Nick Oliver is Conservative Councillor for Corbridge and Cabinet Member responsible for Corporate Services at Northumberland County Council.  For the Friday Mail update this week, Nick reflects on how the Northumberland Conservatives have focussed on getting the basics right in order to better serve local communities across the county:

‘As Cabinet member for Corporate Services my portfolio includes many of the central functions of the Northumberland County Council – some of them shared with the Leader Peter Jackson. I am involved in a wide ranging, interesting, and sometimes challenging (!) portfolio, which includes council finance, HR, communications, digital, as well as some less obvious areas such as the Coroners Service, weddings, and fisheries. It all makes for a steep learning curve, a fascinating job and is a huge privilege. 

‘Many people do not realise just what a large organisation Northumberland County Council is – it employs thousands of people and has a budget of £780m each year. The work of the Council touches our lives in many ways and is constantly challenged to deliver increasingly complex services within tight budgets.

‘When Northumberland Conservatives took on the running of the Council in May last year it quickly became clear we faced some serious challenges – it must be said, many because of flawed decision making by the administration we replaced.  For example, many of you will have read recently about the governance issues facing the council development company Arch. 

‘But Northumberland Conservatives were elected with a clear mandate for change and we have already delivered many of our key manifesto promises and are close to delivering the rest. 

‘To address some of the fundamental challenges facing a large county with complex characteristics we need to get the basics right. We now have a great senior team in place and are optimistic we can deliver what the people of Northumberland elected us to do.’