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Mr
Austin said that the summary reports of directorate statistics
relate to internal matters and there had been a 40% drop in the
number of incidents in the last period mainly in schools. In part
it relates to some issues over the summer logging in to the system.
This system logged staff out for a while. Officers are now in the process of upgrading the
system as part of the technology ‘Refresh’. It is a
vulnerability because at present there are only two people who have
the password and if they are not at work, the system cannot be
reset. Officers are aware of this risk and it will be part of the
Office / 365 and SharePoint upgrade.
Mr
Austin said that some union members undertook a walk-through of the
Town Hall Chambers complex with the Mayor and Councillor Bonavia.
The lifts had not been working and there were some queries about
the café and theatre. Actions were suggested and are in
hand. There will be a follow up visit to ensure that all the
suggested work has been done.
Mr
Austin said that the front of Laurence House has been closed.
Temporary access to the building for public and officers had been
made. Some union members have reviewed
the site arrangements. There have been evacuations for visitors
from the library and Access Point and for officers out of the main
door. This had been successful. Work would be on going until
Christmas. Ms Dart confirmed that works in Laurence House were on
schedule. Mr Austin said that there had been a couple of false fire
alarms due to the works, as well as two planned fire drills. All
had been well executed.
Councillor Bell asked whether there had been an in depth check
for asbestos in Laurence House. Mr Austin said that it is a
relatively new building and so asbestos was not used in the
construction. Ms Dart said that all Lewisham Council buildings have
an asbestos register.
Councillor Bell referred to page 9 on the agenda and asked why
the level of some types of incident had risen in customer services
in the last period. Mr Austin said that in moving the Housing
service from Eros House to the Access Point, officers reviewed
levels of abuse from the public and how they were recorded by
different teams. When the two services came together, some
differences were noted and staff were advised that bad behaviour,
while occurring, is not right and should not be
tolerated. All staff are encouraged to
record and report any abuse they experience. The figures have gone
up because staff are encouraged to ensure that they flag up
unacceptable incidents. There have also been two serious
incidents.
Over
the summer, Customer Services spent a whole day for all their
management team on the issues of violence and aggression, what
might be the causes and techniques to manage it, because this is
considered ...
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