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Grappling with the impact of spending cuts and the declining fishing industry gives North East Lincolnshire's chief executive, Tony Hunter, plenty of challenges – but he remains optimistic, he tells Michael Burton One of the new unitaries created in the 1990s, North East Lincolnshire, as a name, hardly gives any clues to its main population centres. Yet, its principal town is Grimsby, well-known in the public's mind as a fishing port. North East Lincolnshire Chief, Tony Hunter Like most UK ports, its economy is struggling. The fishing industry is a shadow of its former glory. The docks are in urgent need of regeneration. As a result, the council grapples with socio-economic challenges at a time when its own organisation is under severe budgetary pressure. In September, Tony Hunter, North East Lincolnshire's chief executive, sent out letters to all his staff announcing consultation on changing terms and conditions. These include ending payments for the first three days of each period of sickness, changes to the current car-user benefits by removing essential car-user status, and removing payments for enhanced overtime during weekends and bank holidays. Staff have also been asked to register their interest in taking voluntary early retirement or voluntary severance. The council is also looking at flexible working, such as reduced hours or career breaks. In his letter, Tony said the council was ‘stronger, financially, than many other councils', and therefore, had not had to introduce large-scale redundancies, but instead could ‘take more planned and measured approach'. He says the council, although emerging from years of under-performance, ‘has robust finances and a sense of vision', and adds: ‘Although tough times are ahead, I believe we can come out stronger. ‘We've got a big cost-reduction agenda, identifying our main priorities, and we need to take short-term measures. We've also embarked on a Future Shape programme, reconfiguring ourselves, although we already have well integrated services in health and care.' Tony comes from a social services background and was made an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List this year for services to social care. He was brought up in Doncaster and did PPE at Oxford. Trained as a social worker, he joined Doncaster City, then Barnsley MBC, and later Barnado's. Of the charity, he says, ‘it had an incredible reach, yet only the budget of a county council social services department'. In 1989, he joined PricewaterhouseCoopers, where his projects included the development of joint commissioning between health and local government. He even worked on the reform of the social security system in Poland, and the development of customer service centres in Kuwait. In 1995, he was appointed director of social services, housing and public protection at East Riding Council, and in 2003, became director of supported living and community safety at Liverpool City, and later community services director. He also pursued his interests on the national stage, becoming president of the-then Association of Directors of Social Services in 2004/5, where his theme was locating social care within the wider areas of inclusion. He recalls the experience as giving him ‘an eye-opening understanding of how central government operates'. He became chief executive of North East Lincolnshire Council in September 2008. The council has been addressing previous performance weaknesses. Balfour Beatty was chosen as preferred bidder for the council's regeneration, property and technical services partnership on a 10-year deal earlier this year, which it hopes will create 4,200 new jobs and secure £570m of investment into the borough. North East Lincolnshire also has a trail-blazing care and health integrated service. The Care Trust Plus, the former PCT, has the lead on adult social care with the council, leading on public health improvement and child health. Tony adds: ‘The arrangements have positioned us well for addressing the opportunities and challenges which the health White Paper is now introducing.' While Grimsby is trying to develop the food-processing industry and chemicals also remains a major employer in Humberside, socio-economic challenges and the need to help poorer families continue to be a priority. The council has launched a ‘Quids in' programme, to encourage families to take up their rightful benefits. Despite a 15% increase in its caseload, the benefits service recognised that the recession was hitting people who had never previously required welfare. Its campaign, started in 2009, saw an extra take-up of almost £700,000 by last July, and has a target of £1m over the next year. The council is also aiming to have all its Sure Start children's centres reaching all children aged under five and their families following the transition of Sure Start local programmes to centres from 2006. One such centre, East Marsh, is for expectant parents and families with children under five in a ward where some 40% of adults are on workless benefits. Of almost 1,000 children under five, 10% are receiving statutory intervention and 89% are registered with the children's centre, while on average, 1,800 parents and children visit the centre each month. It also provides 75 adult learning places each week. Fishing, of course, remains a theme in the town. The council facilitated a new training centre for apprentices in the chemical and related industries called CATCH, which actually recreates a real process plant. Another project aimed at young people, especially the vulnerable, is ‘Get hooked on positive activities', a partnership between the council's youth service and the police, which offers fishing and related activities and even accreditation as a way of reducing youth involvement in crime – and draws on Grimsby's historic fishing industry connections.

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WHITEHALL

A big catch for Grimsby

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