Interim Chief Executive Lesley Brown

The countdown to Easter is now underway and the combination of longer days and some recent sunshine is hopefully a sign that Spring is upon us!

As a council, we are always ready to respond – whether it is to service disruption caused by weather conditions – or other unforeseen events or emergencies.

A recent example of this was the fire in a storage building in Musselburgh in the early hours of 11 March. The location of the fire close to the town centre and concerns over smoke required a multi-agency response to deal with the incident quickly and keep local residents safe. A number of council services, as well as representatives from the Health and Social Care Partnership, responded to calls during the night to support fire and police colleagues. It was another demonstration of how effectively the council handles these situations, with the interests of our community being the foremost priority. My thanks to all involved.

Highlights from the last month have included World Social Work Day. This is a key day in the year that allows social workers worldwide to promote and celebrate the profession. Social work is one of a number of professions within the council which can sometimes be unseen by the public at large but plays a critical role throughout our communities and exemplifies the council’s values of Enabling, Leading and Caring. I’m very grateful for all of the work that our social work teams do and also those staff who support them.

March has been very busy with council committee meetings. These have included Cabinet, Audit and Governance, Planning, Education and Children’s Services and Policy and Performance, to give a few examples. A lot of hard work goes into the preparation of papers and reports for elected members to consider and I’d like to express my appreciation to all colleagues for their help with this supporting the democratic, decision-making processes of the council.

It has also been good to hear of positive feedback from colleagues regarding our recent employee sessions on our ‘place project’, which is reviewing properties that deliver, or have the potential to deliver, general face to face services. New approaches to the operation of buildings – such as the potential creation of community hubs – can help us ensure we operate efficiently while maintaining good quality, well used buildings locally in a flexible way to meet the needs of residents and groups.

The project is being driven by evidence-based data analysis as well as both employee and community feedback. Further updates on the project will be provided in the coming weeks and I’d encourage all colleagues with an interest to get involved.

I would also like to take the opportunity to highlight that the recruitment process is now underway to fill the vacant posts of Head of Communities and Head of Development on a permanent basis. Both roles are integral in allowing the council to address many of the challenges, as well as grasping opportunities, which lie ahead.

We also look forward to welcoming Laurence Rockey to East Lothian Council on 22 April when he will join us as Chief Executive. I am sure there will be opportunities for colleagues to meet with and hear from Laurence as he settles into the role and looks to the future.

With the Easter school holidays approaching, I hope everyone who is planning to take some time off has an enjoyable and restful break. My thanks also to colleagues who will be working, or on call, during the Easter holiday weekend. Your efforts play a critical role in ensuring we continue providing essential services to the communities we serve.

Lesley Brown

Interim Chief Executive