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Hello everyone,
Many of you will have seen in the news, councils up and down the country struggling financially, brought about by a prolonged increase in demand for our services, high inflation and insufficient government funding. Waltham Forest Council is not immune.
Many of you will be all too aware of the demand pressures our services are under. These added pressures have financial consequences and like most local authorities we have been using our financial reserves to fill the gap.
We want to ensure you are all kept up to date, so at this Thursday’s all-staff live meeting we will hear from our Strategic Director of Resources, Rob Manning who will take us through the Council’s financial position.
Our priorities are clear - our residents come first, in everything we do, and every decision we make, and we recognise that our staff have kept delivering the best quality services to allow us to protect the most vulnerable people in our communities. From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you for that.
I look forward to speaking to you.
A massive congratulation to our brilliant teams involved as last week on Wednesday, Waltham Forest Council was named as best Employer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the LGC Workforce Awards. To be a winner in this category is a wonderful achievement and it’s a testament to the progress we are making as an organisation.
I’m incredibly proud of the journey we are on and it’s always wonderful to be recognised for the hard work that is taking place, however, the real benchmark of success is what you tell us about your experiences of working here and what our data tells us about diverse representation in our workforce, at all levels. Please keep telling us about your experience and what we can do better.
Our staff networks proactively support with our diversity and inclusion agenda, and joining a network provides you with an opportunity to have a stronger part to play in improving things for all employees in the Council.
 Sarah Smith and Joy Hume at the LGC Workforce Awards
Our new Inclusion Action Plan was recently approved by Cabinet, and this is a statement of commitment from your senior leaders that we know there is still a lot of work to do in the fight for equality - we all have a role to play. It sets out a clear ambition to become a radically more equitable, inclusive and diverse employer working together to provide inclusive and equitable services for our residents.
We’ll be officially launching the Inclusion Action Plan shortly, where you’ll hear more about what it means for you, but in the meantime you can read the Cabinet report.
We’ve been hearing a lot about fraud and how to detect it recently, I visited our internal audit and fraud team last Monday who has a lot to be proud of.
In the operational year (2022/23) our anti-fraud team has closed 422 investigations and recovered 40 council properties to the value of more than £6million.
 The Internal Audit and Fraud team
This week is actually International Fraud Awareness Week (13-17 November), and this is a good opportunity to take some time to familiarise yourself with how to spot and report potential fraud when we see it.
As a reminder if you suspect someone is committing fraud, email the Fraud team or make an anonymous referral by calling the 24-hour fraud hotline on 0300 003 1099.
It was great meeting everyone - the entire team are fantastic and even offer bespoke fraud awareness training for your team – just get in touch with Jamie Branch.
What a really excellent and stimulating visit to the Regeneration, Planning and Delivery team I had last Wednesday.
The team are full of very high energy with a strong sense of purpose and commitment to the borough. I could really see how the various teams worked collaboratively to achieve great outcomes for our residents.
Naziullah Chowdhury (L) Hasret Goren (R) lead on our collection of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and ensured it’s used to best effect, funding infrastructure projects such as open space and green infrastructure and community facilities and faith buildings within the borough. |
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Photo L to R: Alishba Emanuel, Mahnaz Chowdhery and Justin Carr. Alishba pictured next to me has completed an apprenticeship which involved gaining a Masters degree, she obtained a Town Planning (MSc) and then became eligible for membership to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). On the day I visited, Alishba gained accreditation and became a Chartered Town Planner - congratulations Alishba, this is a fantastic achievement.
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Photo L to R: Ashleigh Watkins, Serena Osborn, Giorgia Scognamiglio, Jane Hakes, Zoe Sellers, Joe Stancer, Will Teasdale are the team delivering the Walthamstow Culture for All Levelling Up Fund programme, £17.2million investment in public spaces and our main cultural assets (with the Destinations team), including planting, lighting and public artwork.
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Photo L to R: Tracey Edghill, Jimmy Jemal, Veenesha Corbyn.
Jimmy and Vee are the Blackhorse Area Regeneration team which is a key regeneration area for the Council for housing development, employment, and business growth. Whilst Tracey supports the borough’s businesses to thrive and provide high-quality training and jobs for our residents.
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My visit to Technology Services last Thursday was also really fascinating and helped me better understand the IT journey. I met staff from the incredible service desk, infrastructure and networks, applications and development opportunities, architecture and security and the supply chain. We should all be so appreciative of our colleagues who day to day support us to carry out our respective roles on behalf of residents.
 Technology Services
A huge congratulations to our finalist - we were blown away by the number and quality of nominations received for the Pride of Waltham Forest Staff Awards. This is my first Staff Awards and I’m excited to be able to celebrate our people with you. Thank you to all those who submitted nominations.
We will be hosting our award ceremony on Tuesday 5 December at Big Penny Social. Working again with Soho Theatre, the event will be hosted by comedian Mark Watson, who has sat as a panellist on shows such as Have I Got News for You, 8 out of 10 Cats and Mock the Week.
You can see the full list of finalists and nominees here.
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On Friday I was honoured to attend the flag raising ceremony at Fellowship Square to mark Armistice Day, and yesterday on Remembrance Sunday we held services across the borough to remember and honour people who have lost their lives as a result of war. As conflict and violence continues globally, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on those who gave their lives in the name of achieving peace back then, and why we must honour them by continuing to fight for it today.
I would also like to wish a Happy Diwali to all our staff and their families who celebrated yesterday.
Have a good week.
Linzi
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