The Portfolio Holder for Resources, Commissioning and Contracts Management, Councillor Graham Arthur, attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Committee.  Councillor Arthur gave a brief introduction highlighting the following issues:

• Preparations were beginning for a new way of working
• The pandemic had brought with it several advantages, not least an enforced move to flexible working.
• The almost overnight move to 85% of staff working from home whilst preserving all essential services would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.
• This had only been achievable due to the combination of flexible staff with a 'can do' attitude and the IT capacity to ensure state of the art technology available to support them.
• Bromley had played host to its first digital day conference. This had brought together eminent speakers and an agenda including the latest digital and A.I. technology. The innovations talked about at the conference were now informing the transformation programme and would directly influence the way of working going forward.
• The relationship with B.T. had been key and the Council had once again been short listed for a national partnership award.
• 1550 new IT kits have been rolled out from a Covid secure Civic Centre.
• Necessary to pay tribute to the outstanding contribution which had been made by the Facilities and Support Services Manager, The Assistant Director of Customer Services, and their teams.Facilities Services had delivered a Covid safe environment for staff whilst Customer Services had built on that to ensure that all possible services could be delivered.
• Similarly, the Learning and Development Team had shown extraordinary innovation in the way contact with staff had been maintained and all manner of training aids made available to stimulate and improve working.  The Executive Assistant for Resources, Commissioning and Contracts Management would be liaising with HR staff to prepare a full report on the ongoing Health and Wellbeing Work including tackling the impact of isolation.  This would be brought to the Committee in the new year.
• Working from home was likely to have a significant impact on the deployment of resource. In February the Council had a clear idea of investment plans for office requirements. This was based on a 70% desk occupancy, allowing for a set number of site visitors, and with a budget of £20m. Work was now underway to model what revised requirements will be and it was likely that there would be significant change.
• The Property Team were conducting an in depth study of the Council estate to determine just what could be released for disposal.  This would cover the operational estate as well as investment properties.
• The process of disengaging from both Amey and their sub-contractor Cushman and Wakefield was underway. Those staff to be TUPE’d had been identified and key contracts such as cleaning had been put out to tender. Moving forward, work was underway to establish the central property services department, with recruitment to two new posts complete resulting in a more efficient way of handling property matters. The Council was drawing on the experience of others, including Edinburgh, who had managed the transformation to in house dependency.
• The Portfolio Holder believed that if the Council harnessed the opportunities presented a much better way of working would evolve.
• The Director of Finance had provided a concise and accurate summary of the financial position.
• The importance of learning from other Councils was highlighted.  Often more could be learnt from those who got it wrong than those who got it right. A forensic examination of what had led to Croydon's issuing of a 114 Statement, provided a graphic account of failure, with 23 recommendations to safeguard the operation of a council. Having reviewed the recommendations the Portfolio Holder was confident that Bromley had sufficient safeguards in place, but should never be complacent. The failure of a council should act as a wake-up call for all Council, but the true tragedy belonged to the 400 potential job losses.
• Numbers currently indicated a potential trend of spend which was in a large part met by the 22 various Covid related grants.
• Going forward the signs were less encouraging. Council tax reminders had been sent to 5,300 residents who were in serious arrears. From January 2021, the Council would be operating a Magistrates Court from the St. Blaise building to be used when all other avenues have failed. One key element was to address is the poor take up of direct debit at 63% against Bexley at 79%.
• In the new year a view would need to be taken on  rent arrears from our properties, as the current policy of allowing delayed payment would result in an unrealistic backlog.
• Finally, on a positive note, the Council Pension Fund had once again been nominated for a national award.

The Committee thanked the Portfolio Holder for his update.