If you were there at our last council meeting you'd have heard a very interesting debate between councillors that stems from our recent staff survey.

As we are all far too aware, the last few years have been extremely tough in local government with purse strings being tightened all over the country - here in Sutton the story has been no different.

As part of our Smarter Council Programme we have looked at ways we can be innovative and forward thinking to ensure we are getting more done with fewer resources and to keep the impact on frontline services to a minimum.

It's only natural that this has put more pressure on our staff - the council's most important asset - to find ways of getting the work done with fewer hands but still the same number of hours in the day.

And it's true, we expect a lot of our staff but that's not an excuse for - nor does it minimise concerns - about bullying. That's why we conduct regular staff surveys as well as pay attention to the results of Unison feedback. They help us highlight problems and get the ball rolling on ways we should approach the issues.

Our staff continue to work hard each and every day. They have not had a pay rise for over three years now and councillors are keen to see people rewarded by results. We have developed an action plan which was published online last Friday for how we are going to tackle issues.

As I made clear at the April 29 council meeting, I'm committed to working with staff and trade unions to address concerns. A happy workforce is a more productive one, and in this unprecedented time of change we must look at ways to rectify issues raised.

Councillor Colin Hall
Deputy Leader of Sutton Council