Thanks to Personnel Today for the very welcome article about Brent Council’s flexible working policies which have helped more women move into senior posts (Breaking the glass ceiling, 14 September). We were delighted with your coverage of our local authority, but would like to clarify a couple of things.
The first is that Brent’s chief executive Gareth Daniel, does not – as claimed in the piece – work a compressed week. Like most other chief executives, he works for as long as the job demands, which means he often works in the evening and at weekends.
Secondly, the leader of Brent Council, Ann John, as an elected member of the council (and not an officer) also works on behalf of the borough, for however many hours are demanded by her role. This is also true of other council leaders, I’m sure.
The good news, however, is that since you published this article, we have found that the proportion of women in senior management has increased yet again by 8 per cent in the past year. This means, that since 2001, the number of women in top jobs at Brent has increased from 30 per cent to 48 per cent.
So thanks again for your coverage, and watch this space!
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Tracy Walters
Head od diversity, corporate diversity team
