An exclusive with John van de Laarschot, Chief Exec at Stoke-on-Trent City Council

I think there are a lot of good things that have gone on. We've seen the fruition now of some of the long-term economic regeneration starting to come through in the city, which again is really encouraging; look at the sixth form college, at Tesco's in Hanley, the inner-ring road, even up to the boarding and hoarding that's gone round for the bus station. Things are starting to move.

Jonathan: To bring about streamlining of council departments, it was very important for you to get the private consultancy firm, Vanguard Consulting. I understand that you used them when you were at Torridge and you were so keen to get them here you asked the Cabinet to waive the usual tendering process to ensure they were hired. What has their role been and how have they been progressing?

John: It's interesting isn't it? In the private sector, if you want something done, you typically employ someone who you know can do the job, who comes on very strong recommendations. In the public sector things aren't quite as easy as that. You have to go through much more complex means of bringing organisations in to help.

I've worked with Vanguard before and I have no personal interest in their organisation whatsoever. The proposition that they offer is that they don't actually do anything themselves, which for me is really fabulous. At the end of a particular assignment they won't give you a wonderful glossy manual that tells you how to do it. What they actually do and the skill they provide with this unique programme they offer, is like training the trainer. They equip your staff with the expertise and the talent to be able to make the transformation themselves, so you own the actual experience at the end of the day.

We've used them now across a wide front of our customer facing services and with some pretty spectacular benefits in certain areas. Have we got it all right? No we haven't. But if I pick away at some of them in terms of revenue and benefits, I think we're pretty successful now in terms of turning around benefit claimants and helping people to get their entitlement much more swiftly and effectively than they have in the past, which can be no bad thing.

In terms of highways working, particularly around potholes, we're getting the average time to fill a pothole down from a month to a few days. We're also putting in a 100% perfect fix as opposed to a temporary fix.

We're also using Vanguard in one of the most controversial areas, with our joint venture partner Kier in housing. We started on housing repairs and fundamentally changed the way that we do business. When the tenant now rings in with an issue, they actually get asked, "when would be convenient for our team to come out and fix it for you?" Which is very different than many of the national organisations, not only in housing but outside of housing; the customer says, 'I've got a problem' and they say, 'well we'll come on Wednesday'. It's totally transformed the service. Are we perfect at it yet? No, but it's getting an awful lot better.

Jonathan: You said last summer, that the Council was too top heavy with managers. We're going to look at cuts a little bit later on in terms of the change there. For now can you describe the effect of having a structure that is too top heavy with management?

John: It's like having too many cooks in a kitchen. When I look at the City Council historically, certainly when I first came in we had, in my opinion, a very dysfunctional senior management team. They were all trying really hard in their own particular areas but not working collaboratively as a team for the benefit of the city. In turn they were supported by a whole series of tiers of management, which when you start to look at it from a customer perspective, what you end up with is a whole series of tiers and barriers and problem makers, as much as problem solvers, between the customer and yourself. My view is that the flatter the organisation the better.

I spend a fair amount of time out in the city on ward walks, getting a flavour for the city and for the issues that people face out there. I'm encouraging my Directors to do the same and their Assistant Directors likewise so there is no excuse for not knowing what's going on in the city. So yes, there were too many of them, now there are a lot less. I think there are about 30% less in terms of senior management teams. We've gone from six Directorates to four. It's a much healthier environment.

Public Sector Cuts

Jonathan: When you first came in, I believe you stated that you thought it would take three years to turn the Council around. That was before the public sector cuts. What do you now think?

John: The public sector cuts haven't helped, but they have created that burning platform, which if anything gives the possibility to progress forward some of the more challenging, more radical initiatives that we really need to put in place if we want to transform this city. So, is it going to double, triple, quadruple the time frame? I don't think so, to be fair. I think we are still in with a pretty reasonable chance of having a Council that is confident, effective and outward looking at the end of the three year term.

Jonathan: Looking at cuts, I guess they've made it a little easier for you for some of the decisions that you would like to make. I suppose cutting the top heavy management was one, but were there other things as well?