At the start of 2024 it’s brilliant Shropshire has hit the headlines for all the right reasons. To make the Association of British Travel Agent’s top 10 global holiday destinations to watch is amazing. It also gives us a tremendous platform on our quest to take the Sh out of Shropshire!
We look forward to welcoming holidaymakers from across the world to our beautiful county. As the only UK destination to make the list, it reinforces our growth in visitor numbers as well as in inward investment as we proudly take our place alongside Crete, Mauritius and Vietnam as must-go places to see and enjoy.
Whilst ABTA is doing their bit to shout about Shropshire as a place, I’m also doing my bit to shout about Shropshire as a local authority. That’s because I believe we’re right up there as one of the best in the country … and this is why.
It’s no secret that Shropshire Council, alongside authorities up and down the country, need to reduce its budgets. For us it’s saving £62m during the new financial year to get onto a more sustainable footing. No small task and certainly not for the faint hearted.
But we’re taking the challenge head on. It’s no secret that we’re using it as a catalyst for change and we’re excited about the opportunities opening up for us.
Are we transforming? No because as an organisation we still exist to look after people and support communities. Are we doing things differently? Yes because we recognise that a traditional top-down dictate doesn’t work. We need every part of the organisation to be with us and build on the agility that was harvested through the pandemic. Standing still isn’t an option.
That’s why we invested in a radical programme, designed specifically for us, called Getting Leadership Right. Already it’s seen hundreds of our staff develop leadership, rather than management, skills helping them understand that empowerment and innovation is a good thing, not a risk. It’s shown them that through working together towards a common ambitious goal is both achievable and necessary.
So collectively we’ve recognised that to become a modern, efficient and sustainable council there are some services we simply must deliver differently. That’s why we’re driving towards an evidence led, community focused approach, where our intelligence lasers in on people and places that really need our support and resources. In a county the size and complexity of Shropshire that’s quite a task and its where our rejuvenated colleagues and well-established community connections come into their own.
Perhaps that’s why ‘system innovation’ will become the new normal over the next few years for a confident and capable council like here in Shropshire.