A challenging winter lies ahead

Winter is here

Well winter really is with us and we are getting some fantastic skies, this was the sky last Friday evening at sunset. With winter comes winter planning and work to ensure that the city keeps moving and the most vulnerable are supported. To this end, the Health and Wellbeing Board will receive a comprehensive report next week on the way in which the city is planning to cope with winter. In advance, let me thank everybody whose efforts will contribute to the wellbeing of our city and its residents over the colder and shorter days in the coming weeks and months.

Winter sunset last Friday

The heart and lungs of the city

On Monday morning I caught up with Jim Mayor and Emma Friedlander who took me through the plan for the redevelopment of the Valley Gardens. Over the next two and a half years, we will see the lungs of the city transformed with a changed traffic flow, landscaping and other developments to return this to become a key city park rather than a glorified traffic island. This is just one initiative among several which will contribute to the continuing evolution to the heart and lungs of our city.
 
The recent excellent news about heritage lottery funding alongside Arts Council funding , will allow the reimagining of the Dome and Royal Pavilion Estate, which will also play a significant part in these exciting developments. As you may know from recent publicity, we are also at an early stage of discussion and negotiations about extending Churchill Square down to the seafront and creating a state of the art conference centre and arena at Black Rock. All of these are future based plans, drawn up to continue to keep the city developing in a positive way for our residents as well as keeping us on the visitor map and one of the best loved places in the country.

Jim Mayor and Emma Friedlander

An evening of celebration and commemoration

On Monday evening it was an honour and pleasure to participate in the 40 years anniversary celebrations of the Brighton Women’s Centre and to hear its President, Baroness Joyce Gould speak of its history and the valuable work that the centre has done and continues to do in the city.

From this celebration, I walked swiftly down to New Steine Gardens where a substantial and moving crowd commemorated the lives lost to Aids. Monday was World Aids Day and I was one of the almost 30 speakers who read out the names of local victims of the Aids virus and held commemorative candles in their memory. The fight against this pernicious disease has made fantastic strides but there is no room for complacency nor should we forget.

At the council’s quarterly Health and Safety Committee this week, I noted again that acts of violence and aggression are the top cause of hazards to staff closely following trips and falls. I would like to remind everybody that we do have training and development to support staff who work in our more challenging areas of service. I would encourage everybody to report any incidents so that we can prevent, respond and learn.

The Aids memorial at New Steine Gardens

Planning for our future

On Tuesday evening, I addressed the city’s Economic Partnership, which had invited the business community to come and hear about the council's budget and to participate in a question and answer session. It was with no delight that I outlined the very challenging position that faces us in line with the wider family of local government and indeed all public services. I gave a high level outline of the scale of our challenge and the approach we are taking which is one of modernising, prioritising and adapting to become a council in the digital age. It seems to me that our key purpose, as a smaller organisation, is going to be one of providing civic leadership to the health and wellbeing of our most vulnerable citizens, to the environment in which we live and to the economy. Our approach is going to be one of collaborating with citizens and partners in all sectors and harnessing the power of the internet, social media and other developments.  During the evening, there was a very constructive discussion, and I was pleased to be supported by Geoff Raw, executive director Environment, Development and Housing and Nick Hibberd, head of City Regeneration, in answering the helpful incisive questions that were put. The event was televised by Latest TV. I had a real sense that the business community wants to play its positive part in supporting our quest to manage change in challenging times.

Seated at the table from left: Nick Hibberd, Penny Thompson and Geoff Raw answering questions from the business community.

Policy and Resources discussed the draft budget report yesterday evening (Thursday) and it will go to Full Council on the 11 December. Then the budget proposals enter the consultation phase which runs until Thursday 26 February 2015, when Full Budget Council should take a decision. This year we are publishing the draft corporate plan and medium term financial strategy at the same time as the budget, in a clear wish to ensure our financial and service planning are joined up and that we have a longer term horizon for  developing the finances of  the council. The Stop, Start, Change initiative continues and ideas have already fed into proposals and will continue to inform the consultation phase.

