Having taken over Property Services from Roy Gregory in September 2007, at a time of what has been the most significant personnel change within the Service for over 15 years I continue to be impressed by the professionalism and dedication of colleagues in Property Services to deliver first class customer focused Asset, Estate and Facilities Management services.

Asset management in Redbridge has continued to develop and has successfully supported the achievement of Redbridge’s first Level 4 (the highest level possible) Corporate Use of Resources assessment by the Audit Commission.

As in previous years we have continued to exceed our performance targets; with portfolio income more than £170k above budget.  Halls Lettings income remains ahead of target and capital receipts from the sale of surplus land and property in excess of £20m have been generated to support Redbridge’s agreed Capital Programme.

Facilities Management staff have continued to provide a friendly, welcoming and helpful first point of contact to visitors to our Council offices. We have begun the rolling out of the pilot stage of the Ways of Working project with refurbished office accommodation being provided for Payments & Benefits and ICT services in Clements Road to provide improved standards of accommodation which will allow for flexible working patterns, hot-desking and home working.

Another notable Service achievement over the year was in the area of absence management. We tackled a relatively poor absence record head on and achieved a remarkable turnaround by the year-end.

A major challenge for 2008/09 will be the merging of Building Services with Property Management which will provide comprehensive and robust customer focused land and property services that are able to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

My personal thanks go to all colleagues across Property Services who have continued to maintain our key performance standards at this time of significant change.

Iain MacDonald

Interim Property Manager