An exclusive with John van de Laarschot, Chief Exec at Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Jonathan: In that private sector you were a very successful businessman. A lot of significant management positions with Pepsi Cola in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Why did you give that up to go and work for local councils?

John: I went through a transitionary period. We'd been overseas for about 10 years. My eldest son at the time was probably about 11. He had been to 10 schools. My eldest daughter is a couple of years younger and we got to the point where it seemed to be sensible to start thinking about their education and bringing them back to the UK. We came back to the UK and I did a fair amount of consultancy work which was really enjoyable and then I got incredibly miffed with my local authority who I felt were not providing the level of service that you might expect. I didn't have a social bone in my body to be perfectly fair, but felt that there might be an opportunity for some private sector leadership/management philosophy to be embedded into a local authority. That's what got me into the journey of local government.

The Stoke-on-Trent Council He Inherited

Jonathan: Previously you were at Torridge council and you transformed it, according to the Audit Commission performance rating, from poor to good. When you arrived in Stoke-on-Trent the council had just gone through two Chief Exec's in quick succession, Chris Harman who was the interim one and before that Steve Robinson, plus we'd just come through seven years of an Elected Mayor system leading the council. What was your opinion and personal rating of the legacy that had been left for you to build on?

John: The only way is up, I think is probably the way to describe it.

Jonathan: So you saw it as poor?

John: It isn't brilliant is it? I mean just look at the legacy and look at the history. It's a city council that's been beset by difficulties; difficulties in terms of coherent political leadership and sound management supporting that political leadership. It's a council that operates in a city that hasn't done particularly well over the last 10 or 20 years in terms of regeneration and driving inward investment. It's a city that's got an awful lot of social and economic issues that need to be resolved. So, when I say the only way is up I am absolutely a firm believer that if we can get strong political leadership, supported by great management and a really slick operation here in the council, then we can truly hope to transform the city for all those that live and work here.

Jonathan: You weren't phased by the challenge, you saw that as something that inspired you to take it on, did you?

John: I guess I am a bit of a masochist to be fair, because I'm not very good when you get to a status quo and you're into micro management. I'm much more comfortable with step change and macro change where you can really see some tangible benefits at the end of it all.

The First 15 Months

Jonathan: Your original declaration was to 'accelerate the transformation of the council into an effective authority that listens to the needs of the people, exceeds expectations and truly delivers for the communities it serves'. In just over a year what have you identified as the foundational steps to get this in motion?

John: We're not there yet, that I have to acknowledge; but in terms of building an effective and a confident outward looking council that serves the people and communities and businesses in the city, I would argue that the council is much more transparent than it has been in a long time. The budget consultation was probably the most transparent in the council's short term history. We went out very early to our communities, to our stakeholders, saying, "these are the issues and challenges that we face, what do you think about them; give us your point of view and we will try and react to that point of view".

The difficulty within that sort of leadership role is you can't satisfy everybody's needs. Our councillors have had to take some very difficult choices in coming to terms with it, but it's all been above board and everyone has had the opportunity to make their views known.

Over the last 12 months under the political leadership of Councillor Pervez, I think we've had stable politics, which I think is really helpful. To hear both members of the administration and the opposition stand up in the Chamber and say this is about the city first and politics second, is a real good endorsement of their commitment to start to change and to drive this city forward.