A former director at Salford City Council has been awarded the prestigious Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday honours. Debbie Brown was a Strategic Director for Service Reform and received the award for her time at the council where she helped ensure the council put people at the heart of everything the council does, listening to local people’s voices and shaped services to meet their needs. During her career she worked with the Good Things Foundation – the UK’s leading digital and social inclusion organisation – to help those who lacked digital skills to get online and access core services. In total over 10,000 Salfordians were given skills to transact online and 30,000 people to get access to digital support. More than 2,000 devices and connectivity packages were gifted to local residents. Debbie also played a lead role in the council’s Better Off approach, to give more opportunities to local people. Better Off Salford has helped thousands of people with support for benefits and employment with information easily available via www.betteroffsalford.org.uk. The project has supported residents with more than £20milion of help. In addition, her Poverty Truth Commission work was nationally recognised, winning a Municipal Journal Award in 2018 for delivering better outcomes. This work was also instrumental in abolishing burial and cremation fees for children under 16 to ease the financial burden on bereaved families. Debbie said: Debbie worked at the council for more than 30 years, progressing to Strategic Director for Service Reform in 2017. She retired from the city council in 2023, and has recently been appointed as Director of Saford Credit Union to continue her work to support residents in the city and the anti-poverty agenda. Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: Tom Stannard, Chief Executive at Salford City Council said: