“Over the past few weeks I have been getting out and about and seeing some of the good work we do on the ground. So far I have been out with our District Commissioning Leads for Cannock Chase (Angela), Lichfield (Wayne) and Tamworth (Tim). What I am learning is that there is some wonderful stuff going on which reiterates how important the county council remains in making good things happen for the benefit of our residents, even if it is increasingly us acting in a facilitative role rather than as a provider. What it has also brought home to me is how important our District Commissioning Leads are to our future plans, and confirms that we are right to use them as the focal point of our work around localities. They are close enough to local communities so that they can help shape future commissioning plans, and target them with pin-point accuracy on the needs of our local communities rather than offering “one size fits all” solutions.
Recently we have also made some changes to who leads our key projects. We have about 18 key “change” projects which, if we can land them all, will ensure we have a sustainable and successful future. Some of our key people have too many of these projects in their areas, so we have had to make some changes so that other parts of the organisation are pitching in to help. This is about getting the right leaders, with the right skills, on the right projects to make sure we do everything we need to do for a successful future. By delivering these priority projects, and keeping a tight grip on the day job and our finances, we can look to the future with real optimism, and I am happy to say that I have absolute confidence in the leadership we have put in place to deliver on this.
Finally, I couldn’t not mention our wonderful Connect Awards last week. This was a fabulous event, I enjoyed every minute of it, and I am only sorry that we could not squeeze more people into the event. It was really nice to speak to some of the people who were shortlisted which helped to bring their stories to life, and it was really nice to see how much they valued us celebrating their efforts. Well done to all the winners, and the finalists, and the event organisers, and I am already looking forward to next year’s event.”