In 2009, two north Wales counties will be sharing a chief officer, who will be responsible for running the highways departments of Conwy and Denbighshire. Stuart Davies will be paid £70,000 to perform this delicate juggling act from 1 January next year, and will be responsible for 270 staff members between the two county councils.
The councils themselves have described the sharing of a chief officer as efficient, and the Welsh Local Government Association has said that Davies’ new position will encourage inter-council collaboration. While Davies admits that the new role is likely to be challenging, he is looking forward to taking it all on.
It is the encouragement of collaborative working, which has prompted the local government to create this new, merged position within the two councils. Denbighshire councillor Eryl Williams has also said that the role will allow the councils to further develop cross-boundary services, while Conwy councillor Joan Vaughan can also see the benefits, in that ‘It’ll provide a more sustainable and efficient management of our resources, which can only result in an improved service for our customers.’
While the Welsh Local Government Association has said that other councils already have partnerships in place to cover some services, two highway departments sharing the same chief officer was a new development in the sharing of resources.
The customers who are likely to benefit most from this efficient sharing of a highways chief officer are those who use the roads of Wales as their workplace – the coach and limousine hire companies and the cab drivers working in and around Conwy and Denbighshire. And when a higher quality of management is achieved between our councils, and transport based companies can operate more efficiently too, on well managed and good quality road systems, all of Wales will be wishing Mr Davies luck in his new position.