Great response from staff

I want to thank everyone who was involved in managing the effects of a fire that broke out at the Princess Royal Hospital yesterday afternoon.  Many staff worked tirelessly to arrange for patients to be discharged, and colleagues in the independent sector made a number of beds in nursing homes available to us. It was an outstanding example of public service and partnership working - going the extra mile and keeping people safe.  Special thanks to our staff Grace Hanley, Marion Joslin and Marcus Brooks. Also thanks to Paul Burns in the independent sector and one of his managers, Sharon McNamara.

Just this morning

Panel at the Adult Safeguarding conference from left to right: Claire Crawley, Senior Policy Manager at the Department of Health, Denise D'souza, and Penny Thompson

This morning (Friday) I opened the Annual Adult Safeguarding Conference. I was pleased to see so many colleagues across the city’s organisations who contribute to the safety and wellbeing of adults in Brighton & Hove. It was extremely encouraging to see the commitment to learning and improving our working together as we step up to the challenge of the new Care Act which will put adult safeguarding on a statuary basis.

Also this morning you may have read in the media that our interim executive director of Finance and Resources has started and a thorough handover is underway. The next budget will be extremely challenging as we need to save up to £26 million pounds and this role is pivotal. Rachel Musson’s appointment was a cross party decision and the agency fee is the market rate for the expertise we need.  We would not have been able to fill this role at this level on a permanent basis immediately. Rachel is passionate about the wellbeing of this city and will be working hard with ELT to ensure we achieve the best possible outcomes for Brighton & Hove.

I should end by acknowledging that these are challenging times for staff, managers and citizens alike and I very much appreciate that the change that we are going through is not easy. That said, I am determined to approach our challenges as opportunities and to seek to continue to improve as a council and a city by working together. Thanks for all you do.

 

Best wishes,

 

Penny

Learning about housing, recycling, our staff survey results and more

Hello everybody

I am writing this at the end of a very busy week, struggling with a cold which that I think is affecting quite a number of us at the moment.

Improving our housing assets

I’ll start by taking you back to last Friday when, in the afternoon and accompanied by Erin who was on her Takeover day from Dorothy Stringer School, I embarked on a Housing Tour guided by Simon Pickles. The purpose of the tour was to demonstrate housing assets working for people and communities, and it did just that. Improvements at Puffin Nursery at the Millwood Centre; external insulation, cladding and rendering at the Bristol Estate; improvements to East Moulsecoomb shopping parade; the development of Coldean Community Corner and finally the Evelyn Court show flat in Portslade were all evidence of improvements being undertaken in the interest of residents and communities. They’re a good example of working together across the council and with partners. The visit was so riveting that I completely forgot to take photos but here’s one from our Homing In magazine feature about Coldean Community Corner. 

Stephania at a workshop in Coldean Community Centre

Bristol Estate - cladded and rended

Budget meetings

A number of budget meetings and mid-year performance reviews with members of ELT don’t make terrific reading, but have been a very important part of my week. Budget papers will be out by the time you read this and will give councillors and the city an opportunity to look at the challenge we face and the options for meeting that challenge. Final decisions on the budget won’t be taken until February.

Developing our management capability 

On Tuesday morning I started the day by dropping in on cohort 10 of the ‘Living our values, every day” management development programme. This programme is really important to me in helping us to steer our culture change and performance agenda. Overwhelmingly, the feedback from the programme is positive and is contributing to improving our management capability. All our managers will take part in the programme and I am delighted that some of our managers who have been through the programme are now supporting it by facilitating. 


I had a feedback session with a number of early participants in the programme and it’s through this sort of event that we can listen, learn and improve future cohorts. The programme’s focus is the management of self, others and service and it draws on a coaching methodology and a good deal of sound research to underpin the experiential learning. At its heart is the expectation that we will all work hard to behave in line with our organisational values and will all deliver on the objectives set in our PDPs. 

Meeting some of the managers from the development course

My mid-year review this week with Jason Kitcat, leader of the council, addressed progress against my objectives and I am pleased that numbers were on track and some exceeded, and some at this stage of the year only partly met.

I hope by now that everybody is recognising how our values can help to create a new culture in the organisation. Openness is increasingly recognised and again this week we have a very  sobering example of how a whistleblowing has led to serious action.

Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility

On Tuesday I visited the Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility and learnt a great deal about how it works. Over half of all of our waste is recycled and most of rest goes to create electricity  feeding into the national grid. The tour was fascinating and the building is certainly an impressive piece of kit, most of it sunk underground. 

Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility

At the control centre

I learnt a great deal and this time I did take a number of photos. One particular fact that stuck with me is that the least recyclable item which we all use is the mattress. It surprises me that when tens of thousands of  mattresses are discarded and replaced every year (particularly in this tourist city), there isn’t a recyclable mattress readily available on the market.  There’s a Dragon’s Den business opportunity for somebody!

Down in the depths of the facility

Burning the rubblish

CMT awayday

On Wednesday the Corporate Management Team were at Portslade Town Hall at an awayday. Our purpose was to work on future planning, thinking beyond next year and was also to receive feedback from this year’s Staff Survey. The headlines from the Staff Survey show that the living our values, everyday management development programme is having an impact which is terrific news. Clearly there is more to do and there was also chastening information in the survey. Less than half of the organisation is really ready for the changes that are facing us and this is something we have got to make progress with. And only a quarter of the participants of the survey believe that we will do anything about it and even fewer think that we did something about last year’s survey. 

CMT awayday in Portslade

This really is a huge disappointment to me because, as we said, in the roadshows a good deal of attention was given to the survey last year  and indeed to actions to address it. Over the last year we have been very consciously working on improving communications, addressing management capability and providing opportunities to improve resilience of staff. Anyway I won’t be downcast and can assure you that again we will  study the survey at a council wide level, within directorates and services, and looking to respond to what we learn. The council is us, it’s not them, and we want it to be serving our residents and supporting and developing our staff as well as can be. Thank you for all that took time to complete the survey and to contribute to the free text; it is all being read and analysed. We’ll publish an overview of the results next week.

An evening with Allsorts

On Tuesday evening Allsorts the local charity supporting LGBT Young people held its AGM and 15th anniversary celebration. It was fascinating to hear how Allsorts came into being steered by Jess, who is still there. The event was lively, informative and value of Allsorts was clear for all to see and feel.

Jess from Allsorts

Health and Wellbeing Partnership

On Thursday afternoon the Health and Wellbeing Partnership Event was held. It involved as many stakeholders in the city’s health and wellbeing system as could attend. Together, in Hove Town hall, we considered progress against the previous Health and Wellbeing Strategy and looked at what might be the key priorities for the next four years. Tackling inequality; ensuring resilient communities; making this a city where young and old can flourish, where those from different backgrounds and all abilities are valued and have their place were all themes of the conversation.

Health and Wellbeing Partnership Event

 The direction of travel is one of promoting positive health and wellbeing and preventing a need for high end care. The approach we are taking to the Health and Wellbeing Board in partnership with the Clinical Commissioning Group and with the  involvement of health and care providers and citizens in the wider system seemed perfectly accepted by those in the room.

Carers’ Summit

And this morning, it was a privilege to be the keynote speaker at the Carers’ Summit held at the Metropole hotel.  I was pleased to thank carers, and staff from the council and the Carers Centre, for their work to support carers who play such a vital role in our health and social care arrangements in looking after people in their homes.  I met a number of individuals whose powerful stories underlined the challenge and rewards of being a carer. I left them to continue with a day of information and fun. 

Speaking at the Carers' Summit

In today’s press

You may have read in the local press today about plans with Standard Life Investments for the Brighton Centre and Black Rock. I had planned to talk about this later in December but as the information is now in the press, I want to share the exciting possibilities that are being worked on to extend Churchill Square, making more of the seafront and develop a state of the art arena and conference centre at Black Rock. This is a scheme with potential to  bring huge investment and  numbers of jobs into the city.  Plans will go to P and R committee for a decision on 16 December. 

So as the initial budget proposals are published and we all see that we are going to have to work differently with less, I hope that we work together holding to our values and making best use of the enormous ability and commitment in the council and the wider city, to continue to make this a fantastic place to live, work and visit.

