that Ann, Trevor and other local business people are hoping to form a community interest company in the area to continue their work. The Emporium was a lively place on Tuesday afternoon and it was a joy to meet two buskers Dani and Shani, who study at Brighton Institute of Modern Music.

Buskers Dani and Shani

While in the Open Market, I met Paul Reynolds a local florist and Philip Wells who chairs the London Road Local Action team (LAT). We were also able to meet the town centre liaison officers, Nick and Spencer, who while working 16 hours a week, over the last year have managed to reduce thefts in the area. Thefts from Maplins have reduced by a staggering 70%. The Minister was impressed with what she saw and the people she met and I hope there will be some transitional funding to further support the development of the area.

A busy Wednesday 

Wednesday is meetings day and as usual the executive leadership team met and we also had a meeting of the Modernisation Delivery Board. This board is overseeing our council modernisation programme, a key part of our budget strategy. The delivery board is attended by all of ELT and the heads of human resources, communications, and performance and programmes. Wednesday was a busy day; not only did we have a press announcement from the police, I was also being shadowed by Andy Hollingsworth, a senior officer from SOLACE (Society of Local Authority of Chief Executives). I hope he found it useful and informative.

In the afternoon Andy joined me and other council officers at a summit that I was chairing to discuss with a wide range of stake holders how we can make the Royal Pavilion Gardens a safer place for citizens and visitors. These gardens surrounding the peoples palace that is the Royal Pavilion are the heart and lungs of the city. Yet sometimes they can feel intimidating and unpleasant due directly to the behaviour of a small and visible minority of people of who misuse the area with their anti-social drinking, littering, defecating and occasionally violent behaviour. The summit was well attended and came up with a short list of action to pursue, including reviewing the cleaning and security arrangements and looking into the possibility of volunteer schemes and some cutting back of vegetation.

Wednesday underlined to me the importance of our values, including respect and collaboration, ensuring that we listen and take seriously concerns raised by people whether publicly or confidentially. I hope all staff and citizens are noticing that ours is an open and listening culture. I do not want there to be an organisational silence when there are issues that should be raised and addressed.

Ladies Day at Brighton Racecourse

With Joy

Yesterday I was able to accept an invitation to lunch at Ladies Day at the racecourse. This was my first visit to Brighton Racecourse and sadly because of the pressure of work I could only see one race. However it was good to meet Joy again who had been on the pride bus on Saturday. And I valued a business discussion with Tony Kelly, Manager Director of ARC racing and leisure group who runs Brighton Racecourse who has a  commitment to the city and its continued vibrancy.

Head of Communications

Corinna Allen

Finally, following a substantial interview process I am pleased to announce that Corinna Allen has been appointed as Head of Communications here. Corinna’s passion for the role, sound analysis of what needs to be done and her skills and experience are exactly what the local authority and partners need, and I wish her every success.

That is by no means everything for this week but I am sure it is quite enough! Enjoy your weekend and I hope the storm avoids us.

Protecting the environment, our citizens, our history and our streets

We're all responsible
As I walked to work on Monday morning I was infuriated to find seagull strewn litter just feet away from two substantial and empty bins and I tweeted about this. I was trying to make the point that while we have got to have good and effective street cleaning, refuse and recycling provision, there is also a real need to engage visitors and citizens of our fantastic city. We need a shared commitment to protecting our city, keeping it clean and sparkling.

  

Rubbish around the bin

Big bin nearby with rubbish in the background

Armed Forces week
The theme of protection continued with a ceremony on Monday to mark the start of Armed Forces week. Flags were raised at the Sussex County Cricket ground and an array of old soldiers, councillors and interested public met together at a flag raising overseen by the Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff. It was a poignant event where, under a blazing sun, smartly turned out marching cadets were warmly greeted and we remembered the protection that our armed forces afford or have afforded us over the last century.

