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Award-winning South Tyneside MBC has worked hard to cultivate a ‘one team' culture, as its chief executive Irene Lucas and leader Iain Malcolm reveal. Irene Lucas and Iain Malcolm from South Tyneside MBC in consultation The relationship between the political leaders of councils and their chief executives often features on Localgov.co.uk – for all the wrong reasons. The political responsibility of the leader and the managerial responsibility of the chief executive isn't always easy to manage. At South Tyneside, we have worked hard to cultivate a ‘one team' culture which includes members, officers, partners and communities. Within the council, though, it is said ‘we are all clear that officers advise and members decide' – but the trust we have built up through continual dialogue has meant that we can disagree without being disagreeable. We are all passionate about working together to deliver the best outcomes for our communities. The following conversation between ourselves illustrates how, in South Tyneside, the various parties come together to discuss and reach a conclusion on how to move forward, even if they don't always see eye to eye. Irene: We recently received some revised population projections from the Office for National Statistics which will have massive implications for us – and probably every other local authority in the country. South Tyneside's population was predicted to fall sharply by almost 10,000 people – dropping from about 150,000 people in 2006 to 140,900 people in 2029. Now, latest research expects our population to gradually increase to around 154,500 over the next 20 years. This obviously has massive implications for the direction of policy and strategy in South Tyneside in the coming decades. Iain: I'd heard that the office had revised its projections, but this is going to be really significant for us. I think it was [the late Labour politician] Nye Bevan who said that ‘priorities are the language of politics', but if our priorities are based on faulty intelligence then we may have to go back to the drawing board. How has this come about. Is it due to increased life expectancy? Irene: Partly yes, not least because of the improving health of all age groups – and not just the very old. The office is also factored rising fertility rates and increasing immigration. But perhaps the most striking thing about these projections is that no account is taken of the impact of our policy work either, such as regeneration or increased house building, so it may well be that the population will continue to rise even further than expected. Iain: So what are the headlines, and what do we need to do? Irene: Earlier predictions suggested a sharp decline in the number of children. Now a much more gradual decline is predicted. The office had suggested that the 0-24 population of South Tyneside was going to drop from 45,400 to 35,700 by 2029, a loss of 9,700 people aged 0-24 years old. The revised estimates suggest that by 2031, there will be 40,800, which is 5,000 more 0-24s than expected. What is more, due to rising birth rates, the office believes the next decade will see an increase in nursery and primary age children, followed by a decline in the 2020s. Although these trends may change by 2031, the implications of having more children than we expected are obviously massive, so I've already asked our children and young people team to look at whether we need to revise our school transformation plans. Iain: Good. One of our main drivers for reorganising the school estate was to channel our resources away from heating and maintaining empty classrooms towards improving education standards. So, we'll need to confirm that we're confident in our predictions of surplus places. And what about older people? It's already one of the greatest challenges we face – so this must mean further pressure on budgets? Irene: Actually, the office's projections haven't changed much at all –the 65-plus age group shows almost no change in predicted numbers. But we already know that this group will soon begin to increase rapidly. By 2031, there could be 37,900 older people, an increase of 10,900, and a 40% rise from 2008. Iain: Those numbers are really sobering, and I guess for us the next 20 years will see ever-increasing pressure placed on the services we provide for older people. I think the work we've already been carrying out on moving resources towards this area is vital, but we're going to have to remain committed to creativity and innovation if we're to meet that need. Irene: You're absolutely right. The innovation day on older people which we held with partners was a case in point, and has already pointed the way towards new ways of supporting older people in their homes and keeping them healthy – they want a Wii console in every residential home you know! For our services to remain sustainable, I really do think we need to build on this creative partnership model. Iain: I agree Irene, I also want us to expand our own intelligence-gathering operation so we use our local knowledge to stay ahead of the game. Can you get a presentation on these projections into cabinet as soon as possible? I want all our lead members to get their heads around the implications of this, and use the information to inform our medium term financial plan. Irene: No problem – will do. Irene Lucas is chief executive and Cllr Iain Malcolm is leader of South Tyneside MBC. The council won Best Achieving Council at the MJ Awards 2008

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WHITEHALL

Members and officers seeing eye to eye at the top of the council

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