In 2015 Sevenoaks District Council became the first financailly sufficient council in the country after a long journey which began in 2010. As a Council we looked to the future and saw a decade of austerity and further reduced government grants and realised we had to do something to make us less dependent on central Government funding.
In 2011 we started producing 10 year balanced budgets and expanded our property portfolio so we could generate our own income and by 2015 we were financially independent - one year earlier than planned. We also drove home the motto: "the customer is anyone who isn’t me” which is key to how council staff deal with everyone else whether inside or outside the council. The council also stopped outsourcing its services because by controlling all of our costs it is easier to make savings - and change how we deliver services at short notice - making the council more responsive to our residents.
As a council we also recognised that our staff were our greatest asset and so we invested in them and empowered them. By early 2016 Sevcenoaks District Council became one of only five organisations globally, and the only public sector organisation, to be awarded platinum status by Investors in People.
The Council's financial strategy and health agenda built a rock solid reputation which made the Sevenoaks Conservatives unbeatable in 2019. I remember canvassing before the May local elections for my successor: Eileen Roy and residents told me they wanted to give the Government a good kicking but could not risk it because the council was so well run. That's Conservatism in action!
These achievements were externally recognised, first by the Council winning the Guardian Public Service Awards 2016 overall winner, and the following year winning the Local Government Chronicle's (LGC) Council of the Year award in 2017. We later built on these successes by winning a host of public health and care awards.
