Blog Posts

  • Library Service – a new way of thinking

    One of the exciting and satisfying parts of being a councillor is being able to make a positive difference to people’s lives. The library service is clearly very important to people as the results of our consultation process have shown. Lots of good ideas have come out of this consultation, not just from the public, Read more

  • Scary Friday – meetings with finance, HR, an MP and you know who from March

    Scary Friday? Well not not really scary but challenging yes. First up was a get to know each other chat with the LGSS finance team. Introductions to bright people in this quantity meant I needed to be on top of my game. Given my keen desire for robust budget management this was the team that Read more

  • More shared services with Northamptonshire

    It was my pleasure to chair a meeting of our Local Government Shared Services (LGSS) joint committee on the 28th July. LGSS is the organisation that has been created by Cambridgeshire County Council and Northamptonshire County Council to provide back office function for both councils at a lower cost. No loss of front end delivery Read more

  • SmartLIFE – jobs and skills for low carbon economy

    Sometimes councils are thought of as slow and old fashioned in thinking. The SmartLIFE centre in Cambridge is a fantastic example of innovative thinking by County Council staff that can bring real benefits to industry. David Arkell, Head of Innovation and Partnerships and also a SmartLIFE Director was brimming with enthusiasm when I met him Read more

  • Action packed Tuesday

    Tuesday started with a couple of informal meetings starting at 0800. This led into my first joint meeting between the Council’s Cabinet and the Board of NHS Cambridgeshire. I chaired it as it was our turn to host it. This meeting is important as we have many jointly funded activities and many inter-dependancies. We had Read more

  • Interesting day

    The day started at 0730 in the office preparing for a long list of meetings. Meetings used to be just about taking an active part and contributing. Now that I chair the meetings I also need to concern myself with timings, impact and outcomes and ensuring everyone gets a fair chance to contribute. I enjoy Read more