All the best
Penny

Awards galore and being taken over

Aren’t I lucky walking to work and seeing scenes like this on Monday?

West Hove beach early Monday morning

Looking towards West Pier and Brighton

Interim executive director of finance and resources appointed

This week we were joined at the Modernisation Board, which I chair, by Rachel Musson who has been appointed Interim executive director of finance & resources to take the reins from Catherine Vaughan when she leaves in mid- December. I am pleased that Rachel was able to join us for a day this week and will be joining us from next Monday to ensure a really thorough handover with Catherine. We wish both of them well with their new futures, and thank Catherine for her significant contribution to Brighton & Hove.

A modern council

At the Modernisation Board, we considered updates on developments in Children’s Services, Adult Services, Refuse & Recycling and City Parks and our Cultural Services to name but four.  We also discussed a scoping exercise currently underway for the future of support services. I think there is an increasing recognition that the scale of the budget savings that we have to find this coming year, and the subsequent four years, really does mean wholesale change for the council and indeed our work with partners and citizens.  I do understand that this is unsettling for many, though stimulating for some. Be assured that, as we work on service redesigns, we are looking at making the most of the powers and opportunities available to local authorities and the models of best practice that exist around the country to enable us to operate as a modern and effective council. To help us in that, a group of CMT members had the benefit of a presentation from Judith Barnes, a senior lawyer and an expert in the field of modern local government operating powers and models, which was an enjoyable and stimulating session.  

An enjoyable session

Judith Barnes with me

Our draft Corporate Plan, budget proposals and options for members will be published next week and considered for consultation following the Policy & Resources committee on 4 December. #BHBudget Stop, Start, Change continues if you have ideas to assist us with our budget challenge. 

Award-winning work

As well as considering opportunities for entrepreneurial public service, there have been a number of awards to report on. Recently, Brighton Housing Trust won a prestigious housing award in the ‘innovation of the year’ category. Dubbed the Housing Oscars, the 24housing 2014 Awards were given BHT for the container homes project at Richardson’s Yard in Brighton which was developed in partnership with developer QED Property Ltd.  

Andy Winter, BHT chief executive said: “Brighton & Hove City Council should share this award because it provided political support and its planners were willing to agree to something so different. We need more imagination and innovation if we are to tackle the housing crisis in Britain, I am delighted that a Brighton scheme has been recognised in this way”. It’s gratifying that one of our community sector partners has been recognised in this way and had the generosity to site the role of the council so positively.

BHT's innovative container homes

At the UK Bus Awards, the Transport team achieved a bronze award for Lewes Road; congratulations to them too!  

Making a Big Difference

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of hosting the Big Difference Awards and, from a shortlist of four, was able to present the team and individual awards. The team award went to the Cityclean Contact Centre and the Corporate Support team who had made it possible for the recent dispute which produced so many calls from residents to be responded to effectively. There had been three separate nominations for this team and they were delighted to be the winners. The Project Team at Mears were runners up and were worthy nominees. 

Team winners: Ethan Mackintosh, Gerry Francis, Sara McMillan, Annie Heath 

The individual award went to Sam Rouse from Environmental Health, now within Public Health, for the work that he did to develop a scheme to retrofit 30 taxis with selective catalytic reduction technology to reduce N02 levels (nitric oxide). Sam’s award was collected by Annie Sparks since he was at a conference talking about this successful initiative which is making a contribution to our emissions reductions. Paul Diplock, who is Clerk of Works was runner up in the individual category for the effective way he dealt with a particular repair for a disabled resident.  

Annie Sparks receiving the individual award on Sam's behalf

Inaugural hotel awards

Also this week, I was a guest of the organisers of the first Brighton & Hove Hotel Awards. At an excellently organised and attended ceremony at the Brighton Metropole, many hotels were awarded prizes for their effectiveness and cleanliness, customer service and innovation. That our hotels work together in an association to focus on quality and to sustain the high standards of this important industry to Brighton & Hove is really commendable. 

