Welcome

Dear Colleague,

I am very pleased that you have expressed an interest in becoming a Programme Manager at the London Borough of Havering.

These are exciting, yet challenging times for the Council and its residents. As an organisation we have much that we can be proud of. Despite a toughening of our inspection regime, we retained an overall rating of three-out-of-four from the Audit Commission in 2009. The Care Quality Commission praised significant improvements in our Adult Social Care Services, with a performing 'well' rating. And in our last Borough wide residents' survey, satisfaction with many services has improved, as well as our score for value for money.

Our challenge will be to continue to deliver vital services that people rely on, with reduced funding for the public sector.

Like other councils, Havering is looking at ways in which it can run services in an even more cost effective way over the next few years. Significant efficiency savings have already been made. Our goal is to find further efficiencies, whilst still protecting vital services.

To do this, we are developing a Transformation Programme. This programme looks at ways to save money, whilst still meeting residents' needs.

At the heart of plans to transform the way the Council works are the needs of its customers. That's where you come in. We're looking for Programme Managers to run our overall Transformation Programme and stand alone programmes within the overall transformation.

These posts will:

Increase co-ordination to develop more effective customer responses and community engagement;
Drive the change management transformation and efficiency agenda.

Individually you will help drive an ambitious transformation agenda to bring about the change needed to meet the shape of future services.

Working closely with our Group Directors and Assistant Directors, these posts are key appointments in the Council. We are looking for high calibre candidates with the experience and skills to take on highly demanding roles. The people we appoint will join a committed and clearly focused team that continues to strive for success and continuous improvement.

The Council is committed to achieving its ambition to improve the quality of life for local people.
Many of its services are top-quartile. Some are amongst the best in the country.

Perhaps most importantly, Havering has an increasingly buoyant, "can-do" attitude. It is open, candid and willing to learn. It knows its faults as well as its virtues. There is plenty of work to do but the staff know that they have secured improvement and that they can produce the best.

We are looking for four Programme Managers who can build on what has already been achieved and implement our ambitious Transformation Programme; people with the drive and ambition to take us to the next level in terms of commitment – and make Havering a byword for excellence. If this sounds like your kind of challenge I would love to hear from you.

Good Luck.

Cheryl Coppell
Chief Executive