Titbits – Sugar hits and cabinet splits

◆ The Town Hall is taking its fight against sugar very seriously indeed. In granting bar chain BrewDog permission to inherit the licence of the defunct Birthdays nightclub in Dalston, councillors scratched a condition that says sweets must be handed out to people as they leave the venue. 

Despite the rule being in place to discourage bad behaviour – because who has a fight while sucking on a breathmint? – the committee agreed that it doesn’t align with the council’s healthy eating drive. Oh, to share a pudding with those guys. Yes please.

◆ At a recent budget briefing, Mayor Philip Glanville was keen to expound the virtues of in-sourcing, excitedly explaining how well the Town Hall does it, and how crucial it will be in balancing the books over the coming years. 

But at a packed full council meeting, his deputy mayor Cllr Feryal Demirci responded to a question about the Town Hall’s under-fire Housing with Care service by saying: “We seem to be much better at managing outsourced contracts than we are with the internal contracts.” 

Uh oh. Someone’s not been reading their memos.