Wiltshire Council's to see its first female CEO

After 25 years of working in local government, 10 of which have been spent in Wiltshire, Lucy Townsend will become the county’s first female CEO on Monday, August 19.

She said: “It really does feel that it is quite significant for some of the female staff, in terms of them seeing that as a possibility, an option.

“I’ll use any opportunity I can to encourage female staff that they can progress.”

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The departing CEO, Terence Herbert, has been appointed chief executive at Surrey County Council. (Image: Wiltshire Council)Ms Townsend has spent a large part of her career working in children’s services and with the area’s most vulnerable.

She described the hardest part of taking on the new role as “moving away” from her “core”.

She said: “I just keep reminding myself that everything you do as a chief exec, everything that we do in the council is for people.”

Ms Townsend added: “I’ve got the opportunity of a much wider reach, but those values that I’ve got from being a social worker for children and working with the most vulnerable are going to remain, I’m never going to lose that.”

She noted that the position was “an opportunity to have a greater impact on a wider number of people”, whilst working closely with the politicians in the council.

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When asked about what she predicts to be her biggest challenge, she listed it as “responding to new government policy”.

With local elections fast approaching in Wiltshire, Ms Townsend also indicated that one of her priorities would be ensuring the officers were ready for “whatever happens”.

Regarding the council’s current performance, she said: “We need to recognise where we’re doing really well, and we need to recognise where we can do better.”

She suggested there was “always” a greater opportunity for more communication between officers and the communities they work for.

Ms Townsend said: “From a leadership perspective, I am pretty performance-driven.”

She added: “It’s about wanting to be the best at what we do, really.

“Reputation is important, so I will be ambitious for the people in Wiltshire and that will require an ongoing focus on performance.”

Ms Townsend also noted that it was important to “support staff”, ensure that they feel heard, and expressed a wish to model an appropriate “work life balance” to employees.

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The council’s relationship with unions was also discussed.

She stated: “I think it’s important to have open and honest relationships.

“I will have to factor in the history in that, and I will also have to factor in the future in that.”

Ms Townsend described herself as fortunate through Wiltshire Council’s “strong starting position”.

However, she added: “I would want my legacy to be that we have improved further.”

According to Ms Townsend, the local authority isn’t currently given enough credit for its performance.

The council was recently given a poor rating by The Times when it was placed at a position of 298th out of 318, which the council leader, Richard Clewer, described as “total nonsense”.

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Wiltshire has bucked national trends amid a crisis in local government funding through its comparatively favourable financial position.

Ms Townsend concluded: “I want Wiltshire to be seen as a place where people want to live, they want to work, where businesses want to come to.

“And that our communities thrive, but that we’re also on the map, that we are recognised within the sector as a really well-performing unitary authority.”