Hotel awards

No Bystanders

This week is Anti-Bullying week and I, like many others, have made my pledge to the ‘No Bystanders’ campaign. The importance of not ignoring name calling and unkindness is one that I am constantly aware of, especially when I meet individuals who have indeed suffered from bullying or harassment at some stage in their lives. Which brings me to a reminder that on Sunday we mark Trans Remembrance Day. Unfortunately, I can’t go to the event and am grateful that Richard Tuset will represent me there.

Taking over

Today (Friday) I am participating in Takeover Day. This is an initiative by the Children’s Commissioner office which sees young people from the city taking the opportunity to takeover from someone in the exercise of their role. Erin has been ‘taking over’ as chief executive and Iona ‘taking over’ from Jason Kitcat, the Leader. Other young people are taking over roles of managers across the council. The opportunity for them to experience our working life should be valuable to them as well as providing feedback to us and I hope that they have an interesting and effective time. I will let you know when it is all over! 

Erin from Dorothy Stringer school taking over today

Receiving feedback

Finally, today I also met with a number of managers who have participated in our management development programme, part of our living our values every day culture change programme. My purpose was to receive feedback and to discuss how we continue our programme of culture change and improvement in the performance of self, service and others. It was a valuable and open session. 

 

Managers feedback session 

I think that’s enough for now, enjoy the weekend and the coming week.

Good wishes,

Penny

A week of reflection

This week’s blog starts with a bang! On Saturday night I enjoyed the fantastic fireworks supported by booming music up at the Nevill Road playing fields to celebrate bonfire night. Well supported by the community and enjoyed by all despite damp conditions, this display has become an annual treat and I am rather proud of the pictures taken on my phone. 

Fireworks at Nevill Road

Fireworks at Nevill Road

Remembrance Sunday

Sunday saw the annual remembrance events around the city and for me the ceremony at the Old Steine was properly poignant, on this centenary anniversary of the start of the First World War. Particularly striking was the number of young people in the parade; the solemnity, and appreciation for the sacrifice of our forefathers and mothers, was moving.

Rememberance Sunday at the Steine. ©Tony Mould: My Brighton and Hove

Rememberance Sunday at the Steine. ©Tony Mould: My Brighton and Hove

Q and A with apprentices 

Monday morning started with an uplifting interview session with two of our council apprentices who are working in HR. They wanted to interview me about the role of coaching in management and leadership as part of a project they are doing for their college work. Their incisive questions and appreciation of the opportunities afforded them by their apprenticeship were really impressive. As you know, I do think coaching has an enormous part to play in delivering an effective learning organisation, which lives its values every day and achieves its purpose on behalf of citizens, business and visitors. I wish Kelly and Lucy really well in their careers as public servants.

Kelly Butler and Lucy Strutt with me

Kelly and Lucy 

One Voice

On Tuesday evening I chaired one the most moving and difficult meetings. This was our One Voice meeting with leading individuals from our Black and Minority Ethnic communities across the city. It was the third meeting of its kind and we came together to discuss how we can work to prevent young people going to Syria and meeting the same fate as three young men from Brighton & Hove have already done. 

There were senior colleagues from the council and our local police chiefs at the meeting, which was cordial, respectful and sad. The key point I took away was the extent of dislocation that some of our local people from BME communities feel as they grow up in the city. There are too many incidents of racism and bullying. We learnt that one of the drivers for radicalisation was the search for meaning and self-worth. 

The feedback from the meeting was positive. People were able to share their concerns and we agreed to move forward with some very practical actions supported by a colleague from a national organisation called Faith Matters. 

I must pay tribute to our community safety, the police and our children services, who have been working well together.  They have been identifing young people at risk and to support individuals and their families to prevent further harm. And also to learn from those instances where young people have gone abroad to Syria. Our One Voice meetings will continue. 

Participants in our One Voice meeting

Proud of our regeneration work

On Thursday, Sir Bob Kerslake, the Permanent Secretary for Department of Communities and Local Government came to visit the city. He came to see first hand some of the regeneration work that is underway and the plans that we have for the future. The well organised tour took in work around the Brighton Station gateway, plans for Circus Street and Preston Barracks, the i360 and the seafront. It was encouraging to be supported by colleagues from the universities, Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership and local businesses and we received some useful live feedback on our plans. 

