Former basket case, Kingston upon Hull City Council, achieved three stars in the final CPA. Heather Jameson talks to chief executive, Kim Ryley, about the journey to high performer To say Hull City Council used to be a troubled authority is something of an understatement. Basket case would be closer to the mark – and Hull hit the headlines when it hit rock bottom. As the-then deputy prime minister John Prescott's constituency, the national media went to town on the slating the Audit Commission gave the city – particularly when the blame was put firmly at the feet of the councillors. The message in the nationals was clear, Mr Prescott couldn't keep his troops in line. But things have changed for the council. The final CPA saw Hull City Council redeem itself with a three-star rating. Chief executive, Kim Ryley, doesn't blame Mr Prescott for the failings. He claims the Labour heavyweight ‘tried very hard' to get the council back on track, but without much success. ‘When I arrived, the government envoy, his team and an army of consultants had all been there for 18 months,' says Kim. But members were fighting the intervention and working against those sent in to change things. ‘I asked the leader what he wanted. He said, "I want these buggers to take their tanks off my lawn".' Kim encouraged members to work with the Government to bring Hull up to speed – and to get the ‘tanks off the lawn' of the city. It was the first move in what he describes as a long journey to get the council back up the CPA league tables. The authority had been a reasonable council, ahead of the pack in some areas, but had been allowed to slip. People just hadn't realised that things were moving on. The government intervention had left staff ‘feeling like a whipped dog'. They had no confidence in their own ability, and one of Kim's key tasks was to rebuild morale. Local residents were also suffering. They had reached a stage where they had no confidence in the council. Nationally, Hull had a reputation as a failing council and a failing area. As a result, there was a collective lack of confidence and pride in the city. But once Hull was on the way to improving, he says there was no stopping it from ‘leaping forward to the cutting edge' of service delivery. Kim acknowledges the council learned the tricks of those who were further ahead. Even the success of the local rugby teams has helped rebuild the confidence of the city. ‘We now understand the dynamics of the place,' he says. It is something the Government fails to see when it intervenes, as a central body just doesn't have the understanding of the place. As a port city, Hull has always been affluent, and Kim is determined it can be again. In its 500 years of trading with Europe and Scandinavia, Hull has had to adapt to changes in imports, but it has reinvented itself several times over. ‘When I arrived in the city, I said to the staff, "Where is the city master plan". What they eventually brought was a 1950s bound plan to rebuild after the war damage – and much of the work had never been completed. This was a ‘city that was never finished'. There is a danger it could suffer the same fate again. The recession has called a halt to the developments, and Kim claims he would have liked ‘a couple of extra years' to finish. Nevertheless, he is determined the city will come out well from the recession, despite the predictions of a recent think-tank report. He is putting much of the council's resources into place shielding and identifying growth spots for after the recession is over. His three key issues for the city are clear and interlinked: l jobs and the local economy – the city must attract investment and grow the economic base l education and skills – by upskilling the local people, the economy will have a workforce, and good schools will make Hull a more attractive place to live l housing – improving the quality and choice of housing will halt the depopulation. ‘We will only stop the depopulation with these three things. The right sort of housing, good schools and the right jobs,' he says. Kim claims the next way forward for local government will be to harness the local people to work with the council in the same way as the private sector locally has been harnessed. He talks about increasing social capital – but deliberately avoids talking about community involvement. Most people, he says, are already part of communities – faith groups, community groups, social and sports clubs – he says the city needs to ‘harness that energy and help direct it'. For now, the council has turned round, and the recession is looming large on the city. Kim is determined to come out of it stronger and better than ever.