Celebrating our biosphere
On Monday evening there was a reception to celebrate the designation of the wider Brighton area as the first UN biosphere in the UK in more than 40 years. A biosphere is an area internationally recognised by UNESCO as a leader in balancing conservation and development. Our Brighton and Lewes Downs biosphere is a block of land and sea between the River Adur at Shoreham in the West and the River Ouse at Newhaven in the East. Our bid could not have been successful without the support and work of more than 30 partners including other councils, the RSPB, the National Trust, the South Downs National park, universities, schools and businesses. Our Downs/ City/Coast host environment provides a wonderful habitat for many species of wildlife including a rare orchid and butterfly and we need to work together to ensure we continue to sustainably care for and develop it.

Protecting our children
Later in the week I met with our designated doctor for child protection, Dr Jamie Carter. Child protection is something that has been close to my professional heart for almost 40 years. On top of his day job as a paediatrician, he works for the CCG as the medical specialist lead for safeguarding children and contributes to our local safeguarding board arrangements. He works closely with colleagues in the council led by Pinaki Ghoshal as executive director of Children Services and also with the police and all our other agencies whose shared purpose is keeping the children of Brighton & Hove safe. His knowledge, commitment and team playing were all evident from our conversation and I congratulate him on taking on these responsibilities.

New developments
On Tuesday, Geoff Raw executive director of Environment, Development and Housing took me on a walking tour to examine progress with the Brighton Station gateway and New England Quarter. It was encouraging to see the pavement widening and planting on Queen’s Road and to see the developments at the station including the new café, The Cyclist Brighton, being run by Ed Johnstone which opened this week. 

The Cyclist cafe at Brighton station

I very much liked the design of the bar supported by suitcases and if the food and drink matched the interior design then it will be a really great addition to Brighton station. We also looked at the housing being developed by Hyde in the New England Quarter and walked through the Open Market which is already springing into life with new occupants joining every day in anticipation of a formal opening before long.

Geoff Raw, executive director EDH and Ed from The Cyclist cafe

A city of volunteers
At Brighton and Hove Connected, where community, voluntary, public service and business organisations come together to make real the commitments in the community strategy, we met this week to discuss the role of the community and voluntary sector and our aspirations for improving the life chances of children – two big issues. We learnt that the community and voluntary sector has grown to 2300 organisations in the city (a significant growth since over the last seven years) employing 6900 people with almost 28000 volunteers. This is a large contribution to the life of the city by anyone’s standards. Work will soon be underway to develop a new volunteering strategy for the city. There was a quiet consensus that we must ensure the best possible deployment of our volunteers to support, sustain and improve Brighton & Hove as a fantastic place. We need to tackle the very real inequalities that exist, even in an area as culturally and environmentally rich as ours. Our discussion led to the consensus that our city should be an “everybody friendly” city, which is in line with our council priorities.

To the cells
In a visit to the police cells in Brighton Town Hall, Paula Murray, assistant chief executive and myself, were given a tour by Pat Drake, its tireless supporter and curator. 

Pat Drake and Paula Murray, ACE

We saw protection of society in evidence in different ways. The museum provides not only a history of the police, but also a perspective on the history of Brighton & Hove, as it grew from fishing villages to a city punching its weight on the world’s stage.

Pat and me at the cells

So a theme of protection has been woven throughout my week encompassing the environment, our citizens (particularly the vulnerable ones), our history and our streets.

Let me end by recognising the achievement of those at the City College City Achievers Awards held at Brighton University last night. I accepted an award on behalf of the council as the 2014 winners of City College Brighton & Hove’s Outstanding Employer Contribution Award in recognition our support for apprenticeships with the College.  

All the winners

I attended with Carla Butler, our apprenticeship coordinator and Rachel Maddison, procurement apprentice with the council.  

Rachel Maddison and Carla Butler

Rachel is one of the council’s six new ‘Apprentice Ambassadors’ who will be visiting schools to tell them about apprenticeships.  Well done to everyone involved.

Have a good weekend.
Penny