Agenda item

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.  Mr Adetosoye responded to questions, making the following comments –

• Within the Transformation Programme, there was a dedicated priority for Housing, and this would continue.
• The current investment in the Communications Team was £80,000-£100,000.  Work to strengthen the Communications Team involved redeploying some of the Graduate Placements into the Team.  The expectation was that there would be a measurable improvement in the current communications offer.  Work to improve the intranet was ongoing as was the website redesign project.  There was also an increased focus on the use of social media to promote the work of the Council.
• The Council had received recognition in the form of a number of national awards, including the Excellence in Asset Management award and a national award for Integration of Health and Social Care.  In addition to this, Bromley had been shortlisted for an award in relation to its delivery of Lateral Flow Testing.
• A detailed work plan had been developed for the incoming Director of Corporate Services who would be focusing on 6 key priorities.  Details of the two new Directors joining the Council would be circulated following the meeting.  In addition, the list of senior officers was currently being updated and this would be circulated as soon as possible.
• The Occupational Property Review would encompass the small pockets of land owned by the Council.  Through the review, Officers were taking the opportunity to consider the key assets owned by the Council.  The outcome of the review would be presented to Members when it was available. 
• One of the Council’s graduates with a special interest in new technologies was currently reviewing practice in other local authorities and the private sector as well as overseas.
• The Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning had undertaken an analysis of empty properties across the Borough and would be asked to provide an update to Members.
• In terms of succession planning, the Succession Pathway Document would be shared with Members.  The Council performed well in terms of transitioning middle managers into senior roles.  However, more work was needed in terms of developing internal talent in order to promote internal staff into Director-level roles.
• Bromley was performing well in relation to the vaccination of staff within Adult Social Care.  There were current a handful of unvaccinated staff who could be affected by the legal requirement for staff visiting hospitals and care homes to be fully vaccinated by 11^th November 2021.  Weekly messages had been given to staff encouraging them to get vaccinated.  Where possible, unvaccinated staff would be redeployed, but where there were no redeployment opportunities staff would unfortunately have to be dismissed as that was what the law required.  It was however pleasing that the vast majority of staff were already vaccinated.
• In terms of the remainder of the workforce, staff had been encouraged to declare their vaccination status to the Council although there was no obligation on staff to do this (except in the case of Adult Social Care staff).  Staff had been encouraged to self-declare via the HR system and so far, around 70% of staff had made declarations.
• In relation to the Statutory Instrument for Care Homes requiring staff and visitors to be vaccinated, Care Homes would be reliant on seeing Covid passports.  As a Public Health Authority, the Council had been supporting Care Home Managers to understand the requirements, however, in terms of implementing the statutory requirements, the onus was on Care Home Managers and the CQC as the regulator.  Currently one of the biggest risks to Care Homes was the future availability of staff and this would require monitoring.
• There was no evidence that staff working from home had presented an obstacle to coaching and mentoring schemes.  Bromley was part of a London-wide virtual mentoring scheme which had been working well.  Colleagues across the Council were harnessing opportunities when they presented, and it was notable that around 42% of staff were now in the Office.
• There were currently two Afghan Resettlement Schemes and the Council was awaiting further information from the Home Officer in order to further progress participation in both schemes.  It was noted that the Council had been providing support to 2 or 3 British families who had returned from Afghanistan.
• The Digital Strategy would be presented to Members and focused on “digital by choice”, the Council would not be seeking to force residents to use digital mechanisms.  The Council was continually seeking to reduce the number of paper letters sent to residents, however there were certain circumstances where there was a legal requirement to serve a paper letter.

The Committee thanked the Chief Executive for his update.