Agenda item

The Chairman made the following announcement:

Earlier this month I attended and spoke a few words at the funeral of Councillor Pat Beresford who passed away in November. As well as inspiring many other Councillors, Pat was an inspiration to me when I first became a Councillor two decades ago. . Pat showed a burning passion for the work of the Council and a level of expertise to which I could only aspire. I am sure I speak for everyone here, officers and Councillors alike, when I say that Councillor Pat Beresford will be greatly missed.

During the second lockdown I have along with our MP Tim Loughton plus other Adur & Worthing Councillors, been busy distributing tasty meals as a treat to local hostels for the homeless. I would like to thank the Fish Factory in Worthing, Curry Mahal in Hove and O'Curniciello in Lancing for their generosity in donating meals.

I would like to mention the three of the Council's Waste and Cleansing Operatives, Wayne Slender, Guy Olliver and Colin Wigham who whilst emptying green bins in Hammy Way, Shoreham, they turned the corner to find that an 89 year old lady had fallen in the middle of the road. They stayed with her for an hour and covered her with their jackets until the ambulance arrived.

On the same day, Adur & Worthing waste operatives Nigel Dunnbar and Steve Nash were working in Ophir Road Worthing where a lady was found on the ground of her driveway beside her bins. They looked after her and got her back in her house and warmed up until the ambulance came.

I would like to mention :

That the Councils’ Digital Team have been shortlisted for App of the Year. One of their recent applications the Commercial Waste system went live last year and helped make efficiencies in the service. It was a 12 week project that saw James Coleman, Jay Redman, Scott Parson and Sarah Boniface work closely together with Matt Marchant, Shirely Ely and Environmental Services to transform the existing system.

The competition run by Netcall, the supplier of our low code Platform required an interview and detailed explanation of the system. I think I can safely speak for us all in wishing them good Luck in their efforts.

I would like to offer my congratulations to those Adur and Worthing Council volunteers who were recently recognised by the High Sheriff of West Sussex with a Special Recognition Award for volunteering and helping out in the community during the Covid-19 crisis. The Special Recognition Award was launched in the summer in appreciation of the individuals who’ve provided exceptional service for others.

This is the last Full Council meeting which will be attended by our Monitoring Officer, Susan Sale. After nineteen years of service to Adur & Worthing Councils Susan will be moving to an even bigger role at Oxford City Council. Susan has always impressed me by being completely reliable, by actively listening and by giving serious thought to every single matter which has crossed her desk. I have always appreciated one of Susan’s great strengths which has been her depth of knowledge and advice with regard to legal matters. I am sure I speak for us all when I say that Susan will be missed and wish her all the best in her new role.

Finally, we are all looking forward to Christmas. However, this Christmas will be very different with the Covid restrictions. Adur has one of the lowest rates of Covid diagnosis of all local authorities in England. Obviously because the residents of Adur are being careful. Let's keep it that way by staying safe during the festive season and by following the guidelines while enjoying a lovely Christmas break.

The Executive Members Made the following announcements

The Executive Member for Resources extolled the work of the climate assembly and commented on the sense of realism prevalent with the assembly.

The Executive Member for the Environment thanked officers for their prompt work to repair the Airshow Memorial following an incident of vandalism.

The Chief Executive Made the following announcements:

I am delighted to announce that Adur District Council’s/Worthing Borough Council’s Communications and Housing Teams have won a prestigious national award for campaign of the year.

The awareness campaign helped recruit private landlords to a pioneering new scheme to help people desperate for housing called Opening Doors

Two weeks ago the campaign the Communications Team developed with the Housing Team was given the award at the UK Housing Awards.

Opening Doors launched last year and offers landlords a comprehensive letting service including financial security, legal assistance and landlord support - and all for free.

Since then, dozens of properties have been signed up to the programme, with more than 40 families provided good-quality homes on secure tenancies. This has saved both Adur & Worthing Councils more than £300,000 in temporary accommodation costs, money which has been reinvested back into supporting those in need.

The campaign was backed up by excellent branded, targeted engagement at appropriate landlords and above all exceeded expectations in finding new and much needed homes.

The award follows great news that Adur and Worthing Councils jointly were shortlisted for Council of the Year in both of the two major awards for local authorities.

At this point I would direct you to our chief executive who is holding up both award certificates.

In both the Municipal Journal awards and the Local Government Chronicle awards Adur & Worthing were the only district and borough councils shortlisted and were up against tier one authorities with bigger staffs and budgets.

The entries, again produced by the Comms Team, impressed the judges with the depth and breadth of activity the Councils were engaged in based on our Platforms for our Places direction of travel document with programmes ranging from Going Local social prescribing to Citizens WiFi, our environmental work under SustainableAW, to major projects such (for Adur) as building and funding the £10m new homes development at our old headquarters (for Worthing) as real impetus and major partnerships our council has brought to schemes at Union Place and Teville Gate for instance

I want to congratulate everyone of our officers for this fantastic recognition in 2020 which reflects on the great work we are undertaking on behalf of citizens. It bodes well for another good year in 2021 as we build on our recovery programmes from the pandemic.

After 19 years of dedicated service, I would like to announce that our Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer, Mrs Susan Sale is leaving us to take up a post with Oxford City Council. 

Susan started with us in 2001 as Assistant Solicitor and within 5 years was Legal Services Manager - a rapid rise.  She has been Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer since 2014.

I’m sure you will join me in thanking Susan for her tireless commitment to Adur & Worthing Councils and all the excellent support and guidance she has given, working alongside many Mayors and Chairmen over the years.

Susan is moving on to a bigger role, leading legal, democractic and electoral services at Oxford City - and in a sign of the times, she will not be moving up to Oxford, but working remotely for a significant part of the time, allowing her to remain in Worthing with her family.

Susan will be leaving in early January, and will hand over to Maria Memoli as interim Monitoring Officer, as set out in the report at Item 8 on the agenda.

I’m sure you will join me in wishing her the very best of luck, and thanking Susan for her dedicated, longstanding support to your Councils.