Council is recognised for service excellence

Tower Hamlets Council has been shortlisted for four prestigious, national awards

from the MJ, a leading UK trade publication.

The clean and green team is shortlisted for ‘best council services’ and was

commended in the ‘reinventing public services’ category; the adopt a garden team is

shortlisted for ‘excellence in community engagement’, the legal services team is

shortlisted for their expertise in tackling violent extremism and the council is also

shortlisted for its work to support disabled staff and residents.

Will Tuckley, Chief Executive of Tower Hamlets Council, said: “I am pleased that so

many of our services have been recognised by the MJ. Our staff are committed to

meeting the needs of our residents, and going the extra mile wherever possible.”

Clean and green team

The clean and green team are recognised for innovation in the development of

Find It Fix It Love It, the council’s reporting app which allows residents to share what

they love about the borough and report issues that need fixing.

The app has been particularly successful at reducing commercial dumping and fly-

tipping, as eagle eyed residents have helped increase the number of fixed penalty

notices to be issued to litter louts.

The team is also commended for the introduction of Quick Response (QR)

technology on the borough’s bins, which ensure that overfilled public litter bins are

quickly emptied when residents report them.

The technology has delivered an 18 per cent reduction in complaints for overfilled

bins and the annual residents’ survey has shown that 76 per cent of residents are

now satisfied with their local area.

Adopt a garden team

Fifteen areas of the borough have been transformed by the community since the

council introduced the ‘adopt a garden’ initiative.

Places that suffered from fly-tipping, litter, graffiti and other Anti-Social Behaviour

(ASB) have benefited from the green fingers of volunteers who fill raised beds with

plants and take responsibility for the care and maintenance of the gardens created.

The council supports the gardens by providing garden beds, soil, plants, advice on

caring for the plants and basic gardening equipment.

Legal services

The legal services team is shortlisted for an award for developing new ways to use

existing legislation to tackle violent extremism, and for sharing their expertise with

councils across the country.

They were also recognised for their work with counter terrorism police to safeguard

children during investigations.

Disability confident

The council is recognised for the work it does to understand and meet the needs of

disabled residents and employees. It has been an accredited ‘Two Ticks’ Positive

about Disability employer for over a decade and was successfully reassessed in

September 2015.

The council also delivers a pre-apprenticeship programme with the Tower Project, a

voluntary sector organisation that provides a range of services to children, young

people and adults with disabilities. The pre-apprenticeship programme aims to give

young people with learning disabilities the skills and experience to gain employment.