Opportunities Galore

Last week was an interesting one for all those who follow local politics in Epping Forest. Peter Haywood Chief Executive of Epping Forest District Council retired after 32 years working for the authority and 42 years in local government.

In a country where change has become the by word for the everyday this turn of events has placed Epping Forest in a potentially groundbreaking position. We now have the opportunity to review and challenge the process by with a traditional Local Authority can be led.

The new secretary of state for local government Mr Eric Pickles has some very particular views of Chief Executives, amongst other things. It is clear that he would prefer to put the day to day control of Local Councils in the hands of full time councillors. In the absence of councillors being able to fulfil this role he has posed some very interesting suggestions about sharing senior management roles across public sector bodies.

Local Authorities are not stand alone principalities and in some instances share roles and aims with Primary Care Trusts, Hospital Trusts, local Colleges and many other public sector bodies. It is not surprising therefore and perhaps it is necessary then we should consider making this crossover more streamlined and productive in this new age of austerity.

As a public servants I feel we are obliged to spend the public’s taxes wisely. We need to seriously be considering the sharing of resources across public sector organisations where there are opportunities to benefit not just our own constituents but the wider economy.

The retirement of Epping Forest District Council’s Chief Executive gives the local authority the opportunity to be firmly in the driving seat to seriously take forward a shared services agenda.

It also presents the opportunity to consider reviewing they way in which we reward such high profile positions. The opportunity to instigate challenging targets and to have performance and remuneration measured and set against achieving those targets can only be a positive approach for any organisation in adding value.

I am convinced that the Council has been given the opportunity to show the residents of Epping Forest that we are not only committed to delivering outstanding value for money but are willing to think outside of the box to solve financial and managerial problems.