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Cllr Tim Ahern
Cllr Tim Ahern is responsible for the Service Improvement Portfolio. This covers the range of all Council services to ensure value for money. It includes promoting the Council's services to local people and carrying out Best Value Reviews, consultation with local people, the Council's complaints system, corporate grants and community relations.
I intend to make sure that the Council maintains its flawless record of top marks under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment, retaining its long-standing record of “4 out of 4 stars and Improving Strongly”.
CPA is set to be replaced in 2009/10 by a new “Comprehensive Area Assessment” which will examine the combined efforts of the public agencies serving Kensington and Chelsea. My role will be to make sure the Council makes its contribution to a strong and positive Audit Commission assessment of the quality and ambition of local public services, and that as community leaders we keep other public services up to the mark. I see Overview and Scrutiny Committees having a key role to play here.
Our residents benefit tremendously from the close links that exist between the Council and the community and voluntary sector, and I want to see these strengthen still further. The Council’s systems for channelling funds to the voluntary sector are changing. I want to be sure that the new arrangements are consistent, well-run, transparent and well communicated to the sector and to our residents. This must be supported by effective means for dialogue and discussion between the Council and the voluntary sector, and I want to see plenty of opportunities for this – through the Borough Voluntary Organisations’ Advisory Group, and through the various partnerships on which the Council and the voluntary sector are represented.
In the community sector, the Council will launch its new “Gold Standard Residents Association” scheme in April. Interest in the scheme has been encouraging and I look forward to seeing the first “Gold Standard” awards made in October. The scheme marks the start of a longer-term ambition to strengthen our confidence that the views the Council receives from tenants and residents associations really do reflect those of the people they represent.
Kensington and Chelsea has one of the most diverse populations in the country. Fairness and relevance is therefore an essential feature of the services the Council delivers. Expectations of local government will change during the next year, when we expect the existing “Equalities Standard” to be replaced by a more streamlined and usable version. Whatever the external expectations, I want to see the processes that the Council has established to tackle equalities issues delivering tangible benefits for service users – for instance by closing any gaps that might exist in levels of service or levels of satisfaction among particular groups.
Community cohesion has moved to the forefront of national social policy. Kensington and Chelsea has not suffered chronic or acute instances of community tension or unrest for many years, but this is not a situation we should take for granted. I want to be assured that we have the means to obtain a good day to day understanding of how well the communities in the borough are getting along, and that we can act quickly and effectively to tackle any problems that may develop. I want the new “Community Engagement Team” to have a real and visible presence out in the borough, and to bring back lessons and knowledge that can help us to improve the services we deliver to the Royal Borough’s communities. I am keen, too, to find new and more effective ways to gain insights into the communities in the Royal Borough by tapping into the knowledge of the people who actually live within them.
After several years of relatively comfortable finances, the Council is confronting a chillier financial climate over the next few years as a result of tightening Government grant. I will want to work with my Cabinet colleagues to be sure that the budgeting and financial planning systems the Council operates are fit to meet the new challenges and that we exploit opportunities to reduce costs and deliver savings through our service reviews, change programmes (such as those on customer services and mobile working) and procurement activity.
The attention being devoted to climate change both nationally and locally has been reflected in new thinking on “sustainable procurement”. The Council is already acquainting itself with the expectations and disciplines that this new thinking brings. I expect the Council’s procurement activity to adjust accordingly, and to play its part in achieving whatever broader ambitions are contained in the Council’s forthcoming Climate Change Strategy.
Lastly, I intend to keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities to improve the Council’s use of resources and delivery of services right across the board, and to explore these opportunities with relevant officers and councillors as they arise.
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