John “one job” Biggs admits Council could falter

The results of Tower Hamlets Council’s annual independent survey of resident satisfaction are out – and they’ve got John “one job” Biggs admitting “we face a significant challenge to keep improving services.” Interviews, conducted before the recent budget cuts were made and well before the effects of cuts filtered through, revealed that 71% of respondents were satisfied with the way the council runs things.

Other results included:
•72% of respondents trusted the Council a great deal or a fair amount;
•61% of respondents felt that the Council was doing a better job than a year ago;
•just half of the 18 council services monitored had improved.

After years of work to promote community harmony and counter divisive stirrers such as the EDL and its successor organisations, the Council was rewarded with a magnificent 87% of respondents reporting that their local area was a place where people from different backgrounds got on well together. Nearly the same, 83%, of respondents were very or fairly satisfied with their area as a place to live – in line with previous years.

However, John-One-Job got a thumbs down on resident involvement: only 55% of respondents felt the council involved residents when making decisions and only 57% felt the council listened to concerns of local people. He has asked the Council to develop a Community Engagement Strategy and a Communications Strategy to try to turn things round.

The Council has only promoted comments from John Biggs on this matter.

He said: “…with further big government cuts to our budget over the next few years we face a significant challenge to keep improving services. We must continue to develop new ways to respond to those issues which are still a concern for residents and make our services even more efficient and effective.”

Cllr Oli Rahman, Leader of Tower Hamlets Independent Group, said, “Can John Biggs explain himself? The old way of doing things is that we paid staff to deliver excellent services. What’s John Bigg’s ‘new’ way? Is it going to be anything like his 2016 budget, with its cuts in services?

“I’m very worried. The survey shows that worries over Anti-Social Behaviour eased over the years that the last Administration invested in the youth service. John Biggs wants to cut it right back – which could see concerns rising again.”

•To see the full report on the satisfaction survey, go to:
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Borough_statistics/2016_Annual_Residents_Survey_results.pdf

[Adverts]