Making decisions is part and parcel of leading a big organisation and each decision debated and made has an impact on the lives of people in Wiltshire. This week has been no exception, and has been a week of agreeing some big decisions that will steer our focus and how we do things for the next four years.
At full council on Tuesday, councillors agreed our business plan and priorities for the next four years. These priorities will help us to deliver the vision; to create stronger and more resilient communities, which is a shared vision with all our partners. Our aim is to make Wiltshire an even better place to live, work and visit and to continue to protect those who are most vulnerable in our communities. We also need to do all we can to keep boosting the local economy – creating more jobs and helping local businesses to grow and securing new business investment as we are not out of the recession yet. And, we need to continue to encourage and help communities to come together and support them to do more for themselves. The stronger our communities the more able they are to resolve local issues and help those who are most vulnerable and in need of some help.
The business plan sets out our commitment to deliver 12 key actions in the next four years. These are:
1. To invest additional money between 2014 – 17 to reduce the historic backlog in highways maintenance
2. To stimulate economic growth and create additional jobs in partnership with the local enterprise partnership
3. To further enhance the role of area boards by developing innovative community led approaches to designing and delivering services
4. To provide opportunities for every child and young person to improve their attainment and skills so they can achieve their full potential
5. To continue to improve our safeguarding services to protect the most vulnerable in our communities
6. To invest in refurbishing our council housing and encourage the development of new affordable homes, including supported living in rural areas
7. To build on the work of the military civilian integration partnership and maximise on the benefits arising from the army basing plan
8. To delegate cost neutral packages of land, services and assets to town and parish councils
9. To create a campus opportunity in each community area
10. To integrate public health at the heart of all public services
11. To ensure we do things differently to enable us to realign £120 million over the next four years to deliver our priorities
12. To develop the knowledge, skills, behaviours and leadership of our workforce, managers and councillors
We know the next four years we be challenging. The funding we receive from central government will reduce by £22 million and with the predicted increase in service demand, combined with inflation costs, we will face financial pressures of around £100 million. As a result, the plan outlines how we will work innovatively to find the £22 million savings and to realign around £100m so that we can deliver our priorities and the 12 actions I have highlighted. I have asked that we produce the business plan in an easy to read and understand version, including a succinct and clear summary that sets out what we will prioritise and deliver in the next four years that will be available for all our staff, members, local communities, stakeholders and a version for young people.
Some of you may have read or heard the media publicity this week following the decision of the staffing policy committee, which met on Wednesday, to bring the pay of senior managers in line with our policy to pay at the median level. The media headlines of pay rises for individual senior managers of £20,000 are both inaccurate and misleading. This is not the case and I would like to set out the accurate position regarding this matter. The current position is that senior managers are being paid below the median level, which is a breach of our agreed policy. This is not the case with all staff in the organisation.
The committee had a lengthy discussion and agreed to adhere to our current policy to pay at the median level. Any consideration by the committee to adjust this policy and potentially agree to pay at the lower level on the pay scale, would have had an extremely negative impact on the majority of staff employed by the organisation. I am pleased that the committee agreed to adhere to our current policy and to listen to the advice of the external body of professional advisors which reviewed our pay levels. It is important we have the right salary scale in order to be able to recruit and retain high calibre staff with the right skills, aptitude and expertise to deliver the business plan.
I have always advocated that our priority is to try and maintain the delivery of our frontline services, and I have been clear that if this means a reduction in the number of senior managers at the top of the organisation then so be it. Since 2009, the senior management structure has reduced from 33 senior managers at a cost of around £3.5 million, to 21 senior managers, which has delivered a significant saving of almost £1.2 million. We are now proposing to further reduce this number to align responsibilities to the priorities and actions set out in the new business plan. Consultation on these proposals starts next week and, if approved, this will save up to £500,000, in addition to the £1.2 million already saved. I recognise we need strong, experienced people who can lead and manage and deliver the priorities that will make Wiltshire an even better place and that sometimes tough decisions need to be made so that we can deliver our vision.
Next week we welcome the peer review team which will be visiting on Tuesday to familiarise themselves with Wiltshire. Their day will include a tour of County Hall, Monkton Park and visit to the newly established business incubation units at Ludgershall, lunch at Tidworth barracks to hear about the Army rebasing plans and then a visit to Salisbury to see the developments in the city. The actual peer review starts on 23 September and I look forward to an external appraisal of how we do things and where we can continue to make improvements.
Looks as though our Indian summer has left us for this weekend but fingers crossed for its return next week.
Jane
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