I'm delighted to be re-elected as Leader

Hello,

I was delighted to be re-elected as Leader of Wiltshire Council at Full Council earlier today.

I am extremely proud to continue in this role and it is such a privilege to work with all of you to deliver our vision and priorities for the residents of Wiltshire; particularly those who are most vulnerable.

I announced my new cabinet at the council meeting today, along with their areas of responsibility. 

I selected my cabinet based on ensuring continuity of both knowledge and experience and new members with new skills. The new cabinet meets formally for the first time next week. 

There are twenty nine new members on the council and I’m sure you will join me in extending a warm welcome to all of them, as well as to those returning. 

One of the first tasks of the new administration will be to agree a new business plan. This isn’t just a document which sits on a shelf – it’s the council’s blueprint for what we will do over the next four years. The aim is for the plan to be discussed and hopefully approved by Full Council before the summer so we are all clear on the direction of travel and what needs to be done.

We all know the next four years will be challenging; particularly as we will have to find £45m during this time to meet the gap in funding and the rising demand for key services. The reality is that we will need to make some difficult decisions.

Our overall vision to deliver stronger and more resilient communities will remain as a firm commitment, but there will be changes in how we do business – there has to be. We need to continue to innovate and adapt, but we also need to make a shift towards being more commercial and business like. 

Our track record of adopting an innovative approach sets us apart from other councils and is probably our unique selling point.

During the next four years two words will feature in how we do things; digitisation and commercialisation.

We know residents expect a level of service at a time that suits them, so we will need to implement new, dynamic digital technology that will meet customer expectation and make us even more efficient.

Commercialism is perhaps a word less associated with the public sector – but that has to change. We have made huge strides to be more business-like, but in my view we now have to take things to another level and become more commercial, looking at how we generate income and maximise our assets.

Key areas of focus going forward will continue to be the integration of health and social care to tackle increasing demand and we will need to focus on early prevention as a way to reduce demand and resources.

This will need team work – both with our partners and our communities.

The next four years certainly won’t be dull!

It will be a mix of challenge, change and new opportunities. Inevitably there will be some ups and downs along the way, but I’m sure that these will help to make us an even stronger organisation – and one that I am extremely proud to lead and be a part of, as I’m sure you are too.

I am delighted to announce the full list of cabinet members as follows: 

• Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE – Leader
•       John Thomson – Deputy Leader – Communications, communities, leisure and libraries 
•       Laura Mayes – Children, education and skills
•       Jerry Wickham – Adult social care, public health and public protection
•       Toby Sturgis – Planning and property
•       Philip Whitehead – Finance, procurement and transformation
•       Bridget Wayman – Highways, transport and waste (new cabinet member)
•       Richard Clewer – Corporate services, heritage, arts and tourism (new cabinet member)
•       Chuck Berry – Economic development and housing (new cabinet member)