Chief Executive updates - 2025

April

Last year, concerns were raised about the circumstances under which some senior officials, including the former Chief Executive, had left the council in recent years.

We took these concerns seriously and I made the decision to engage external legal advisors to carry out an independent investigation and produce a report, establishing the facts, which could be scrutinised by elected members and shared with the council's auditors.

This work was supported by officers from within the council, but I felt it was essential that we were able to demonstrate very clearly that the council was not marking its own homework.

Our advisors were asked to seek a legal opinion from their own choice of King's Counsel (KC); addressing, among other things, whether any criminality had taken place and whether there had been any breach of the council's own policies and procedures.

It is very unusual for any organisation to publish privileged legal advice, but I took an early decision that we should do it in this case - and we brought both the legal team's report and the KC's opinion to a special meeting of our Finance and Audit Scrutiny Committee last month.

During that meeting, I told members the unprecedented decision to publish those reports was my first signal to them, as Chief Executive, about my approach to transparency and how I want this council to operate.

Addressing the subject here is, perhaps, my second.

It would be wrong to try and summarise the complex reports that members considered at committee in a few sentences - and I would encourage anyone who wants to read them to do so. I'll include a link to them at the end of this message.

However, I think it is important you know that - while our advisors do not believe they found evidence of any criminal behaviour - their findings do raise questions about conflicts of interest and when it is and isn't appropriate for officers to make decisions under delegated authority.

Some of your colleagues are working to update the council's scheme of delegation and other procedures right now and I promise to share the outcome of that work with you when I can, once they have been scrutinised and approved by councillors.

It is so important that the public is able to trust the council; that elected members trust officials, and that we as a workforce feel we can trust and rely on each other.

That trust has to be earned - and I know that colleagues across the council family work really hard every day to do just that. 

However, to be absolutely frank; I also think that trust has been damaged by recent events. 

I don't underestimate the impact that will have on our workforce - and I want you to know that I absolutely understand why you might be concerned, upset and even angry. I have been too.

I also want your help to restore any faith we have lost. I am the Chief Executive and I am ready to lead from the front - but our culture and our values are something we have to build and champion together as a team.

This month brings several celebrations - wishing everyone marking Passover, Vaisakhi and Easter a season of joy, peace and happiness.

If you have any questions or suggestions, you can always contact me at asksusanne@glasgow.gov.uk  You can find the recent committee reports here.

March

Glasgow has set its budget for the new financial year and - by the time you next hear from me here, in April - we will already have begun the job of delivering it in communities across the city.

I wouldn't want to give you the impression that setting a budget for the city is ever anything but a challenge. This year was certainly no different - and you will all be aware of the pressures we face in meeting the rising demand for services.

However, decisions taken last year, which are being delivered over three years, and an improved financial settlement following both the UK and Scottish Government budgets mean the city was not facing the size of spending gap many of you will have become only too familiar with.

We have a budget that will see our workforce grow - principally in NRS, where there will be additional staff for cleansing operations and in parks. We will also be recruiting more parking attendants.

At the same time, reductions in teacher numbers which had been planned will now not take place.

Extra resources are being directed to the Health and Social Care Partnership, which sets its budget later this month - and there is also investment in roads and pavements; expanding the provision of free school meals and tackling empty and derelict property.

Of course, I'm conscious that a majority of our workforce are also Glasgow residents - and that there will be keen interest in the decision to increase Council Tax by 7.5%.

It is one of the most significant uplifts in the last two decades, which have been defined by long periods where the charge has either been frozen or had any rise capped at a relatively low level by Ministers.

Last year's budget had assumed an increase at 5% and I think it is significant that the additional revenue is being explicitly invested in frontline services and the kind of environmental improvements we know you and your fellow Glaswegians value - from the results of our Household Survey and the consultation work we do before members put together their budget proposals.

As I write this, it is also the second lowest Council Tax rise agreed by any council in Scotland - with many more settling on double-digit increases for the year ahead. 

I don't, however, underestimate the daily challenges facing our workforce in continuing to deliver effective, quality services in Glasgow - and I am always grateful for that.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY - MARCH 8

International Women's Day has been around for more than a century, but many of the issues it set out to challenge are still a daily reality for many women and girls.

This year, we are all being encouraged to imagine a gender equal world - free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination, where difference is valued and celebrated.

IWD is an event that belongs to everyone and everyone who cares about equality. This year's theme is #AccelerateAction - and you can find out more here

I encourage you to take time, with your colleagues, to recognise the importance of a gender equal world.

