Maidenhead & Windsor

Customer focus is at the heart of proposals to change the way the Maidenhead Royal Borough shapes up for the future delivery of services to the local Maidenhead community.

Restructuring of Maidenhead council will be discussed at a special cabinet meeting next Wednesday (May 17) when members will look at recommendations to reduce the current five directorates to three by logical grouping of services that link directly with the public. This would result in two strong directorates responsible for customer-facing services, with a smaller central directorate providing strategic direction and support.

One of the main reasons for taking a fresh look at how Maidenhead council is set up is the 2004 Children Act which says that councils must bring together all children's services . In the Royal Borough this means merging the education and social services directorate, along with the youth service (currently part of leisure, cultural and property services).

Maidenhead borough's own Delivering Excellence programme has also resulted in major changes to the way the council works, with the Customer Service Centre (CSC) opening last October and bringing together staff from over 15 services to provide easy access to information and advice for residents and customers.

The progress made with Delivering Excellence and now the changes to children's services allow the council to bring about a more even balance to its structure by proposing three streamlined directorates:

* learning and care (bringing together education, social services and youth services
* community services (incorporating planning and environment and many elements of leisure, cultural and property services)
* corporate services (primarily the current chief executive's directorate)

Maidenhead Cllr Mary Rose Gliksten, council leader, said the restructuring proposals suggested a way forward through grouping services together in a logical, joined-up way that focuses on customers' needs.

She said: "Over the past three years the Delivering Excellence programme has brought about increased efficiency and effectiveness in many areas. We have invested in modern technology throughout the authority and we are reaping the benefits of this in terms of much improved services for local people. All of this has laid solid foundations for what lies ahead

"Restructuring is the next big challenge as we respond to the national changes in children's services and also the need to tailor the council so it is best equipped to keep on delivering excellent services to our residents and customers."

David Lunn, Maidenhead chief executive, said: "Restructuring is a necessary part of equipping the council for modern provision of services and also for its increasing role of community leadership. Much of the current structure has been in place since we became a unitary authority in 1998 and is not best suited for the effective and efficient delivery of services to meet the changing needs of local residents or the national agenda for children's services."

The new learning and care directorate will not only cover all Maidenhead children's services, as required by the government, but also the adult care services currently provided by social services and all elements of education. This is because the relatively small size of the Royal Borough could not justify the creation of a separate directorate for children's services alone.

Both the learning and care and Maidenhead community services directorates will concentrate on providing services directly to residents and customers, while corporate services will focus on the central, legal, administrative and support services required across the council, as well as setting the borough's strategic direction.

If cabinet agrees, the proposals will go for decision to the council's employment panel, meeting immediately afterwards on May 17. If the employment panel gives the go-ahead it will allow recruitment to begin for the new director of learning and care.

The proposals are already out for consultation with all Maidenhead Royal Borough staff and partner organisations. Their feedback will be taken into account and a further report will go to cabinet on June 26. It is anticipated that implementation of the new structures will start in July, with the first focus being on the new learning and care directorate, which will feature two new area teams – Maidenhead and Windsor/Ascot – to take services closer to the communities they serve.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead