The arrival of Penny Thompson was compared by one council insider as like watching a film where the hero jumps from a bridge on to the roof of a runaway train.
In her case the train could be the thousands of staff or the hundreds of millions of pounds of spending of which she now has charge.
Her job is not so much to bring the train to a juddering halt as to ensure that it stays on the right track.
Her first six weeks or so were spent meeting councillors, staff and people from partner organisations – in the public sector and in the community and voluntary sector.
She said that it involved a great deal of listening.
Having clambered inside the train from the roof, she has been trying to work out who does what – and how well they do it.
And just before Christmas she sent a paper to her senior managers at Brighton and Hove City Council to start a consultation about the way that the council is managed.
It talked about “reshaping the executive leadership team”. In plain English, it means job cuts at the top.
The Labour group leader Councillor Gill Mitchell has been calling for a root and branch reorganisation for some time rather than “salami slicing” the council’s staff and spending pots.
And at Penny Thompson’s first council meeting last month, Councillor Tony Janio, a Conservative, said that there were more than 500 staff with the word “manager” in their job title. It was too many, he said.
The detail has yet to emerge so it is too soon to say whether Penny Thompson is about to start a root and branch reform or whether the changes will be more akin to tinkering.
Given that she had to shut down the last organisation that she ran – a quango called the General Social Care Council – she should know what is involved if she is to make radical changes.
She said: “I learnt the importance of focus. If you’re shutting something down, you really have to have focus, working well with people and garnering their absolute support and commitment.
“Otherwise I couldn’t have done what I did, which was keep the organisation going, improve its performance and then hand over its functions. I had to take my staff with me.”
She said that after the closure was announced, her priorities included managing an effective transfer and closure, leaving a positive legacy, while treating staff with respect and care.
She had previously taken charge of NHS Haringey in London while the chief executive was away on a secondment.
The job involved leading on child protection, now increasingly referred to as safeguarding.
She started a year after the death of a local child called Peter Connelly – also known as Baby P or Baby Peter.
She has held senior posts in challenging times.
Unlike the four previous chief executives of Brighton and Hove City Council, she comes to the job having already served as a council chief executive.
She ran Hackney in London for two and a half years from 2005 where she tried to instil a “customer first” approach.
Her predecessor John Barradell also talked about placing great emphasis on excellent customer service.
One critic said that customers can take their business elsewhere in a way that council tax payers cannot.
More frequently though Penny Thompson uses the word “citizens”. She said that her priorities were to
- tackle inequality
- create a more sustainable city
- engage people who live and work in Brighton and Hove
- modernise the council
She said that she would run an efficient, open and customer-focused council which operated collaboratively, creatively and with respect.
And she would clarify the council’s ambition and purpose, including ensuring the best deal for council tax payers.
She said: “It’s a privilege and a challenge being a local authority chief executive with such a diverse and fascinating set of responsibilities and demands.
“Brighton and Hove is a truly wonderful city with huge potential for the future and the city council has an important role to play.
“I plan to build on progress made recently and to honour my commitment to leading an organisation where accountabilities and purpose are clear and delivery is our main focus.
“I look forward to working with staff, partners and elected members of all political parties to help the city fulfil its potential.”
She added: “I’m somebody who builds on progress. I’m very forward looking.”
And after her predecessor was criticised for his trying to implement an approach known as intelligent commissioning, she said that it was increasingly commonly used by local authorities.
It involves, among other things, trying to eliminate duplication in the public sector and trying to bring about more joint working.
She added: “It seems to me to be a very important discipline. As an organising principle it has some shortfalls.
“I don’t think it’s a determining organising principle. But I’m not going to sit here and bad-mouth my predecessors.
“Some of the work that’s been done in children’s and adult services – doing things in different ways – is quite significant. I’m not sure that’s always come across.”
Her own professional background is as a social worker. She ran the social services department in Sheffield for six years before becoming chief executive of Hackney Council.
But she won’t be trying to second guess her specialist staff, she said, adding: “The role of the chief executive is to create the conditions that allow people to succeed.
“It’s not to think that I’ve got the monopoly on good ideas.
“I will provide support and challenge and by that I hope to help them to come up with solutions to meet the needs of our citizens.”
The 58-year-old mother of three grown up children is moving to Hove with her partner – it’s easier to find an affordable home with a decent-sized garden in Hove than in Brighton.
And she wants to be able to walk to work at King’s House, the council’s head office.
She said that she was genuinely excited about the task ahead despite the financial and political challenges.
“I will be working with all three party leaders and councillors from all the parties,” she said, anticipating claims that she was here only to serve the minority ruling Greens.
“I’m a really enthusiastic public services leader-manager. And I think the opportunity to apply the learning I’ve had is a really exciting one.
“I like the idea of making a difference. I really enjoy developing organisations, seeing people within them discover their capability.
“One of the greatest things in my professional life is the number of people who keep in touch.”
With her emphasis on values and culture – on how she works as well as what she achieves – the task of steering the council in a fast-changing world should provide plenty of challenges.
With a shake-up at the top already in train, the citizens of Brighton and Hove should soon see whether she can make a difference and whether the council becomes more customer focused.
If not, it’s a fair bet that at least some of them certainly will be in touch.