Sir Bob Kerslake with Phil Jones from Wired Sussex

Julian Crampton, Nick Hibberd, Sir Bob Kerslake and Phil Jones 

Planning for our future

What these highlights from the week don’t include are the many management meetings and conversations that have taken place. We've been focussed on developing and delivering our challenging budget and our corporate plan for the coming years, and discussions with members about the least worst options for balancing our books. These will continue and you can still contribute to the #BHBudget Stop, Start, Change conversation online or in your team meetings.

From a roadshow

I have heard that one of the questions asked at a roadshow last month was: ‘What is the point of Penny’s blog?’ For me, the point is this.  As the chief executive of an organisation of almost 5000 people delivering over 800 services across the city, I can’t possibly connect with everybody on a face to face basis. So through the blog I share some highlights of my week and spotlight some of our work with our important partners. I try give just a flavour of local government and public service. I hope you find it interesting, I'm always keen to hear from colleagues, either through the Wave blog comments or by email.

Have a good and perhaps a drier weekend.

Penny

Recognising outstanding efforts

Hello everybody

I hope that if you have had some holiday over the last week and that it has been relaxing and restoring; it certainly was for me. I am grateful for my colleagues who held the fort and covered my responsibilities, including my 'gold' cover - that’s my out of hours duties for major emergencies in the city.

Heroic efforts on the seafront

Of course many of our staff were working hard and an email I received whilst I was away outlining the heroic efforts of Chaz Branson of our seafront services is just one example. Over the weekend, Chaz rescued a struggling swimmer at 7am in the morning and later gave first aid at both a traffic accident and to somebody who dislocated her hip on the beach. Well done to him and all the team for those efforts. It’s just a reminder of the important and often unsung work that is done by so many colleagues in the council.

Chaz on the seafront

Big Difference shortlist

It is fitting then that we are planning the Big Difference Awards which will be held on Thursday 20 November. I can announce that those shortlisted for the team award are: 

• a project team from Mears - for their sensitive work with a housing tenant when working on a property, and
• the Cityclean contact centre with the corporate support team - for their work during the refuse and recycling disruption over the past few months

On the individual shortlist are:

• Sam Rouse in public health for his work with the taxi trade to improve air quality in the city and
• Paul Diplock in procurement for his work to solve a difficult case with a housing tenant.

Work to rule suspended

 

Another vital service that I often mention is that of refuse and recycling. It’s frequently one of the only services that residents recognise from the council. Of course they get very upset and concerned when their collections do not come as expected.

So I am really delighted and appreciative of the fact that the drivers have voted to suspend the current industrial action and I can assure them that the work to review and redesign the service is being taken seriously and will take place at pace. I know that Richard Bradley, head of Cityclean and City Parks, is keen to ensure that normal services are back up as quickly as possible and that a good reputation can be restored. We very much want to see the service being able to grow its business and a reputation for reliability is absolutely essential for that to happen.

Safe and Secure

Today, I undertook my Information Governance training which is something every member of staff must do. Information Governance is not only about written information or computerised information, it it also involves being aware of security in the buildings for example tailgating when you go through restricted access doors. The training is very easy to undertake and can be accessed through Surf2Learn on the Wave. Can I ask that you do prioritise a short period of time to do the training? At the end of it there is a test and I am pleased to say I achieved 92%, I will be going back to try and get those last two answers right!


Going through the Safe and Secure training

Remembrance Sunday

Finally, just to note that Remembrance Sunday takes place this weekend and I, along with colleagues from ELT, will be attending services at the memorial in the Steine, Grand Avenue, All Saints Church in Hove and the Synagogue.

Art work at Hove Junior school

This year’s anniversary has certainly caused a great deal of heart searching and creativity and I am reminded of the wonderful visit I did in the year to Hove Junior school where they had dedicated a school project to the First World War and had developed some amazing writing and art as a result.

Sadly I haven’t yet seen the poppies at the Tower of London but they have been a source of emotional journey for many people and provoked an interesting set of discussions in the media. I was given one of the ceramic poppies for my birthday and it will arrive when the installation is taken down.

Enjoy your weekend.

