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Role and responsibilities
The Chief Executive, Peter Gilroy, works with
Paul
Carter to provide vision, leadership and direction for Kent
County Council.
Peter believes that putting the public at the heart of
everything we do is the key to delivering modern and
customer-focused services. It has also been vital to the
Audit Commission (link opens in a new window)
awarding us 'four star' status.
Modernising and transforming services are high on Peter's
agenda. He is a tireless champion for innovation, keen to deliver
better, more effective services so that Kent is known as "a great
place to live" and KCC a "great place to work".
Teamwork is vital to this and Peter is keen that KCC services
continue working closely together. He also values the contribution
that working with other organisations in the public, private,
voluntary and community sectors bring to the people of Kent.
Peter continues to raise KCC's - and Kent's - profile at
national and international levels, influencing and driving agendas
in local government and wider public policy.
Peter's other responsibilities include:
- formulating and implementing council policies and
strategies
- monitoring and reviewing the council's performance
- making best use of all council's assets
- ensuring the council acts fairly and equitably.
Biography
Peter joined Local Government following a career in nursing,
specialising in psychiatric social work. Following further social
work training, he spent the early part of his career in practice,
including attachments to primary health. Over the years he has
spent periods studying and working in the Health and Social Care
field in the USA. His managerial career has taken him into both
public and private sectors. He has extensive experience in Child
Protection. His involvement began in the 1970s and he chaired the
Kent Child Protection Committee for thirteen years.
He was Strategic Director of Social Services in Kent for eight
years and during this time took the largest Social Services
department in the country from 'poor' performance to 'excellent'
before being appointed as Chief Executive of Kent County Council.
Kent is one of the largest local authorities in the country and
achieved a four star rating in 2008. Peter also chairs the
South East Centre of Excellence (link opens in
a new window) which concentrates on sharing best practice and
creating a smart environment with regard to efficiency and
performance, and is working closely with the Government on
Futures.
He led nationally for ten years on asylum matters for the
Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), chaired the
National Taskforce and for five years until recently the National
Register for Unaccompanied Children (NRUC). He also started a
network of principal gateway authorities in the European Union to
discuss common problems and develop a framework of best practice.
He has also been a member of Lord Darzi's Health Innovation
Council.
He has a national reputation for innovation and was nominated by
The Guardian
newspaper (link opens in a new window) as one
of the top 100 Innovators in the public sector in the UK and
shortlisted for the 2006 Public Sector Power 100 Awards. Peter is a
member of the Advisory Board of the World Health Care Congress and
an associate member of the County Executives of America. He chairs
the Kent Film and Television Board and this year launched
Kent TV (link
opens in a new window). He took the lead with the Health Service in
Kent in commissioning what is now Europe's largest
telehealth
pilot - with a thousand people expected to be involved by the
middle of 2008. He is also in demand as an international speaker on
innovation and change management.
Now in his fourth year as Chief Executive, he continues to
pursue "innovation, effectiveness and an outcome-based modern
public service." Peter is married with two children and his
recreational pursuits are, when he has the time, horse riding,
music and travel and he has a special interest in media and
film.
Contact details
Peter Gilroy
Chief Executive
Sessions House
County Hall
Maidstone
Kent ME14 1XQ
 08458 247247
peter.gilroy@kent.gov.uk |