Tribute to departing Lambeth town hall chief who steered borough through pandemic

BY TOBY PORTER
Toby@slpmedia.co.uk

A town hall’s chief has announced he is stepping down.

Andrew Travers has said today (3^rd February 2022) that he is stepping down as chief executive after more than four years in the role.

He first joined Lambeth as interim chief executive in 2017 and the role was made permanent in July 2018.

He has focused on the Borough Plan for sustainable economic growth, and aiming to make the council achieve Net Zero by 2030.

Cllr. Claire Holland, Leader of Lambeth Council said: “I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Andrew for his unwavering support and leadership during some of the most challenging times in Lambeth’s recent history.

Andrew has played an absolutely pivotal role in changing Lambeth for the better.

He has made sure that the council’s financial position is robust, enabling investment in services while other boroughs have scaled back or face financial uncertainty.

“Covid-19 has hit Lambeth particularly hard, with disproportionate impacts on Black and minority ethnic communities.

Andrew’s strong and consistent leadership meant that not a single council service had to be closed during the height of the pandemic – and that we provided unprecedented help and support to Lambeth’s residents and businesses.

“His leadership during the Streatham terror attack in February 2020 was exemplary, helping maintain local community cohesion – an achievement replicated through the period of the pandemic.

His success at partnership working has helped our award-winning public health approach to tackling serious violence.

Mr Travers said: “Lambeth is an incredible place to be – and it has been a genuine privilege for me to fulfil what I consider to be one of the best jobs in local government. Now feels like the right time to consider other opportunities.

“Cllr. Holland’s personal leadership on the climate crisis meant [we were] the first London borough to declare a climate emergency with robust and credible proposals.

“Our work on equality, diversity and inclusion has been challenging but highly rewarding with the 2017 Lambeth Equality Commission and the review of the council’s workforce policies by Patrick Vernon in 2019.

“In Children’s Services we’ve delivered a strong, corporate response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, bolstered by our unique Redress scheme which has paid millions of pounds of compensation to victims and survivors.

We have put shared endeavour and strong partnerships front and centre to deliver our Borough Plan goals. That effort has been essential during the unprecedented challenge of the pandemic.

“I am deeply proud to have played my part to help make Lambeth an even better place to live, work, learn and invest.

My thanks and gratitude go to everyone I have had the pleasure of working with.”

An accountant by training, Mr Travers joined Haringey Council as director of resources and then moved to the London Development Agency as group director to deliver the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – his job was to ensure a lasting legacy for Londoners.

His first chief executive role was at Barnet council.

His replacement is scheduled to start in around June 2022 as a newly elected administration begins its term of office following May’s local elections.