South Lakeland leaves a strong legacy

Today DCN says farewell to 17 district members in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset where local government reorganisation takes place.

We are saluting the great work that the officers and members on these councils have done for their communities.

Here Lawrence Conway , chief executive of South Lakeland District Council, writes about his authority's work on the eve of it becoming part of the new Westmorland & Furness Council.

South Lakeland will be missed

The disappearing district had a transformative impact

Lawrence Conway, chief executive, South Lakeland District Council

It’s been my privilege to serve as a district council chief executive at the heart of our community for the last 13 years. Sadly, my tenure ends next week when South Lakeland District Council is abolished to make way for the new Westmorland & Furness unitary council as part of the reorganisation of local government in Cumbria.

I view these changes with mixed emotions: whilst change can bring opportunity, for me it has been the district councils which have had the ultimate connection to their community. Parish councils have the proximity but unfortunately not the power to deliver the scale of change required in these challenging times; anything larger than a district is intrinsically more remote and potentially less well connected. It will be no surprise that the new single council will operate largely over three areas, not dissimilar to the old council geographies.

Our council, like our peers, will leave a legacy. I believe our transformative approach to service delivery is unique. It has taken bold leadership to devise a customer-focused delivery model which not only improves efficiency and effectiveness, but has also cut our costs.

The focus is on members of the public being at the heart of everything we do. South Lakeland’s model, similar to many already in existence in the private sector, means there are fewer phone calls, smaller back offices and officer time is freed up to prioritise the most demanding issues that give the biggest community benefit.

For our residents, their experience is better – the missed bin is collected sooner, there are fewer phone calls or follow-ups required; customer satisfaction levels are up; productivity and performance are up too. For our staff, they feel empowered to make a difference; they are proud that they are working more effectively and devoting more of their time to making a difference, and less on administration.

This has all resulted in a more agile and flexible council, which is better able to plan ahead and prioritise. The days of non-productive salami-slicing cuts have ended.

That said, the council has still faced its challenges, not least dealing with a number of natural events such as floods, Storm Desmond of 2015, in particular. The effects of such events are not overcome immediately and deeply affect communities for many years subsequently. Post-flooding, or storms, clean-up can take a year or more; One of Kendal’s replacement footbridges took eight years to reappear; our Town flood defence system is taking nine years to put in place. Every time it rains heavily, people still get nervous. I haven’t even the space to discuss Covid and its disruptive effect.

We have faced our setbacks and together created an environment and a place to live that is second to none. We couldn’t have done it without the support of our community over the past 49 years. To them, I say thank you.

I also wish to thank our democratically elected members for their bold leadership, which has been the catalyst for change; and our staff for appreciating why change was necessary and embracing it.

I’d also like to thank the DCN. They have been supportive to our membership and offered so many – including me – new opportunities.

Now I’m looking ahead to Westmorland & Furness taking on its statutory powers. The new council will be led by South Lakeland’s leader Cllr Jonathan Brook. They have the chance to create something new, an opportunity that should not pass by. If they put the customer at the heart of everything they do, the district legacy will live on.