Agenda item

Resolved: that the report be noted.

4.1    Fiona Colley (Director of Communications and Strategy) introduced the report – the following key points were noted:

·         The report focused most closely on the communications budget – because that was where the most significant changes were taking place.

·         The service had made significant cuts over the past few years.

·         The Committee had requested that the report should include some information about the trial of the shared service with LB Lambeth. A trial was carried out in 2016 – starting with a shared head of service.

·         It had been hoped that the shared service would save money – with the potential for skills developed in the service to provide a future source of income.

·         The trial ended in January 2017 - it saved £50k. However – overall it was not a success. It was reported that the arrangement resulted in a lack of leadership and management attention.

·         Additional resources had been added to the communications budget in 2018-19 in order to enable the migration of the website and to pay for software licenses. Future support for the website would be provided by the shared IT service.

·         In 2019-20 additional funds were provided in order to increase staffing in the communications team. It was recognised that previous cuts had been too deep and that additional staff members were needed to meet the level of service required by Council departments.

·         Temporary posts were put in place – to support change and transformation projects across the Council – as well as marketing support for delivery of priorities in the new corporate strategy. This was particularly needed for those projects that required a high level of community engagement (including the Democracy Review and the public health approach to violence prevention).

·         She and the new Head of Communications had been meeting with senior officers and cabinet members as well as the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny – in order to understand expectations and to inform a wide ranging review of the service.

·         Comments that had been made at scrutiny committees had been taken on board – for example that communications was not strategic enough and that it did not represent councillors’ priorities.

·         She had also spent time with the team to see how it was working. A number of visits had also been carried out to other boroughs to see how their communications teams were set up.

·         Detailed consideration had been given to the findings of the Democracy Review – and the new corporate strategy. It was understood that councillors wanted to engage more effectively with residents – particularly the ‘seldom heard’.

·         There was also a new focus on campaigning for positive change and investment into the borough in order to support the Council’s ambitious aims for the borough.

·         To deliver this work- a set of communications objectives had been created (as set out in the report).

·         Some improvements to communications had taken place – but there was still work to do. The team was currently in the midst of a restructure - to align resources in the team with the new objectives.

·         In future – there would be focus on areas in which communications could have a real impact.

·         Future campaigns would not be about promoting the Council but rather getting residents involved in delivering positive change (such as improving the environment and tackling climate change).

·         The work of the Economy and Partnerships team had been subject to scrutiny at Sustainable Development Select Committee (the report to that Committee was appended to the report). The team had been very successful at securing external funding to deliver its work.

·         A large proportion of the remaining budget was allocated to apprenticeship salaries.

·         The nature of the funding of the team meant that it could be difficult to retain staff (a number of whom were employed on short-term contracts linked to external pots of funding).

·         It was intended to develop a new inclusive growth strategy in the coming months.

·         There were six officers in the Mayor and Cabinet office including two political advisers and two officers who supported the young mayor and the young advisors.

·         Following the election in 2018 – the Mayor and Council agreed to delegate the majority of decision making powers from the Mayor to the Mayor and Cabinet as part of a commitment to becoming more collaborative and inclusive in decision making.

·         Cabinet members now had far greater responsibilities – which they were trying to fulfil in only two days a week.

·         The corporate strategy had committed the Council to increased openness and transparency – as well as enhanced levels of collaboration and accountability.

·         To facilitate the new role of cabinet members – the Chief Executive agreed to the appointment of two new cabinet support officers. The budget was increased by £150k to cover this cost as well as some previous underfunding for the young mayor’s elections. The funding also enabled a review of job descriptions in the team (which had not been reviewed for more than a decade).

4.2    Fiona Colley responded to questions from the Committee – the following key points were noted:

·         A number of temporary roles had been made in communications in 2019-20. This required additional funding of £200k – which would also cover the cost of the transformation work that was currently taking place.

·         Interviews for the restructure were currently being carried out. The team would be in transition up until the end of the financial year.

·         Officers worked flexibly and collaboratively – particularly across the areas of strategy and policy (managed by the Director of Corporate Policy and Governance).

·         Most Council officers could be called on to work on projects outside of their own areas. One example was Lewisham’s bid to become borough of culture – which was supported by officers from communications, corporate policy and the Mayor’s office.

·         She worked closely with the Director of Corporate Policy and Governance – and the officers in that division.

·         The Mayor and Cabinet office and communications teams worked closely together. Cabinet support officers helped to field questions and answer questions about policy. There was also a weekly meeting between the two teams at which opportunities for positive press coverage were discussed. Some communications work was also carried out by the political assistants – in specific circumstances.

·         The new website was capable of more functions than the old site. It was hoped that this would reduce the number of externally commissioned micro-sites (and the cost of licenses) for Council projects. However, there were some instances in which external sites were appropriate (such as the bid for the London borough of culture, which had its own branding).

·         Section 106 funding could be used for employment and training projects in the borough. Work was taking place to ensure that future projects were being developed to make the best use of the available funding.

·         The Sustainable Development Select Committee had proposed that community infrastructure levy funding could be allocated towards employment and training projects- however- the current focus was on spending the section 106 funding that was available.

·         As section 106 funding declined – further consideration would be given to the use of community infrastructure levy spending.

·         Income in the Economy and Partnerships was largely gained from grants and multi-year external funding that was spent incrementally – rather than as a steady source income.

·         The Mayor and Cabinet office primarily supported the Mayor and Cabinet Members. The office also had a role supporting Council appointed champions. The political assistant for the Labour Group supported non-executive councillors.

·         There were two additional posts in the Mayor and Cabinet office (in contrast to the previous administration).

4.3    Councillor Kevin Bonavia (Cabinet Member for Democracy, Refugees and Accountability) responded to questions from the Committee – the following key points were noted:

·         Cabinet support officers provided support to Council appointed champions – although this was primarily through the support provided to the cabinet member to respond to issues raised by champions.

·         The role of Cabinet Members had been expanded. The Cabinet was making significant progress in implementing the new corporate strategy.

4.4    Councillor Amanda de Ryk (Cabinet Member for Finance, Jobs and Skills) addressed Committee – the following key points were noted:

·         It would not be appropriate or fair for the Director of Strategy and Communications to respond to questions about the potential rationalisation of work (or teams) between her area and that of the Director of Corporate Policy and Governance. Organisational structure was a matter for the Chief Executive.

·         There were a small number of officers who reported directly to the Chief Executive.

·         A report was due to be published on community wealth building – which would support the development of the inclusive growth strategy.

4.5    In Committee discussions the following key points were also noted:

·         There were comments about the reliability of the staffing structure chart (and contact details) provided to members. It was highlighted that there were a number of officers who had left the Council – but whose details still appeared on the chart.

·         Council appointed champions did not receive direct support from officers in the cabinet office.

·         Members questioned what the additional funding being spent in the Mayor and Cabinet office was intended to achieve. And – in particular – a question was raised about the comparative benefit of spending this additional sum on street sweeping.

·         Members reiterated support for the work being carried out by the Economy and Partnerships team.

4.6    Resolved: that the report be noted.