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Show and Tell

Tower Hamlets Show and Tell Careers Information Day

The council handles a range of services for people and businesses across the borough. We have well known functions like social care, schools, housing and planning and waste collection, but also lesser known ones like licensing, business support, registrar services and pest control.

To manage the wide range of services the council provides, it is divided into six areas or ‘directorates'

  • Chief Executives’
  • Communities
  • Resources
  • Housing and Regeneration
  • Health, Adult Social Care
  • Children’s Services.

The teams in each area are ones that compliment or support each other. Working closer together helps increase efficiency and get the best outcomes for residents.

Chief Executive

This directorate includes the person at the top of the organisation, who handles the day-to-day running and operations of the council. This is different to the Mayor of Tower Hamlets who is elected by the residents and sets the policy and vision of the council. The Chief Executive is responsible for leading the teams that deliver this vision through the services it provides residents and businesses.

Also in this directorate are Communications and Strategy and Policy. Communications plays an important function in keeping residents informed. It manages the reputation of the council and encouraging residents and businesses to behave in ways that are beneficial for the community. Things like promoting and encouraging the take up of free school meals, to disposing of their waste and recycling in the right way.

Strategy and Policy is like the information centre of the council. It advises and guides decision-making and helps align the Mayor’s political ambitions with council services and projects.

Case studies

Find out what it's like to work in Strategy and Policy.

Communities

This is a large and very customer-focused directorate that includes the following service areas:

  • Leisure – gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres, as well as parks and green spaces
  • Culture – arts team, Idea Stores and Tower Hamlets Local History and Archive
  • Public Realm – highways, parking, pest control, Trading Standards and enforcement, waste and recycling services, markets
  • Community safety – violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour, substance misuse, patrols, enforcement

Resources

This is like the backbone of the council. Without these services the council can't operate. The teams in Resources help the council run smoothly, ensuring staff are recruited and paid, the computer systems work and that teams can buy the items they need to carry out their tasks.

They include:

  • Legal
  • Human Resources
  • Procurement
  • Finance
  • Democratic services
  • Customer services
  • IT
  • Facilities Management

Case studies 

Find out what it's like to work in Facilities Management and in our Legal team.

Housing and Regeneration

This is another large directorate serving thousands of residents and businesses. Teams in housing will include Tower Hamlets Homes, which used to manage all council housing stock. They will come back in-house on 1 November 2023.

Other teams include:

  • Housing – housing options, homelessness, council housing, new build
  • Regeneration
  • Planning and building control
  • Growth and Economic Development – high streets, support for small businesses and enterprise, Creative Enterprise Zones, jobs and skills
  • WorkPath is an employment service that works in collaboration with employers, training providers, businesses, and partners to deliver an integrated service that helps residents reach their full potential.

Health, Adult Social Care

We all remember Covid-19. It was this directorate that led on the pandemic and all health-related services, working with colleagues in the NHS. Public Health teams provide services that help people to stay healthy and protect them from threats to their health.

This directorate also covers:

  • Adult Social Care
  • Social work
  • Commissioned homecare
  • Public Health

Case studies

Find out what it's like to work in Public Health and Adult Social Care. 

Children’s Services

This directorate will get significant investment due to the Mayor’s focus and priority on young people. Teams in Children’s Services manage primary and secondary schools in Tower Hamlets, including the free school meals programme for all pupils. Making Tower Hamlets the first local authority to offer this in England.

They also run children’s centres, youth hubs and fostering and adoption services:

  • Schools – admissions, free school meals
  • Youth services
  • Looked after children
  • Foster care
  • Adoption
  • Early help, children and family service