Welcome to the Towards One Council Website, a one stop shop for all news relating to the transition to one council for Wiltshire.

The Frontline Services (FLS) workstream is bringing together most of the public-facing services of the five authorities in a structured programme of transition and transformation. Ten main service areas which involve day-to-day customer contact have been prioritised and FLS Board members are working with lead officers and their teams, in close liaison with other workstreams and key shareholders in the ‘Towards One Council’ initiative.

About the Workstream

“Our reputation rests on ensuring the best possible levels of service are maintained, while welcoming the opportunities transformation provides to improve them,”

Laurie Bell, Frontline Services Workstream Owner

Most of the professional services delivered by the County and District Councils in Wiltshire could be described as ‘Frontline’ and the FLS Workstream is focussing on those areas identified as most closely affecting customers countywide. Every effort is being made to ensure that service is not compromised during transition and that essential changes have been made, tried and tested by April 2009.  Workstreams do not necessarily reflect new structures and the documentation being carefully prepared now will ensure that service areas being examined within the Frontline Services Workstream will be ready for efficient transition into relevant departments in the new One Council structure.

What will it cover?

The FLS workstream is looking at the following areas:

  • Car Parking
  • Sustainable transport and travel
  • Economic Development
    • Regeneration
    • Tourism
  • Housing
    • Management
    • Private Sector Housing
    • Enabling and Development
    • Homelessness, Housing Options and Prevention
    • Choice-based Lettings
  • Cultural Services - leisure
    • Arts
    • Built Facilities
    • Public Open Spaces
    • Sports & Health Development
    • Young People’s Facilities
  • Planning
    • Building Control
    • Development Control
    • Spatial Planning
  • Public Protection
  • Streetscene
  • Waste & Recycling
    • Waste data
    • Waste enforcement
    • Waste - promotional service project
    • Waste transition
    • Waste trasnformation
  • Land charges

Objectives

The aim is to understand, in a consistent way, how frontline services currently operate and what customers want. Tim Cooper has recently joined the Local Government Reform team as Benefits Realisation Manager and is assisting with baseline data and budgets.  The FLS Workstream Team and Board, led by Laurie Bell, Owner, and Graham Wilson, Manager, are working with staff from all five authorities to explore the pressures on individual services and prioritize the changes that will need to take place over the next 3-5 years. For some services this might mean radical transformation, for others it might mean mergers, and for others, little change if any.  Several frontline services have met the criteria for fast-track transition and this summer all services listed above will have prepared detailed reports to meet evolving governance requirements where necessary.

Change inevitably creates uncertainty, but members of staff across the five councils are already finding many positive challenges. A plan is emerging that paints a picture of how the new organisation is going to look, where your team will sit, who you will be working with and what will be done differently, including the way we interact with the public, the community and our partners. Frontline Services will be well prepared to accommodate the changes before the new authority comes into being in 2009, and thereafter.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Graham Wilson, or the relevant officer.

Contact Details

By Post

Frontline Services Workstream
North Wiltshire District Council
Monkton Park
Chippenham
Wiltshire
SN15 1ER

By Email
gwilson@northwilts.gov.uk

By Telephone

01249 706420