Friday 23 November 2012

It feels like it’s getting Christmassy which is exciting. It’s also feels like it’s been a long week. A week ago we ran the election for Police & Crime Commissioner which went very well (an all-nighter with no sleep). It was my first election as Returning Officer for Wiltshire so it was slightly nervy to say the least. It went very well thanks to the many people involved in organising it and the even larger number who worked on the day as poll clerks, presiding officers, counters, table supervisors, deputy returning officers, etc. My sincere thanks to each and every one of you. Roll on May 2 when we get to do it again on a larger scale. I just love elections.


On Monday and Tuesday this week I attended the County Council Network (CCN) annual conference. We discussed our plans for delivering growth in our economies, something that counties with their scale can achieve very well; the very tight funding settlement from central government; Ofsted safeguarding inspections – and the tougher inspection regime coming in next year; innovation in the delivery of adult care services with the increasing demand for a growing older population. Finally we shared common experiences around our respective transformation programmes. Whitehall clearly take this gathering very seriously as they sent a Cabinet minister (Mr Pickles) and his two Ministers of State. It was a great opportunity to hear from others and see how they are tacking a common set of problems. It’s always good to learn and mix with others.

The integration of Public Health into the council continues on track. During the week commencing 3 December the whole team will arrive in County Hall – it will be good to see them and welcome them to our organisation and new building. This move gives us a huge opportunity to fully integrate the planning and delivery of health and social care in Wiltshire with our partners in the Clinical Commissioning Groups led by our local GPs and the acute hospitals.

Finally for today, Andy Brown the Head of Finance who covers the services for which I’m responsible leaves us to take up a new position with Cornwall Council. A brave and courageous move, I would like to thank him for his dedicated support to me and my teams over the last four years; his approach to financial planning and management is truly refreshing as is the manner in which he works. A true leader if ever I saw one. I shall enjoy keeping in touch with Andy on Twitter and he has promised me that he’ll be back to work on the top table at the May ’13 unitary elections.

For daily updates, discussion, personal opinion, comment or just to connect or keep in touch you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/drcarltonbrand.

Thanks for reading and we’ll talk again in a week or so when I shall feel even more Christmassy.

Carlton

Thursday 8 November

It’s another busy week with lots happening.


Tuesday I was at Monkton Park all day; firstly for Cabinet, then Capital Assets Committee, then a meeting with all the Cabinet and Portfolio holders for the services which I’m responsible for. This is where we go through all of our key performance measures to ensure we’re delivering what we need to for our communities; we examine our budget position and make any adjustments that we need to ensure we come in at year end on balance; and we assess the key risks that the services face and how we plan to mitigate these. Finally I met with all of the political Group Leaders to discuss a number of issues relating to the running of the organisation and particularly next week’s full council meeting. I really enjoy these days as we get a lot done.

Today, Thursday I am with my service directors all day. We are assessing where we are in terms of work load and the pace at which we are delivering and seeking to explore ways of doing things differently to improve our performance and free up some time. Easy to say and tricky to do! I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with them all.

Tomorrow I will be in London all day. I have meetings at the department for Communities & Local Government (CLG) and then I’m speaking at a conference on running an organisation without a CEO. I suspect there may be some heckling as there will be some CEOs present! As I shall say, any leadership model can work well or fail badly – it’s all down to the individuals in post.

Could I thank all of our staff who were involved in clearing the roads last weekend after the flooding in several areas of the county. They did a terrific job and most roads were open again within a few hours. It’s a reminder that we operate a 24-7 business with important life and limb services which communities rely on.

I would just like to remind everybody that there will be a number of events scheduled on Monday 12th for Children In Need in the East Wing. This will include a very large raffle, so please join in and give generously. I know you always do.

For daily updates, discussion, personal opinion, comment or just to connect or keep in touch you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/drcarltonbrand.

Thanks for reading and we’ll talk again in a week or so.

Carlton