Chief Executive Updated: October 2009
Background : Alistair Neill, Chief Executive
Hello, and welcome to the Merthyr Tydfil Council web-site.
May I start with a few words of introduction? I joined Merthyr Tydfil Council in 2003 after 15 years as a Director or Chief Executive in the business sector. This management experience - in Unilever, BP and Masco Corp - made me consider how management was practiced in the public sector and whether my experience could transfer across and potentially 'make a difference'. I developed the ambition to move into local government. My first move into the world of local government was in Northamptonshire CC. I was later delighted to be asked to join the team in Merthyr Tydfil. In Merthyr Tydfil CBC I have found many of the most dedicated and professional colleagues of any in my entire management experience.
Merthyr Tydfil is widely recognised across Britain as a region that has contributed hugely to historic economic development as a driving force of the industrial revolution. The challenge for some time now has been to focus ahead and determine how to successfully build a strong, dynamic, thriving and sustainable local region, tackling big problems that have beset the County Borough for so long.
In the Council, we are therefore focused on 2 goals: firstly, to deliver the most excellent services possible to our customers, secondly, to act decisively in a pivotal role working with partners across the public sector, and with the private sector, to deliver continually improving and sustainable new prospects for all residents of Merthyr Tydfil.
Our Vision - Delivering As A Team
Our Council of around 4,000 people works as 'Team Merthyr'. We know that we achieve most when we work as a Team and recognises too, the critical importance of delivering through strong partnerships. We are committed to continuously improving the quality of our Council Services, but actually more significantly, improving the prospects for the region itself. The Council has set out its Vision up to 2010: working with partners, including the Welsh Assembly Government, much of this Vision has been delivered - and there remains a great deal more to do. In 2010 we will refresh that Vision for the next period ahead.
Transformational Performance
The Council has transformed its own performance in recent years - the results of this have been recognised by the Wales Audit Office, Price Waterhouse Coopers - our Auditors and a wide range of Inspectors and independent assessors.
Here are a few recent performance improvements that stand out:
- In October 2009, the full LEA Inspection by Estyn was conducted: the results were 'good' to 'outstanding' and place Merthyr Tydfil CBC as the LEA in the top 3 LEA's in Wales, based upon the recent inspections,
- In June 2009, Merthyr Tydfil CBC's Regeneration Department won 3 national awards for the work carried out in the regeneration of the town centre,
- In November 2008, Merthyr Tydfil CBC was identified by the Local Government Data Unit's annual assessment of all Wales Council's performance indicators, as the highest performing Council in Wales - for the first time,
- In 2008, the Joint Review of our Social Services, carried out by the Social Service Inspectorate for Wales and the Wales Audit Office - for the first time identified Merthyr Tydfil CBC in the top quartile of national performance,
- We have reduced by over 40%, the number of days lost through sickness absence within the Council - leading by example.
Those performance results are important not only to management, staff and Councillors as a measure of how we compare on a national level, but they are important for you too - our customers and our partners. They are clear, independent points of reassurance in your Council's focus on performance and improvement.
The lasting focus on performance and improvement however is on changing the prospects and the future of the region itself. Much has been done in the last few years - to name a few in a long list:
- The Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Park
- The Cyfarthfa Retail Park
- The Orbit Business Centre
- The Welsh Assembly Office - first in Wales outside Cardiff
- The relaying of Merthyr Tydfil town-centre in granite, with granite benches, trees and other improvements
- The river corridor walkway
- New Schools
Merthyr Tydfil has changed enormously for the better, and with it are changes in the way that many people look at Merthyr Tydfil - including the residents themselves. For the first time measured in many decades, the population of Merthyr Tydfil stopped falling and has risen for 2 successive years. Merthyr Tydfil is changing for the better and for good, and many people now see it, and believe it.
The Way Ahead
There remains much to do, but we will stay focused and this will allow us to achieve a great deal together.
We are very focused on some of the most challenging problems that have beset Merthyr Tydfil for generations - aimed at tacking, for example:
- People of working age who are not in employment or training
- Young people who leave school at 16 years of age without good qualifications and in too many cases, without the necessary skills of literacy and numeracy,
- Young people leaving school and not entering further education to equip themselves with qualifications for work,
- Chronic health problems ranking among the highest in Wales
We recognise this need to work in strong partnerships across the public sector to address these very challenging problems. We are very much engaged in new partnerships, including:
- The Local Service Board - bringing together the Council, Health, Police, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Voluntary Sector for the first time,
- The Heads of the Valleys Partnership bring together 5 Councils with a common geographic interest,
- The Connecting South East Wales Board, establishing common strategies across 10 Councils to ensure that we maximise efficiencies and joint planning
I will update you on further progress in the future, but in the meantime if you need to reach me, my office is at the Civic Centre, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8AN.
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