Local government is all about people and place. One of the challenges over the past year has been how to retain, nurture and expand connections when so many of the traditional channels have not been open to us. This challenge was obvious in relation to remote teams inside councils and partners, but was no less of a barrier to all those links into and around our local communities. These are the very network of connections that makes local government what it is.

Over the last six months I have had the privilege of being a commissioner on Tower Hamlets' Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Inequalities Commission. Alongside ten other commissioners, and chaired by the deputy Mayor, Cllr Asma Begum, we were challenged to look across community leadership, health, education, and employment at how racial inequality manifests itself in the borough.