Friday 2 August 2013

Not a good day yesterday in the third ashes test (unless you are Australian of course). Fingers crossed for a better day today for our bowlers.

I thought I would update you on the thinking behind last week’s announcement of a strategic partnership between Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Council. I know there are numerous views, rumours and assumptions being made about this so perhaps I can give my views and thinking.

When I speak with residents, customers, businesses and communities across Wiltshire they tell me that joining up public sector services is a priority. They describe being “handed off” between different agencies, services, having to visit multiple buildings to secure services for themselves and their families. They describe this as bureaucratic and wasteful – both in terms of their time and their taxes which fund it.

The partnership with the Police is a first step to join up some of these services and facilities around our shared customers and service users. The overarching vision from the elected leaders of both organisations, Jane Scott and Angus Macpherson is to improve services whilst reducing costs. It is not a merger of the organisations, a takeover or indeed anything else. The Chief Constable, Pat Geenty and I are clear that we will only share services where there are clear data and evidence from our systems thinking reviews to demonstrate that sharing will deliver improved performance and reduced cost. The shared Police/Council facility at Monkton Park is working very well, and is evidence of what can be achieved when we think differently and take some careful risks.

I think this partnership is very exciting. For both organisations to continue to deliver great service during a time when our funding is being cut dramatically requires different thinking and greater innovation. And that’s what this is all about. I’m sure it will work well if we approach it with creativity and disciplined thinking but I’m also sure that we will make the odd mistake. This happens when you try new things. But we will learn quickly and develop the right approach for Wiltshire’s residents, businesses and communities. 

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 talk again in a few days. Only a week to go until my holiday...

Carlton