The Tower Hamlets Transformation and Assurance Board (TAB) met on 14 July 2025 to discuss the progress of the council's Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP), the Empowering Services Review, and the future of the TAB meetings themselves. The board agreed the minutes of the previous meeting, and decided to consider a change to the frequency of their meetings, with a decision to be made outside of the meeting by Stephen Halsey, Chief Executive, and Kim Bromley-Derry, Lead Ministerial Envoy.

Good Governance Institute Stocktake

Shupriya Iqbal, Director of Legal and Monitoring Officer, introduced the Good Governance Institute stocktake, explaining the rationale for commissioning the work. Aidan Rave from the Good Governance Institute provided a verbal update on the stocktake's progress, methodology, and initial findings. He emphasised that the review was conducted rapidly and the findings were preliminary, pending triangulation with best practices across the sector. The final report was due to be delivered to the council for fact-checking by 21 July.

The board provided feedback, including the need to understand how ideas enter the formal decision-making process, cross-reference findings against the Best Value Inspection¹, ensure strong programme management to support the Director for Legal Services, and align with other programmes in the Continuous Improvement Plan.

Empowering Services Review

Jon Lloyd, Strategic Director for Change and Improvement, updated the board on the Empowering Services Review, emphasising that strengthening the council's strategy, transformation, and data functions was foundational to improving assurance. He outlined the review's findings, proposed solutions, and implementation timetable, highlighting the need to foster a high-trust, high-accountability culture.

The board raised concerns that the functions seemed large compared to other authorities and that the priorities and outcomes for these job families needed clarification. There was also discussion around how transformation held at arm's length supports everyone to adapt and change, and the need to involve elected members in how decision making is changing to ensure the success of this model in the long-term.

Portfolio Highlight Report

Jon Lloyd, Strategic Director for Change and Improvement, presented the Portfolio Highlight Report, noting that it was the first time the report had been presented to the TAB, as required by the Ministerial Directions². He acknowledged the uneven maturity of programmes within the Continuous Improvement Plan and stated that his team would work over the summer to streamline the CIP and ensure robust delivery discipline for all programmes.

Feedback from the board included the need for more specific information on issues such as cost reductions around agency usage, ensuring data tells the whole story of change (e.g., tracking internal secondments), translating the workforce to reflect the community policy into recruitment practices, and celebrating successes. The board requested an aggregate highlight report with key commentary on a page.

Reviewing the Purpose and Frequency of TAB

Kirsty Roberts, Chief Executive's Senior Strategy Advisor, introduced a proposal to move to a meeting frequency of every six weeks, with a stronger distinction between quarterly portfolio meetings and standard TAB meetings. The rationale included supporting better planning, aligning with committees, and ensuring clear and achievable expectations of elected members on the TAB.

The board discussed whether it was too early to change the meeting frequency, emphasising the need for deeper engagement outside of meetings, full involvement of elected members in the improvement programme, and a forward plan to support effective planning.

The Chair, Mayor Lutfur Rahman, asked Stephen Halsey, Chief Executive, and Kim Bromley-Derry, Lead Envoy, to agree on the meeting frequency outside of the meeting.

Other Business

Kim Bromley-Derry, Lead Envoy, informed the board that the Envoy's Chief of Staff had left, and Katherine Reading remained as Deputy Chief of Staff. Discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) regarding further resources were ongoing.

The board noted the upcoming publication of the Envoy's first report, the Minister's response, and the council's first report, which were scheduled to go to Full Council on 16 July.

The board suggested reflecting on the first six months of the intervention to identify what had gone well, what had not, and what could be done differently.