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It's always difficult getting the adrenalin going after a
good break and I find myself wondering "why do I do this job!" But
it only takes a few days back in the hot seat to remember
why.
Last week was as busy as usual. I spent most of Monday with
senior politicians and officers of the council shaping next year's
budget. We are trying to square the circle with £30 million less to
deliver services next year. No mean feat when we are educating
220,000 children, maintaining 5,000 miles of roads and 4,000 miles
of pavements, fixing 5,000 street lights a month, getting rid of
800,000 tons of rubbish every year and providing services for many
of our 238,600 over 65 population - and these are just a few
examples.
We have also been preparing for the arrival of the government
inspection team who will decide on whether we retain our
"excellent" status. The whole organisation and 45,000 staff justly
deserve it. I'll let you know how I think we are doing in future
entries on my blog.
On Tuesday I had a thoroughly interesting day meeting various
shadow ministers and helping them shape future policy on a number
of key service areas from education to welfare reform.
The following day was spent closer to home with the 12 district
leaders in Kent on how we will work more closely to deliver more
efficient and effective services and collectively influence
government to give KCC and the districts a fair share of the
significant highways, housing and infrastructure grants.
On Friday Leaders from the 58 Conservative county and district
councils in the south east met to discuss how we will respond to
replacing the unpopular SEERA (South East England Regional
Assembly) with a new government creation referred to as Regional
Development Agency "plus". I personally believe the south east
region is unworkable in size, scale and geography in its current
form. More about the solutions at a later date - watch this
space.
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