New boss at services partnership

Deputy leader of Lichfield District Council Councillor Matthew Ellis has succeeded county councillor Jack Barber from Stafford in heading the alliance of 10 local authorities dedicated to providing services in convenient and efficient new ways.

Councillor Ellis – also a county councillor – is taking the reins at a crucial time as the consortium rises to the challenge of supporting projects to work together on the administration of on-street parking, improve efficiency of street scene services and continue the development of a countywide customer relationship management system which allows most service requests to be dealt with at first time of asking.

He will also play a major role in finalising a new programme of work to enable partners to improve quality and save money by sharing services.

Other responsibilities will include the implementation of proposals to give elected members a new role in securing the support of other public sector organisations which can help the partnership achieve its ambition of seamless services.

Councillor Ellis was elected chairman of the joint committee 24 hours after the partnership learned it had secured a further £70,000 from West Midlands Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership for its project to improve efficiency of street-scene services.

Councillor Barber's 12 months behind the steering wheel saw the partnership introduce an automated call distribution system which routes incoming calls to the correct council employee. "My thanks go to Councillor Barber for handing over a partnership which is fit for the challenges of the future," said Councillor Ellis.

East Staffordshire's Liz Staples was succeeded as vice-chairman by Councillor Andrew Wragg of Stoke-on-Trent.