Please also consider getting involved in our own Women's Network. It is a great source of support and offers unique networking opportunities - hosting events covering everything from women in leadership and building confidence to women's health and menopause.

UPCOMING FESTIVALS

Friday, March 14 marks Holi, the Hindu festival of colours. I'd like to wish all who are celebrating a very happy Holidat.

I also want to wish all of you celebrating Eid al-Fitr at the end of this month Eid Mubarak.

February

January weather in Glasgow is rarely particularly friendly - but Storm Éowyn and the red weather warning that blew in with it made for a wild start to the year for the city.

Most of us had only a few hours to prepare when the storm that hit much of Scotland and Ireland was upgraded to the Met Office's most serious threat level earlier this month.
But, with extreme weather sadly becoming more common, it's really important we are able to adapt, often quickly, to keep the city supported and our staff safe.

I'm really proud of the response from our teams across the city and what you managed to achieve in really difficult circumstances.

During the storm and in its immediate aftermath, teams dealt with reports of 60 dangerous buildings, approximately 500 fallen trees and repairs to our schools to allow them to open on Monday.

We coped with 15 emergency road closures and diversions, clearing them quickly to get the city moving again once the weather lifted - and damage to other vital infrastructure, such as street lights.

Incredibly, our home carers managed to complete around 85% of visits, despite being faced with terrible conditions - ensuring thousands of our fellow Glaswegians were well supported at a really difficult time.

We worked closely with partners in the blue light services, health and other public bodies to keep people safe and informed.

And, across the council family, thousands of others were able to use the lessons learned during the pandemic to keep key work on track remotely.

I want to make sure you all know how much I, the council's elected leadership and the wider city appreciate your efforts.

Time to Talk

It's never a bad time to think how friends, families, communities and workplaces can come together to talk, listen to each other and change lives.

This Time to Talk week, we're all being asked to 'get comfortable and start talking about mental health' and I'm very keen to support this.

Talking openly and honestly about how we are feeling can be the first step towards better mental health for everyone. It can reduce stigma and help people feel comfortable enough to seek help when they need it.

At work, that might just mean checking in with a colleague, speaking openly about yourself to look for support and encouraging others to do the same. There is plenty of information available to support your conversations.  

Staff can visit the See Me 'Time to Talk' webpage to get involved in mental health conversations in the workplace, and I have made sure that colleagues in the Corporate Management Team ensure there is an openness and support for this approach across the Council.

I'd also like to wish all those observing Ramadan, Ramadan Murbarak - may your Ramadan be blessed.

January

Happy New Year - "I think a lot of people would have said the hurdles in front of us were insurmountable."

I hope you all had a chance to relax and spend some well-earned time with family and friends over the holiday period.

Glasgow has started 2025 by breaking new ground for a UK city and opening the country's first Safer Drugs Consumption Facility.

The Thistle, which welcomed its first service users on Monday, is a place where people who inject drugs can do so in relative safety - supervised by trained medical professionals.

Although we only got the green light to establish the facility towards the end of 2023 - and construction began less than a year ago - for some of us, Glasgow's Safer Drug Consumption Facility has been a decade in the making.

Faced with not only the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, but a significant HIV outbreak among people injecting drugs, it was clear that our response to addiction and public health had to evolve.

There was, we believed, a critical need to create a safer, more controlled environment where people who were injecting drugs could be under the supervision of trained health professionals.

However, that was an approach that seemed, at least, to run at odds with much of much of the UK's legislative approach to dealing with illegal drugs.

The fact is that there is overwhelming international evidence which demonstrates that a SDCF can improve the health, wellbeing and recovery of people who use it - while also reducing the negative impact on local communities and businesses.

Across Europe and the wider world, they have been shown to improve the uptake of treatment and care, while reducing public injecting, for example.

But it is equally important to remember that The Thistle, while it might be the UK's only SDCF, it does not exist in isolation.

Glasgow's strategy has been to implement this approach alongside a number of other complementary services. These include the existing Enhanced Drug Treatment Service; alcohol and drug recovery, enhanced harm reduction; social wellbeing, and services addressing everything from sexual health to blood-borne viruses.

As we set about advocating for a SDCF in Glasgow, I think a lot of people would have said the hurdles in front of us were insurmountable.

But I'm very proud of the fact that the city was not only able to make a compelling case for change - but work pragmatically with partners to establish an operating model for The Thistle.

I have to also recognise the strong backing officers have had from political leaders during this process. Supporting a Safer Drug Consumption Facility will not always have been the easiest thing for members to do - but I'm confident it will prove to have been the right decision.