When John Barradell joined Brighton and Hove City Council three years ago, its satisfaction rating with the public was 45 per cent.
In the same survey 80 per cent said that they liked living here and up to 80 per cent were satisfied with services that the council provided.
But overall the council was in the bottom 25 per cent in the country.
Unusually for an incoming chief executive, he came with extensive private sector experience. And he was determined that his staff should provide a better customer experience.
He is leaving with the most recent survey showing satisfaction at 66 per cent.
The jump of 21 percentage points is the biggest over two years by any council and puts Brighton and Hove among the top 25 per cent in the country.
Mr Barradell is off to run the City of London Corporation as town clerk and chief executive.
The council for the Square Mile is offering more money, having searched for someone who would not only run services well for a demanding electorate.
But the City also wants someone able to hold his own in the international arena. It wants someone who will win big business as well as keep existing firms happy.
The City’s gain is our city’s loss. It suggests that the widely liked Mr Barradell’s reputation may be better on the bigger stage than in his own backyard.
In the world of local government he is seen as an innovator – even a pioneer. Outsiders have watched his changes in Brighton and Hove with some interest.
After arriving here he pledged to create “a council the city deserves”. The four-year plan had three strands: provide excellent customer service, be an efficient and effective council and give value for money.
At a time of financial constraint, he urged more and better joint working with Sussex Police, the NHS, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and the voluntary sector.
The policy was called “intelligent commissioning”. It built on some things that were already happening while looking for fresh ways to cut waste and duplication across the public sector without damaging services.
Some critics would like to have seen more and quicker progress. Others were worried about the inevitable job losses that this would bring.
Four senior council officials were among those to leave shortly after Mr Barradell arrived. They were well known and well liked.
Four strategic directors were brought in from outside. Two years on and two of them are also set to leave.
One council insider indicated that this was in part a product of the political uncertainty as a Labour-run council turned first Conservative and then Green.
With half the senior management team serving their notice, new leader Jason Kitcat has a remarkable hand.
Like Mr Barradell, he has encouraged openness in the council’s working. And like Mr Barradell, he is switched on to the possibilities that the digital revolution can bring for Brighton and Hove.
The test comes with joint working.
Councillor Kitcat is keen to appoint a temporary chief as soon as possible while a search is carried out for a permanent replacement.
The answer could be on our doorstep.
Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council took a similar opportunity in a similar situation a few years back to work more closely together.
They shared the cost of employing the existing Adur chief, Ian Lowrie, whose home was in Brighton.
Gradually they have shared the cost of a growing number of staff and services.
Brighton and Hove already collaborates with Lewes District Council in a few areas and its chief executive, Jenny Rowlands, joined from the city council.
Few would doubt her ability to hold the fort here and keep the show on the road there. She knows the city well and still lives here.
And she would buy the Greens time.
Councillor Kitcat would then have a top opportunity to think strategically about the future of Brighton and Hove rather than just fill a vacant senior job.
He could change the political landscape of East Sussex and shape the future for generations.
While there would be many obstacles along the way, he has demonstrated boldness before.
He now has a chance to settle for the status quo or secure his own and Mr Barradell’s legacy to the city and beyond.
John Barradell is a really exceptional CEO.
He is the first one that I have been acquainted with who was even curious about people in the civic campaigning and volunteer area, let alone interested in stopping for properly engaged chats.
In general council officers maintain serious levels of aloofness and distance and the more senior, the more grandly they will look at you and the more mortified they will be if you speak to them. False smiles and patronising looks are too common. Barradell looks you in the eye, gives you a very wide smile and is genuinely attentive. He knows the players from the top to very bottom of the food chain.
Officers and councillors alike could learn from his example but I reckon they would choke on doing so.
I sit on the Estate Services Monitoring Group for the High Rise Action Group and JB spent an entire morning attending one of its monthly meetings not long ago. Asked at 10am by the Chair how much time he could spare, he opened his diary and said “I’m free until 1pm”. And in the grounds walkabout we had with him at Nettleton and Dudeney that day after the meeting, I had a few minutes for a chat with him on my own.
Generosity of spirit hallmarks him. Losing him for the city is a big blow.
I do think perhaps the wrong people were perhaps chosen for the 4 Strategic Director jobs, that intelligent commissioning and these Directors continue to baffle most people.
Bringing Jenny Rowlands back to BHCC would be very unwise, regardless of her abilities.
Having a hard working female in the top job in brighton would do wonders for our city. Jenny Rowlands would apply her ability to empathise with people from many different backgrounds meaning this would allow her to improve the standard of living for not only the well to do but those in our society that are less fortunate. Having heard Mz Rowlands speak on many occasions it is clear that she is someone that can bring the community together. Unlike Mr Baridale she would not treat us as ‘customers’ but as equals, I dont care if he can look me in the eye so can my pet iguana.
One thing I know about jenny rowlands is that she delivers and delivers for the city but does this with people. That is why she is so popular – she can establish relationships, lead and deliver real benefits to residents not getting stuck on intellectually sparse debates on the ‘organisational models’. Jenny leads and leads with beside her
This is a poor article, with all the incisiveness of a HELLO interview.
Daring thought, but perhaps the rise in the satisfaction rating for the council has to do with it not being Tory any more? Outside the curtain-twitching suburbs, they are about as popular as the bubonic plague. The only reason they got to run Brighton in the first place was the split of the left vote between Labour and Greens.
Opinion on John Barradell is pretty divided: many people who may know what they are talking about assert that he has achieved little. It would be interesting to know why this is and what the solid evidence is on both sides, rather than a load of gossip and baseless assertions, like the ‘four senior officials’ who were ‘well known and well liked’. By whom?
As for the City of London being a ‘demanding electorate’: yeah right, it is the country’s last rotten borough, run by bankers for the benefit of bankers. The fact that he is going off to work there rings very loud alarm bells and suggests that we may be well rid.
Suggestion: why not call the new appointee ‘city clerk’ and do away with this ‘chief executive’, private sector-aping nonsense? The elected leader of the council should be the chief executive, and no-one else.
Jenny Rowlands would be great at the job, irrespective of what it’s called. Even better if it is job sharing with Lewes rather than spending more money on recruitment and pay. It about time this diverse city actually had an intelligent, hard working and caring woman at the top. I am very glad that the City of London appreciate John Baradell’s talents but what this place needs now is someone dedicated to the city and to seeing it through these tough times alongside our political leaders. From what I know and have heard of Jenny Rowlands, she is perfectly placed to do this and has shown her abilities and dedication already both in Brighton and Hove and in Lewes.