All the best

Penny

Reflections from our roadshows

I am covering for Penny this week as she is on annual leave, and that includes writing the Chief Executive’s weekly blog.

I thought I’d include some reflections from our staff roadshows. This week we had the last of four sessions for staff in Finance & Resources and Legal & Democratic Services and we have nearly completed them across all directorates. There’s been lots of positive feedback and people have particularly welcomed the opportunity to join in the Stop, Start, Change conversations and enjoyed hearing about service achievements.

The Stop, Start, Change conversations have been wide ranging but a common theme in our roadshows was people suggesting ways to cut down on bureaucracy, duplication and making decision making quicker and easier.

Another theme was suggestions for further income generation. This is being looked at as part of the Value for Money Phase 4 programme. The Life Events service for example has just done a comprehensive review of all its charges and some significant changes were approved by Policy & Resources Committee in October. There is however always a balancing act for new income generation or fee increases as it can create additional work and could be a distraction from the council’s core business – this is something we need to consider on a case by case basis.

Unfortunately the ongoing disruption within Cityclean was also a topic of disappointment and frustration for many. We are one council and it is important that we acknowledge that this impacts on all of us. I sincerely hope this situation is one that we can change so that we can all be proud of the services we provide to residents, businesses and visitors in our city.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to hear from a wide number of staff about service achievements over the last year and I am really proud of the difference we’ve made. There were so many people who volunteered to speak that I can’t do justice to them all here but I thought I’d mention a few things that really stuck with me:

• Lucas Petrykow and Luke Chittenden from the Architecture and Design team showing a Meridian News bulletin about the new Holland Road site for West Hove Junior School where a child said he was giving a “two thumbs up” to the design which converted the former Police Station
• Hale Ucar, our Workstyles programme manager, showing a graphic of the paper in Kings House and Hove Town Hall and how it would stretch all the way from Hove to Beijing if it was laid out end to end
• Natasha Watson from Legal Services proudly describing how her team had won the prestigious Local Authority Family Law Team of the year award and had achieved something they had previously thought was impossible in terms of radically reducing the time for care proceedings
• Two of our ICT apprentices, Riley Blunt and Trevor Lee, talking very personally about the positive impact that the scheme was having on them – they definitely got the most resounding applause from the audience and Carla Butler in HR is always looking for areas willing to take on apprentices and work placements
• Trevor Love on behalf of the Registrars service introducing a video made by Debbie Reynolds about the first same sex marriages – it was incredibly emotional and uplifting

The senior team all got asked some challenging questions in the roadshows with a question time session and we are busy preparing written responses to all those we didn’t get a chance to cover in the sessions themselves. I think the best question we got asked was, 'what difference had the Living our Values Every Day management development training made to how we did our jobs and led our services?'. I talked about how it had made me recognise the importance of giving prompt and clear feedback to people on things they had done well and also where performance needed to be improved rather than storing up those conversations for a 121 or appraisal. Others talked about the collaboration that it had promoted and the open dialogue with colleagues across a range of different services. And there was also strong feedback about how eye-opening the visits out to services and community groups had been in understanding how difficult the council can be to engage with and what we can do to simplify that.

I hope people keep asking that question to all managers who attend the training and that we make sure everyone puts the learning into practice.

Catherine Vaughan

Executive Director of Finance & Resources

Becoming a learning organisation

Hello everyone

Joining the College of Social Work

“I hear those voices that will not be drowned” is the theme of Maggi Hambling’s scallop sculpture on Aldeburgh beach. Annie Hudson, chief executive of the College of Social Work, quoted this as she introduced the corporate membership of the college to a group of our children’s and adults social workers on Monday morning at the racecourse. 

Annie Hudson opening the event

I was delighted to be there with Pinaki Ghoshal to introduce the launch in the morning; something that Denise D’Souza did again in the afternoon.  Corporate membership of the College of Social Work means that our professional social workers will have access to an evidence base, a national peer group and a strong professional college. Alongside this, are its capabilities framework and code of ethics which helps to back them up in the challenging and essential work that they do with some of our most vulnerable citizens. These social workers have to be registered with the Health Professions Council, indeed re-registration must take place by 30 November this year so, if it applies to you, don’t forget. 

