Agenda item

SCRUTINY OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Minutes:

The Chief Executive, Mr Ade Adetosoye, attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Committee. A written update for the Committee had been circulated as part of the agenda papers and Members thanked the Chief Executive for the update commending him on the quality of the report and the information provided.  Mr Adetosoye responded to questions, making the following comments –

 

·  The Council’s Strategic Leadership Team had been reflecting on the key challenges arising from the Covid pandemic that had been faced by the Council.  It had to be recognised that as a nation we were still in the middle of the pandemic and as such time had been set aside in the middle of March 2021 to enable a period of reflection.  In terms of lessons learnt from the very early days of the pandemic, a key challenge that would be set for the senior leadership post pandemic was to reflect on what the Local Authority could do to recognise and better utilise the 4,500 residents who had volunteered to support and help the Council.  Members noted the importance of recognising this key asset.

·  The Chief Executive also highlighted the need going forward to continue to preserve the increased use of IT.  Over the course of the last 12 months technology had played a key role in the uninterrupted delivery of services to residents.  Members noted that the previous day the Chief Executive had hosted an “Ask the Chief Executive” webinar attended by over 300 members of staff.  The value of this could not and should not be underestimated and needed to be harnessed going forward.

·  Covid was a Public Health pandemic and Bromley was a Public Health Authority and as such had being doing all it could to support health partners in their response to the pandemic. The key role of the Local Authority was to amplify and support partners across the NHS.  Supporting the national vaccination programme was one way the Local Authority could play its part in tackling the pandemic and consequently going forward the Great Hall at the Civic Centre would be used as a mass vaccination centre.  The current delivery date for the Vaccination Centre was 1st March 2021, but this date would be brought forward if at all possible.  The Vaccination Centre would be open 7 days a week from 8am to 8pm with 40 volunteers and 10 seconded staff supporting colleagues in the NHS to deliver the roll out of vaccinations. 

·  There was a legal requirement for the Local Authority to ensure its front-line health and social care staff were adequately protected.  As part of this support was provided to priority front line staff to ensure that they were able to access a vaccination where appropriate.

·  Over 90% of the 700 laptops from Central Government to support home learning had been distributed.  Bromley had not seen some of the problems that had been reported in the national media and the Local Authority had been able to support its vulnerable children and young people.  Members also noted that through colleagues in IT, it had also been possible to replace broken laptops.

·  The Committee noted that all staff who left the Council were offered an exit interview with the Director of HR conducting the interviews for social workers who departed.  The reasons for staff leaving were regularly reviewed and the Chief Executive confirmed to Members that there were no worrying trends.

·  Members recognised the importance of the 2021 Census, future funding and how services were planned and configured depended on the numbers captured in the census therefore it was in the interests of the Local Authority to encourage local residents to engage with the Census process.  In 2011, Bromley had achieved an excellent 95% response rate and planning had begun in order to deliver a similarly high response rate in 2021.  However, there was a clear need to focus on the remaining 5%.  The Council was working with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and intensive communication campaigns were being developed.  The need to utilise the connectivity of elected representatives was also recognised, especially in relation to engagement with those communities who were  harder to reach.  This year, the challenge from Central Government was to have 90% of the Census completed electronically and the Chief Executive confirmed that he was confident this target could be achieved.

·  The Digital Roadmap would address the key challenge of how public services could be transformed within a digital space.  An important part of this would be to identify the key investment drivers for delivering improved services to residents.  The Chief Executive anticipated that colleagues would be in a position to present the Digital Strategy to Members by September 2021.  The Chairman noted that there were a number of opportunities to utilise technology to harness public involvement in public services.  One such area was easier access to Council meetings held in public – with the live streaming of meetings meaning that it was more convenient for members of the public to engagement with the Council decision making process.  Members noted that data around the numbers viewing meetings was being collected and the Chairman suggested that it would be helpful for the Committee to have sight of the data.

·  The Director of HR was the Council lead on equality, diversity and inclusivity supported by a number of colleagues across the Council including the Head of Performance Management and Business Support who lead on the interface with the voluntary sector.  It was agreed that further information would be sent to the Committee following the meeting.

·  A report had been commissioned on the future of Town Centres in the Borough with there being a clear role for the Local Authority to shape the Town Centre agenda.  Along with key partners, such as the Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) and elected members representing town centre wards, it was hoped that plans could be developed to shape the future of town centres.  Post-Covid, town centres would play a fundamental role in delivering the national recovery and a return to some form of normality.  The Chairman also stressed the need to ensure that representations were made to Central Government around the proposals for permitted development rights in town centres.  It was highlighted that the proposals could have unintended and lasting consequences.

·  The Chief Executive sincerely hoped that the progress around addressing the issue of rough sleepers would continue post-Covid.  One of the key issues was that of funding and since the start of the pandemic support from Central Government had increased.  It was hoped that funding would continue to enable the progress made to date to be maintained.  Members noted the commitment to continue to provide alternative accommodation to rough sleepers whilst recognising that in some circumstances there was an element of individual choice.

 

The Chairman stressed the importance of everyone taking up the offer of a vaccine when it was made.  It was not only in the interests of the individual to get vaccinated; it was in everyone’s interests as vaccination was the only way in which the impact of Covid-19 could be addressed in the long-term.

 

The Committee thanked the Chief Executive for his informative and helpful update.

 

 

Supporting documents: