Mayor John Biggs

The Committee received and noted a report from the Mayor on transparency which may be summarised as follows:

The Committee heard that:

• In the 2015 election the Mayor had campaigned on a pledge to lead Tower Hamlets in an open and transparent way and following his election he had requested the development of a Transparency Protocol to enable me to put this pledge into action;
• This report provided a starting point for what a transparent and open Council and Mayor might look like and what actions would need to be put in place to achieve this. It would include more detail on the pledges made in his manifesto which were designed to increase transparency e.g. including a commitment to answer questions from the public and councillors at every full Council meeting; to attend Overview and Scrutiny meetings as invited and to set up Public Meetings across the borough. It will also make new suggestions, as the Mayor wanted to be ambitious in this regard, to maximise the transparency of the Council, ensuring we become a leading borough in this field;
• The Council is emerging from a turbulent period which has had an impact on the trust residents have in the work of the Council. National scrutiny has been focussed on the Council, highlighting areas for improvement and creating an opportunity to make changes. Most importantly, it has demonstrated a need for organisational culture change: away from a protective and defensive approach to one which recognises the importance of openness and engagement, and embraces the opportunities this will bring about;
• Having undertaken reviews into Transparency at the GLA, the Mayor stated that it is not only important to be transparent through the publication of decisions or information and data, but also to provide a rationale and explanation for the decisions made. The benefits of this approach are manifold, but have even greater importance in the face of the difficult decisions which will soon be facing the Council. As the national policy of austerity continues and the Council develops ways to respond, it is vital that residents are informed about the decisions made, the reasons behind them, and are involved in developing options and providing feedback;
• The purpose behind this transparency initiative is for residents to be informed, involved in decision making, especially where they are affected, and are empowered to hold the Mayor and Cabinet to account.
• Councillors, both those on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and all non- executive members, play an important role in scrutinising decision making and improving policy making, within the Council (e.g. the budget process). They must be supported, through the provision of timely information and officer time, to ensure they can undertake this role effectively;
• Consideration of how all those bodies in receipt of public monies are scrutinised and if necessary challenged in an open and transparent fashion e.g. Housing Providers and Third Sector Organisations;

With the above considerations in mind, the Committee noted that the Mayor had laid out the following principles, which it was hoped would demonstrate his commitment to governing in a transparent way which will help create a culture shift to a more transparent council.

The Mayor will:

1. Take all decisions in public, and where this is not possible, a clear reason will be provided to explain why; enable public, scrutiny and opposition questions at all public decision making forums, which will be answered by the Executive; create more opportunities, though public meetings for residents to ask questions and raise concerns;
2. Lead an organisation, which involves residents and Councillors in consultation at the earliest possible point in any policy or decision making process; as a default, make information available to the public and all Councillors in a timely and easily accessible format; actively communicates with residents and responds to queries positively;
3. Work closely with the constitutional Working Group on the review of the Councils Constitution;
4. Continue with the development of the productive and ongoing dialogue with the DCLG appointed Commissioners;

Finally, the Chair invited the Senior Reporter of the East London Advertiser Mike Brooke to address the Committee on the role that the press can play in supporting the development of transparency, including how residents could be better informed about Council activity, processes and decisions.  The Committee noted that:

1. Consideration needs to be given to the relevance of publications such as East End Life and what viable alternatives are available to councils who need a means to provide information to those “hard to reach” groups;
2. There needs to be a greater dialogue around information to ensure balanced and objective reporting of news and events; and

c.    Consideration needs to be given regarding access to the sources behind the news stories and that those stories need to be released to local news media as quickly as possible e.g. the story regarding the unexploded bomb in Bethnal Green.