Best in the South West – Stroud District Council partnership team tops tough test for future leaders
Published: Monday, 8 October, 2018
Stroud District Council is celebrating winning a prestigious competition designed to test the mettle of the next generation of senior staff.
The Stroud District Council partnership team which also included participants from Gloucestershire Association of Parish and Town Councils, and NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group scooped the top award ahead of 21 other councils and public bodies at the annual South West Challenge.
Set the task of running a fictional council as a senior management team by organisers South West Councils, the Stroud team produced a plan to turn around council finances, and improve performance and public perception, while dealing with a wide variety of problems thrown at them throughout the day.
The team of GAPTC’s Alison Robinson, SDC’s Chloe Lloyd, Susan Turner, Charlotte Boileau and Ben Falconer, and NHS Gloucestershire CCG’s Helen Edwards emerged as winners at the Exeter event on Thursday, October 4. Alison also made it in to the top three delegates who took on the role of chief executive at the role play event.
Working as a team, they linked up with neighbouring councils and with partner organisations to deliver a new strategy for the council. They dealt with sensitive issues while keeping focus on delivering the best public services on a limited budget.
In last year’s competition, Stroud District Council finished third and Chief Executive David Hagg was delighted with the win.
“It is a very tough day and the experience is more important than the result,” said Mr Hagg, who retired on Friday after 17 years as Chief Executive of SDC.
“However I am delighted that our partnership team – the first of its kind with members from across the public sector – showed all the attributes that it takes to run a council when money is tight. My congratulations to them all.”