Staffordshire doing it differently to others
A year to steady ‘the ship’ and now real progress is being made on building Staffordshire’s future…
Deciding not to raise council tax, a new public sector broadband across Staffordshire which will save millions in tax payers’ money and see better public broadband for some areas while supporting business growth with a strengthening economy locally.
The latest Cabinet meeting also heard about how Staffordshire’s County Council is doing things differently to most other Authorities. I’m really surprised at the approach across the country of the public sector which appears to be picking arbitrary numbers out of the air for job losses and service cuts.
We’ve worked hard for the thick end of a year to redesign how the County works, slim down management structures and push more funding to front line delivery. And, importantly, we’ve taken the view that we can squeeze more value out of services by doing more rather than cutting.
Expanding what libraries do to offer better value instead of closing them like other areas are, big changes in the way the NHS and Social Care work jointly meaning significant efficiencies and seamless front end delivery of community services. That’s a revolution in patient care which will start in a few months time.
I’m not suggesting for a moment that no services will be reduced or even stopped but we’ve taken great care deciding what should be prioritised and what things are less important or could be done better by others. We are on track to reduce annual costs by £120million, doing our bit for the country, but we won’t use service cuts as the first port of call. In fact it’s the last.
We are making difficult decisions in very difficult times. But it feels more controlled and transparent than appears to be happening elsewhere. It really does feel like we’re making progress for Staffordshire despite the major challenges we face as a nation.
And what is really good is that feedback from Staffordshire people is positive as to the way we are handling things.
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2 comments
Well done Matthew, I guess the Public Sector can be made more efficient with a little inovative thinking. Cost cutting and job cuts need not necessarily be synonomous (that’s a lesson the private sector learnt many years ago). With just a little thought we can all ‘get more for less’! Keep it up.
Regards,
Mike Fairweather
(PS thaks for your help on the subject of grit bins).
Good to see a can do and professional attitude to the financial crisis. Applying business orientated approaches to the delivery of public services is common sense and done properly it will see better services done more economically. Good for Staffordshire and if people believe their money is being spent well perhaps it will renew the confidence in the democratic process.
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