Our corporate membership of the college underpins, in a very practical way, the importance of retaining, recruiting and developing the best professional social work practitioners that we can.  For me, a learning organisation has got to create the conditions for its individual members to develop and progress. 

Annie Hudson and Pinaki Ghoshal with me

Corporate Parenting responsibilities

The role of social work was again a feature of a meeting at the end of Monday when the Corporate Parenting Board came together to discuss the annual reviews for fostering and adoption and the key issue of the education of children in care.  Our new head of the “virtual school”, Mark Storey, set out an ambitious and challenging agenda for his role.  It was gratifying to learn that housing for young people leaving care is something that we have made significant progress on in the past few years. It still remains a challenge and while changes in regulations are allowing young people to stay with foster carers beyond the age of 18, this is by no means the option for everyone.

Working with others

A learning organisation works with others to improve outcomes and that was very much our approach at the City Management Board breakfast on Tuesday. 

Sunrise looking east on my way to the breakfast

Looking west from the same spot at the same time 

Here were the most senior accountable officers from the local authority, health organisations, universities, police and probation service and their main agenda item was the issue of mental health and policing. We discussed how we might reduce the number of mentally unwell people who find themselves in police custody for their own safe keeping rather than for any criminal offence.  We learnt about the triage system in Eastbourne which is having a positive impact on reducing numbers by the provision of a mental health nurse alongside a police officer to triage such situations. We fully supported work underway to look at the best options for Brighton & Hove. I hope that the 24/7 rota for approved mental health practitioners will play a significant and constructive part in addressing this shocking issue. A group focussing on crisis care is working on an action plan and I hope to see an item at the Health & Wellbeing Board before the end of the year.

Geoff Raw talking at the CMB breakfast 

Funding awarded

This week we learned that the Arts Council are making an award to Brighton Dome for essential works as part of our ambitious plans for the Dome and Royal Pavilion estate. We are absolutely delighted that essential works will be able to be done and we very much hope that the bid to Heritage Lottery Fund will also be successful. 

Royal Pavilion in summer (image: VisitBrighton) 

City Sports and Physical Activity Awards

Because of the demands of the day on Wednesday, which went on well into the evening, I was really sorry to miss the City Sports and Physical Activity Awards but delighted to know that a number of worthy winners enjoyed the evening. Congratulations to Goldstone Primary school won the award for Sports School of the Year and indeed to all the winners and those who were highly commended. 

Chris Pearson, headteacher with Ivan Horsfall-Turner from Freedom Leisure

Stop, Start, Change

I am pleased that numbers of you are giving us feedback on #BHbudget Stop, Start, Change on the Wave. We are looking at all the suggestions we receive and encourage you to put your best thinking to this challenge.

Staff Survey 2014

Can I also give a final plug for the staff survey?  We have extended the survey time by a week to allow more staff to complete it.  As I have said before, a learning organisation needs to be open, and to hear from staff, as well as taking evidence of best practice from elsewhere and having a culture of review and evaluation.  So please do complete the staff survey online or pick up a paper copy.

Discussions ongoing

I had hoped that I might have some better news on the situation with refuse and recycling. While discussions are continuing and the planned service review is taking shape, we still do not have an end to the action.  I can only apologise again for the impact of this, on you as residents and on you as ambassadors for the council whose reputation is being dented by this issue.

Key Cities meet in Brighton

Finally then, today we are hosting the Key Cities at Brighton Pavilion.  This is a grouping of 25 cities who have banded together. As a group we will try to influence the government on the importance of cities and to lay claim to opportunities for further devolution of powers and opportunities to raise revenue, in particular by retaining more of the business rate.  I am delighted that we are hosting this quarterly meeting and have been encouraged by the progress we’ve made by raising the economic and social impact of cities on the national agenda. 

Key Cities representatives meeting at in the Pavilion

This brings me neatly back to the learning organisation. Our work with the Key Cities is giving us the opportunity to learn and share together with other places across the country. I am proud that we are hosting our colleagues today in our unique and beautiful Pavilion.

Best wishes
Penny