Chair's speech 2007

To begin, I'd like to thank my nominators for their kind words. It is truly a great honour to be selected by you as your civic head and to be able to represent the county council across Derbyshire and beyond.

I am incredibly proud of what this council has done, what it is doing and our plans to get better and better. So, although I don’t intend to speak for long, I make no apology for spending a few moments highlighting some of our most recent achievements and to set out what we’re going to be doing over the next 12 months…

Most of you already know that we are one of the most successful councils in the country. It’s not just us saying that, countless inspectors have confirmed it. It’s a reputation that we’ve earned. And that’s because we do what all councils should do - we put local people first. We’ve listened to what they want. And we deliver what they need, when and where they need it.

One of our biggest achievements – one we have kept up for the last five years -has been to set some of the lowest council tax increases in the country. That’s because we are careful with local people’s money – last year the average council tax bill in Derbyshire was £85 cheaper than the shire county average. We’re committed to giving good value for money and we do that by always looking for better and cheaper ways of doing things. That means questioning everything. If it isn’t improving services and life for local people we don’t do it.

It is, perhaps, no surprise that we were confirmed again as a top-rated four star council by the Audit Commission. It’s a great source of pride to me that we are the only council in the Midlands to have achieved the top CPA ratings since they started.

We’re committed to doing our best for our communities. And there’s ample evidence to show that we’re doing just that.

Our latest inspection confirms we have:

• Maintained a good level of performance
• Made improvements in priority areas
• Performed strongly in key services for children and adults
• Made it easier for people to get in touch with us

• Effective leadership and sound finances.

We can be proud too, that we are bucking the national trend when it comes to public satisfaction levels. Currently, 55% of our residents are happy with our services – up 5% on the 2003 figure. At the same time there’s been a 4% drop in the national figure. It means we are now one of the top three county councils in the country in terms of customer satisfaction.

Our success is down to great team work between officers and members. We have an excellent chief executive in Nick Hodgson and his very capable team of chief officers and of course our greatest asset – our employees. We, as elected members, have played a crucial part too and can certainly take some credit for delivering very real benefits for local people.

What it means, out there, in our communities is that:

• Our pupils are doing better than ever – exam results are above national average figures

• We’re supporting more vulnerable people in their own homes – where they want to be

• Our communities are safer – crime is down and there are fewer car thefts and burglaries

• We’ve invested heavily in our road and public transport network making it safer and easier for people to get about

• We’ve made it easier for people to get in touch with us – there were more than 100,000 unique visitors to our website last month and our Call Centre Call Derbyshire has handled its millionth call and now offers more than 230 services.

A few weeks ago we agreed yet another sensible budget - one which had the unanimous support of all parties on the council. And, although we can't do everything we would like, I believe that we're putting local people's money to the best possible use. So what's in store for the next 12 months?

We have taken every opportunity to ask local people what their priorities are and we’ve made them our priorities. We want to help our children to do better at school. To make our homes, roads and streets safer. To provide more home care and support when and where it’s needed. And to tackle poverty and poor health. We’re facing up to these challenges. We’ve made real improvements over the last 10 years and we will continue to do so.  

We've made public transport a serious option for local people. Gold Card – our free and half price travel and discount card – run with district councils - has really taken off. We’re supporting it for a further 12 months until the national scheme takes over next year. It’s worth mentioning that Gold Cards are now in the hands of more than 175,000 older people across Derbyshire. And with around 1400 businesses offering cut price deals it's providing real savings and benefits to older and disabled people. Our award-winning B_line - student travel and discount scheme remains ever popular and goes from strength to strength.

We will continue with our work to tackle poverty and attract investment to strengthen the local Derbyshire economy. Our vision for our biggest-ever regeneration project at Markham Vale is pressing ahead - becoming a reality. Junction 29A – providing access to the M1 will be completed by the end of the year. This paves the way for the creation of up to 5,000 jobs on the site.  Among other things we will be looking at new “Quids In?” benefit take-up drives which target elderly people and young families to make sure they get the cash they are entitled to.

I’m very pleased to confirm that Derbyshire is a safe place to live. Our crime rates are the lowest in the East Midlands. The figures on burglary and car crime are the lowest recorded for 20 years. But one victim of crime is one too many. That’s why we’re committed to cutting crime rates still further. We’re working closely with the police and with our many partners to target crime and make local people feel safer in their homes, in their cars and on our streets.

There are exciting times ahead for our secondary schools. We now have 12 schools included in our Building Schools for the Future programme. It will gain pace with the setting up of the local education partnership to deliver the £170 million project. We have already set up 15 children’s centres and will be opening a further 27 during the next 12 months. These are providing important one-stop shops for young children and their families. And we’ll be opening our first shared service centre in South Normanton – hopefully the first of several across the county.

It’s important older people get our care and support when they need it. We’ve opened two new state-of-the art care homes and we’re investing millions on improvements to others. We’re committed to extending the range of care choices open to our more vulnerable citizens. That includes continuing to offer free home care services – one of the last councils in the country to do so. And, of course, we will continue to listen to and work with our 14 older people’s forums.   

As well as improving services and meeting ever-growing demands on them, we face some very serious challenges over the next couple of years. We have successfully met our “Gershon” efficiency targets over the last two years. It’s helped us protect and build on front line services. But it’s getting harder to find them. However, we are absolutely committed to meeting our target of £8 million-plus this year and for next year too. 

The worrying effects of climate change mean we need to take the lead in cutting carbon emissions, finding and investing in alternative fuel sources and creating environmentally-friendly buildings. Our landfill space is rapidly running out. It means we must all reduce the amount of waste we produce or else face multi-million pound penalties. But it also means finding new ways to deal with the waste we do produce. So we’re developing more recycling centres, composting and treatment plants. 
      
Like many councils across the country we are battling to respond to the demands of equal pay legislation and the Single Status agreement. We have already paid out £13 million in compensation for possible past unfairness in pay. And to iron out pay inequalities in the future we expect to add up to £17 million to our pay bill. It remains to be seen if we will be able to continue to run some services or be forced to put them out to the private sector. Not a road we want to go down if we can help it. 

Contrary to popular belief working for “the council” is not a cushy job. It’s hard work and attracts little thanks. Our employees don’t get bumper pay packets – the average earnings are £11,766 a year and the average council pension is just over £3,156 a year. They work very hard under pressure and operate within a mass of rules and regulations. But we know we owe them a lot. It’s down to each and every one of our employees that we are able to deliver high quality, value for money services which improve local people’s lives.

And that’s so important when the inspectors come to call. This year is a big year for us. As well as the Audit Commission’s harder comprehensive performance assessment which really puts us to the test, we are preparing for children and adult services inspections. We welcome them - it’s independent confirmation of how we’re doing and what we need to do to be even better.

I think you’ll agree that’s a pretty packed agenda for the coming months. We have achieved a lot - but there’s plenty more to do. We won’t be doing it on our own, we’ll be working ever more closely with our public, private and voluntary sector partners to deliver it.  

Finally, I approach my new job with relish. I am looking forward to an active and rewarding first year as the council’s civic head. Thank you sincerely for electing me as Chair of the county council. I shall do my best to uphold the great traditions of the office.

You can find out more about the Chair of the council in the Your Council section of the website.