IN TUESDAY'S Argus, council staff were subject to a false claim from Councillor Barnett that council staff are not working and they need to get "back to work".

It is an absolute insult to the work that staff at Brighton and Hove City Council do to keep our city running.

To be absolutely clear - council staff have continued to work throughout the pandemic, and less than ten per cent of staff were furloughed. Working from home is no less effective than working from the office and indeed some studies have shown that staff can be more productive in their home environment.

Once again we have Conservative councillors refusing to face up to the facts. Their government has failed to get to grips with the pandemic, with current case numbers rocketing higher than they have ever before. The safety and wellbeing of our staff, like all residents, has to be our utmost priority.

She is incorrect that the council is not delivering face-to-face services. Brighton Customer Experience Centre at Barts House, Bartholomew Square, re-opened in September and residents are able to book appointments to meet council teams there. On top of this, we now have more staff on the switchboard and refocused our limited resources into ensuring that digital queries are answered too.

The pandemic continues to present a number of real challenges for us as a council, whether that is staff sickness, recruitment issues or difficulties in actually delivering services.

But we also have to look at the big picture. Our customer feedback from before the pandemic also shows that improvements needed to be made, particularly in those services who reach the most people. That's why we're focusing on going back to something better rather than just what we had before. But we also have to be realistic that we cannot do everything we need to do within the small budget envelope we have.

Our council is working on improvements with its hand tied behind its back. All of this is against the backdrop of 11 years of cuts from Cllr Barnett's own government and she would do well to challenge that with her own party. With over £100 million lost from the Tory government and rising costs for social care, Cllr Barnett is misdirecting her anger that should be directed at her own Prime Minister instead of hardworking staff who are doing their best in difficult circumstances.

We are always trying to make improvements and I'm proud of how resilient our staff have been and I want to thank them for all their work after another difficult year.

Councillor Hannah Clare

Green Party Councillor for Brunswick and Adelaide

Deputy leader, Brighton and Hove City Council