Tidying up my desk

Popped into the civic centre after work this evening.

I needed to drop off my council Blackberry to the IT team, as the roller ball was not working - Its a problem I have had with my personal BB a few times over the years and almost always needs a fresh one to sort the situation.

As a council leader who works full time my BB is a lifeline, enabling me to work on the go. It has taken officers a while to get used to virtual meetings via phone or email about issues but most now no problem about emailing me at all times of day or night with issues for my attention. I hope they either fix it or get me a new one ASAP.

I also grabbed the post from my tray and waded through it. My PA is very good at spotting urgent issues from the pile but I am always left with lots to look through. The thing that always amazes me about the leaders post bag is the wide variety of information I get! Despite living in an Internet age and lots of organisations sending emails and PDFs there are still a plethora of organisations out there who want to send glossy brochures explaining their latest genius ideas.... Sadly a lot of these glossy brochures come from Government departments, something I hope will cease under the coalition.

There are the normal letters from constituents in my ward with issues and some from people who have not got the answer they wanted from officers or other councillors.

Then there are always invitations to events, some national conferences, some regional but the ones I look forward to most are the Harlow events. I have one firmly in my diary for tomorrow night - an evening view of an exhibition that formally opens in the Gibberd Gallery on the 5th, a showcase of local Harlow Artists.

After tidying my desk I dash home to see my daughter before she goes to bed and read her a bedtime story.