Today started with a review of diary events for next week before settling down to study my papers for the Cambridgeshire Leaders and Chief Officers meeting which started at 0930.

The meeting itself is always a challenge, given the high calibre of individuals that attend. County, districts, city, police, NHS and fire are all represented by both the elected leader (where one exists) and chief exec.

A range of issues were considered including more effective information sharing, health and well being board, LPSA money and more effective working of the public sector board. This was a really good forum to join up thinking across all our organisations.

The afternoon was spent visiting various parts of the organisation. These informal visits are so powerful and compliment the more formal committees and meetings that I have most of the time. I learn so much about how the organisation is working and feeling about itself.

Today I had a useful chat on the project to provide effective bus services across the county based on minibuses and community transport. I was able to remind the team of my passion for effective transport and my determination to make it work. Action this day on this one.

I also had a discussion on how we provide bus passes for eligible children, and how difficult it is to manage the process for post 16 year olds. Not only are their lots of changes to manage, as a result of educational attainment, the time between results being announced and school restarting in Sept is very short. Well done to this dedicated team. Question for later. What can we do to further streamline the issuing of these bus passes?

And then on through the gloomy corridors (energy being saved I was proudly told) to meet with a senior CYPS manger. An excellent wide ranging discussion that inadvertently fed into some work I am looking at in adult social care. Amazing how these informal chats cross boundaries.

Finally, I discovered the dept responsible for archaeology across the county. A small team of passionate professionals brought the subject to life for me. Not only do they carry our the statutory function for the county but also for the districts. I was pleased to hear how determined they are to provide a business focussed service to help developers meet their obligations as easily and speedily as possible.

A long but productive day.