Update from Niall Bolger, Chief Executive: Clive Palfreyman, Executive Director of Finance and Resources
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Dear colleagues,
I wanted to get in touch to let you know that Clive Palfreyman, Executive Director of Finance and Resources, will be leaving Hounslow Council later this year to join the Southwark Council.
Clive first joined Hounslow in August 2011 and has been an outstanding member of the Corporate Leadership Team during his time with us. I know that he will be thoroughly missed throughout the Council by colleagues and Members. He has played a fundamental role in ensuring our financial position remains strong and exemplary across local government.
He will be serving his full notice period with us, ahead of joining Southwark as their Strategic Director of Finance. This is a very prestigious role in local government, and I know that we all will wish him every success in his future endeavours.
I will keep you updated over the coming months as we recruit for a new Director of Finance, as well as our plans to say goodbye to Clive.
Best wishes
Niall
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Our next In Conversation will take place on Tuesday, 21 February from 2pm – 3pm. In this session we’ll be discussing a key programme in the Delivery Plan - Transforming Community Experience (TCE) Programme, which alongside the Independent Living Programme, and the Networked Localities/Community Hubs Programmes, will be presented to Cabinet on the evening of Tuesday, 21 February.
Why is this important?
The Corporate plan acknowledges that to achieve our goals, we need to do things differently. The associated Delivery Plan sets out how we will re-design existing and implement new services, through a set of integrated change programmes.
TCE will drive a transformed experience for resident and community access to services, and alongside the Independent Living and Networked Localities/Community Hubs Programmes, and associated elements of the digital strategy, will support delivery of Hounslow’s Corporate Plan, and ultimately better outcomes for more residents.
The session will be hosted by Chief Executive, Niall Bolger and Assistant Chief Executive, Mandy Skinner, alongside other colleagues from across the Council.
All colleagues should have received an invitation and link to this event. Please contact communications if you did not get this invite.
Researchers from The Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, are recruiting parents to take part in their “Feeding our Families” study.
The project will bring together Hounslow parents living on low income to explore their experiences of feeding their household, while identifying what action government could take in supporting families to consume healthy food.
The study involves six weekly 2.5-hour workshops on Saturdays, from 11am to 1.30pm, starting on Saturday, 25 February.
Photography and group discussion will explore the meaning of food, the affordability of healthy options, the role of social support, wider experiences associated with low income, where we get food from and what we want for the future.
Findings will be presented to government policy makers, with the potential to improve the food system for everyone.
Participants will receive £30 shopping vouchers for each workshop, equivalent to the London Living Wage (£11.95/hr).
You can take part if you:
- Are over 18 and the main caregiver of a child at primary/secondary school and aged below 16
- Are living on low-income; this includes those receiving universal credit or child tax credits, or with a household income of less than £22,000
Find out more about Feeding or Families Hounslow or contact Charlotte by email or phone 0778 6115 526.
 Hounslow's second Cost of Living Marketplace of the month will be held at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Alice Way, TW3 3UA, on Tuesday, 28 February from 11am.
Residents can expect a mix of partners from the voluntary and community sector joining forces with key Council teams to help with advice, guidance and support on issues ranging from debt worries to mental health support.
It’s the sixth large scale cost of living marketplace event hosted by Community Solutions and the second in a faith setting. There will be hot food and beverages provided. Please remember to dress modestly. The venue reserves the right to turn away intoxicated visitors. BSL support will be available from 12pm to 2pm.
Our Barn Community’s new Digital Inclusion service is now live for referrals. This service, funded through Community Solutions, will support at least 1,000 London Borough of Hounslow residents,18 years and older, on low income to receive a refurbished laptop alongside digital support to become confident to use the device.
Digital Inclusion support sessions are also live in Heston Library, every Tuesday 10am to 12pm and the Steam Museum, every Friday from 12pm to 2pm.
The service is part of the Community Solutions early help and prevention approach. Our Barn’s digital inclusion service helps young people with learning difficulties gain employability skills through the refurbishment of laptops. It also ensures their families and carers gain confidence and skills to become volunteers within Our Barn and wider services. The service will target areas where we know digital exclusion is high such as Heston West, Brentford East, Cranford, Hanworth Village, and Feltham North.
Whistleblowing
As public servants the way we do things and the way we behave is incredibly important. If our residents are to trust us, and to have confidence in the way we run our services, we always need to act with integrity and our behaviour must be beyond reproach. If you have any concerns that we are not meeting our standards or that any ‘wrongdoing’ is taking place we want you to speak out.
We have engaged with an independent specialist organisation, Safecall, so that you have absolute confidence in speaking out. Safecall have trained call handlers, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week if you wish to contact them by phone. You can also report any concerns online securely. You can give your name or you can remain anonymous. Once Safecall has collated the details, they will send a report through to the Director of HR and OD, Steve Whitehead, who will then decide the best route for addressing the issue(s) raised.
We know it takes courage to report issues and we want to assure you of our commitment to you and our expectation that you will not face any unfair treatment for raising a genuine concern with us.
