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The cabinet at Wiltshire Council, a new unitary set up in 2009, has steered the council through momentous changes, its success recognised when it was awarded Most Effective Political Team of the Year in The MJ Local Government Achievement Awards 2011 For a council which only came into existence in 2009, winning such a prestige award as Most Effective Political Team of the Year in The MJ Awards 2011 is some achievement. The cabinet has the same members since Wiltshire CC merged with its four districts and became Wiltshire Council, reducing the total number of councillors in the county from 238 to 98. As leader Cllr Jane Scott says: ‘The cabinet is an interesting group which is one reason why we won. We have two former district council leaders and myself, a former county leader. We're also quite a mix, with former twin-hatters, ex-district and ex-county councillors and this was done deliberately.' Top performer: Wiltshire Council's leader, Cllr Jane Scott (centre) pictured with members of the award winning cabinet team. Looking back on the council's first two years and the reasons for entering the awards Jane says: ‘We felt we had come through a lot of pain but had delivered what we had promised. We looked at the criteria for the award and decided to go for it. ‘Everyone here has worked very hard, the staff have confidence in us as a political team and it's really good to have that recognised. I also emphasise that without the support of the staff we couldn't have done it.' In its entry the council said: ‘We are making a significant break with the past. The era of us and other public agencies simply providing services alone and "to" the public with no reference to communities is over.' Jane adds: ‘Our achievements have been down to teamwork with the officers. All local government wants is the trust of its communities. We can't give everyone everything they want but at least we can show them we work hard and are professional. The award goes some way to saying to people, "this is a team you can trust".' Looking back on the first year of Wiltshire as a unitary she recalls: ‘We decided as a team we would concentrate in the first year on the transition. It was a conscious, political decision and we were never in doubt that it was the right thing to do. Some of us were also on the implementation executive which was helpful. ‘Initially, there were practical challenges such as accounts and computer systems. There are 90 council offices which will eventually become four and we will be able to invest in modern buildings. We couldn't have done that if we hadn't been a unitary.' After the first year the cabinet moved onto the four-year business plan. Being in the unusual position of downsizing from five to one councils has given it more scope for both savings and investment. Around £14m was saved in the first year. Some £33m is being invested in adult care over the next three years and £200m in extra healthcare units. Jane adds: ‘Having housing with social care is a big boost and our initiative Help to Live@Home brings together housing and care.' The director of public health is a joint appointment with the PCT, the staff working for the council, and a cabinet member has responsibility for public health and public protection. There are also advantages for the voluntary sector of not having contracts with five different councils. The council is looking at the feasibility of delivering services in 18-20 public service ‘campuses' based on the areas covered by the area boards. There are currently three pilot projects examining this idea with the community deciding what it wants on the ‘campuses' such as day and youth centres, police station, leisure and libraries. She says the priorities for the next two years are ‘delivering our plan and communicating it', a process she says is aided by having elections every four years which creates stability. More recently earlier this month the council announced a review of its management structure as part of its programme of efficiency savings. Although having saved £8m already from cutting 220 managers it is now looking at deleting the post of chief executive held by Andrew Kerr since 2010 plus one director. The cabinet will consider options next week.

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Political team scoops the cream

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