March 25, 2009 - BRENT COUNCIL AWARDED FOR SMART WORKING
Brent Council has become the first local authority in the UK to be recognised for its smart working practices.
Chief Executive Gareth Daniel accepted the Work Wise UK Quality Mark on Wednesday 25 March at a ceremony in Wembley.
The award was presented by the chief executive of Work Wise UK, Phil Flaxton, and follows a gruelling two day assessment earlier this year.
The assessors looked at how Brent Council meets residents’ expectations, brings down levels of absenteeism and the work it is doing to emit less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. They were also interested in how council employees are treated and what the council is doing to improve work life balance, reducing stress and find more effective ways of travelling.
Gareth Daniel, Chief Executive of Brent Council, said,
“I am really proud to accept this award on behalf of the staff at Brent Council. We have been working hard over the last few years to improve the way the council works and provide a better service for both residents and employees. We have ambitious transformation plans for the coming year which should see even more improvements and benefits for the community.”
Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, said:
"The Work Wise UK standard brings together the best in current thinking and provides a framework for organisations that are deploying smarter working practices. It provides a target to aim for, giving a mark of excellence when the required standards have been attained.
“The London Borough of Brent is the first local authority to achieve this mark of excellence. It can now use it to demonstrate to potential recruits that it is a progressive employer which is prepared to address work-life balance issues of its staff, and at the same time encourage better productivity.
"Many other local authorities are likely to follow Brent's example to be seen as modern 21st century organisations, and an employer of choice in the jobs market."
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Issued on behalf of Work Wise UK by Chelgate Limited
Notes to editors:
- Work Wise UK is organised by the IT Forum Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation.
- Supporters of the Work Wise UK campaign include the CBI, TUC, the British Chambers of Commerce, BT, Transport for London, Equal Opportunities Commission, Scope, the RAC Foundation, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, Technology Means Business, Henley Management College and the Association for Commuter Transport.
- A dedicated electronic media centre has been established for journalists to obtain further information, to download print-quality materials, and to register for media updates about Work Wise UK. This can be accessed either through the main website or directly at www.workwiseuk.pressrooms.net
- Further information about Work Wise UK can be found on the website www.workwiseuk.org.·
For further information and images, please contact:
Roy Turner,
Chelgate PR
020 7939 7939 or 07970 522232 or
rt@chelgate.com
Michael Hardware,
Chelgate PR
020 7939 7939 or 07775 925 274 or
meh@chelgate.com