Visit our Whistleblowing information page for further details, including our Whistleblowing Policy, Safecall contact information and some FAQs
If you have any questions, contact People Support.
Thank you for helping us be a fantastic organisation that we can all be proud of.
Do you have a locker in Hounslow House?
After an initial trial to audit/reclaim lockers Facilities Management (FM) is rolling this out further to all lockers on the 2nd floor of Hounslow House and Lockers L697 – L718 on the 3rd floor, L1129 – L1150 on 4th Floor and L1561 – L1582 on the 5th floor.
Please complete this form If you have one of these lockers, indicating the owner and if you wish to retain or relinquish. This is so we can reclaim any lockers that are no longer in use.
The final deadline to complete the form is Friday, 3 March. After this date, facilities will reclaim lockers if a form has not been completed. or FM notified of their wish to retain locker. Any content found in unclaimed lockers will be emptied and held for 30 days, after which items will be disposed and any IT equipment returned to Digital & IT.
Benefit from a cut price offer at Lampton Leisure
Council colleagues can benefit from a great deal running with Lampton Leisure until the end of March.
Lampton Leisure is offering Gold level membership currently at the cut-price of £39.99 per month instead of £53.80. The company has a great range of no contract, flexible memberships to suit your needs.
Choose your preferred option and join online or at one of its centres on a monthly direct debit.
Alternatively, you may prefer to join on an annual membership and get 12 months for the price of ten.
Visit Lampton Leisure to find out more.
As part of Random Acts of Kindness this month, Hounslow Libraries would like to promote and celebrate kindness in all its forms by becoming a collection point for different charities.
During these hard times a little bit of your generosity can be a lifeline to someone that is really struggling. Due to the Cost of Living crisis, charities are finding it very difficult to help people in need. Hounslow, Isleworth and Feltham library have joined forces and set up collection points where you can drop off food, toys and clothes for those that really need them.
You can play your part by donating today.
Contact Loredana Mocanu or ring Hounslow Library number 020 8583 5558 with any questions.
Find out more about Hounslow libraries collection points.
Hounslow Gets Digital is a one-day takeover of the ground floor of Hounslow House on Friday, 17 February, 10am to 4pm, aimed at helping to boost digital inclusion across the borough and provide residents with the skills to get online and excel.
The Council will be joined by a range of local partners and digital service providers in a marketplace style event to showcase the fantastic range of offer available such as how to access a social tariff to make household broadband bills cheaper.
Residents and colleagues that work with residents can drop-in and join us at any time to discuss the services available.
On the same day Google is hosting a digital skills training session on the 6th floor of Hounslow House, 10am to 4pm. The sessions will focus on helping business owners grow their business online and find new customer. Book your tickets.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) gives the public the right to access recorded information held by the Council. We must respond to these requests within the statutory timeframe of 20 working days.
Read our top tips about FOIA and EIR to help improve our performance and ensure we respond requests within the statutory timeframe.
With a by-election set for the Heston West ward on Thursday, 9 March, colleagues need to be aware of official rules that now apply until the event has concluded.
The pre-election period has now begun and the Director of Law & Governance, Rachel Mckoy, has issued guidance to staff on restrictions which apply during this time.
Some of the key rules include not deferring or cancelling essential council business to avoid a conflict with councillor campaigning commitments. Officers should not attend meetings that involve or may be construed as dealing with election issues and must not provide briefings for use in election campaign debates or literature.
In addition, policy launches, official openings, ward walkabouts, or similar events that involve councillors within Heston West ward should not be scheduled during the pre-election period. This includes events or publicity which are arranged by external organisations, but which are funded by or in partnership with the Council.
For a full explanation of all rules governing council officers and members at this time, please visit the Heston Ward bye-election guidance document.
Hounslow Council is encouraging residents, businesses and those who work and travel through the borough to prepare for the Mayor of London’s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to cover outer London from 29 August.
To support the expansion of the ULEZ into the borough and across the city, the Mayor has announced a number of initiatives to help Londoners prepare including a £110 million Transport for London (TfL) vehicle scrap scheme which is now open for applications.
Early application for the grants is encouraged as demand is likely to outstrip the total available.
Visit TfL website to find out if you are eligible to apply for a grant to scrap your vehicle.
Check if your vehicles are ULEZ compliant.
The Let's Talk Programme is a 12-week therapeutic group for children and mothers affected by domestic violence. The group aims to support children through their experiences and begin the healing process and for mothers to understand how to help and communicate with their children.
We are accepting referrals for the next cohort of groups starting in April 2023. Please do share this with any residents who may benefit in taking part.
Full details can be found using the link below:
Let’s Talk Programme: Open for referrals for April 2023.
Employee Assistance Programme
The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a free, independent and confidential service for all LBH colleagues. It can help with a range of issues including:
- Counselling and emotional support
- Debt counselling
- Legal guidance
- Wellbeing information
- Family Care information
- Financial and Tax information
Find out more about the Employee Assistance Programme.
Need to brush up on your health and safety knowledge? Do you have a new starter in your team who could benefit from training? Check out our upcoming health and safety courses this year.
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