Title

Those of us who are district chief executives woke up on 1 April to find the world a lonelier place. Not only have we lost some 37 colleagues in the machinery of reorganisation, but the energy and enthusiasm which came from north-east England and the far West have now been subsumed into larger decision-making structures. This means it is a good time to re-evaluate how we organise our representation through the LGA. What began as a group of chief executives from across the regions meeting together, developed into the ‘Member sounding board', again with a regional template. Over three years, from very modest beginnings, the sounding board can now point to a number of successes. These include a place at the LGA annual conference and the opportunity to showcase good practice from districts. We have responded to the key issues of the day, including the Local Government White Paper and implementation plan, arguing for a level playing field in respect of county and district based bids. In the SNR, we have ensured districts had a seat at the table in the economic assessment of county areas. Concessionary fares continues to be a hot issue. And in the free swimming initiative, we made many good practical points, although were not listened to as attentively as we would have liked. We have been proactive in the emerging issues important to districts, not least the recession and the impact on our communities and councils. Many councils have been hit by the collapse of the Icelandic banks, but it is important to recognise districts are viable, innovative and creative councils which serve their communities well. Ministers and officers have been lobbied, and cogent arguments written up and presented. All this activity has been with the support of LGA officers and our own chief executives, treasurers, planners and many other staff. But, the stage has been reached where we have to say: We can't go on like this, and we must move from a loose collection of authorities to a special interest group, with a clear work programme, identity and communications strategy. This is a very exciting prospect which will be put to the LGA conference in July. District leaders are being consulted, most recently at the district leaders' briefing at the LGA last week. I have many e-mails of support, and I hope the initiative will continue to gather momentum over the next few weeks. Working together, providing a single voice for districts, has never been more important. Alan Goodrum is chief executive of Chiltern DC

Title

WHITEHALL

District View

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING