Borough’s top officer bows out with pride
Chief executive has been in position since 2005
WHEN Steve Atkinson took on the top job at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council nearly 12 years ago, the council offices were in Argents Mead, the leisure centre was on Trinity Lane, Brunel Road served a random mix of run-down buildings and much of the area around Hawley Road was wasteland.
Last week, as the retiring chief executive cleared his office at the Hinckley Hub, he left the town knowing he has had a hand in its dramatic regeneration which has provided people with outstanding shopping, leisure and entertainment facilities befitting of a 21st century borough.
But when he began work at Argents Mead in February 2005, after serving as chief executive of his home town Daventry District Council since 2000, he didn’t expect to stay much beyond two years.
With a lack of co-operation between top officers and members, and the authority struggling to be graded “fair” in the 2004 Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment, his initial mission was to steady the ship and point it in a more favourable direction.
By the end of his first year the council had adopted the Masterplan which eventually paved the way for The Crescent, Hinckley Hub, Hinckley Leisure Centre, North Warwickshire and Hinckley College campus and the revitalised Atkins Building, and new goals emerged.
In 2008, after a concerted effort by staff and members, the Audit Commission graded the authority “excellent” and eight years later a peer challenge by the Local Government Association praised its “enthusiastic and passionate” staff.
Such achievements mean as much to Mr Atkinson as the bricks and mortar developments that now define Hinckley as a happening town.
He is keen to point out that customer satisfaction - based on resident surveys - is now way above 80 percent and better than ever.
Achievements he is most proud of include the development of a child safeguarding strategy for Leicestershire and Rutland; the creation of the borough’s Endeavour team which allows for joint working between council, police and social service workers to combat issues like anti-social behaviour; the Light Bulb Project, which works to keep older people safe at home and avoid unecesssary stays in hospital; and the establishment of partnership working with neighbouring district councils in which Hinckley and Bosworth takes the lead on matters of IT and revenues and benefits.
The 62-year-old Oxford graduate (in politics, philosophy and economics) from Preston, with a local government background in personnel and human resources, has always valued human assets above bricks and mortar.
He said: “We’ve always had brilliant staff but when I arrived people at the top, officers and members, weren’t working together.
“There was a lot of infighting.
“Now what makes this authority work is a lot of goodwill.”
And much of that goodwill appears to have been generated by his inclusive approach and open-door policy, which has seen staff throughout his tenure welcome to step into his office, variously adorned over the years with pictures of him and his wife, Jen, an homage to Manchester United and his musical hero Beethoven.
Dad to two grown-up sons and grandfather to four, with another on the way, he is now looking forward to spending more time with family while continuing to work by offering his skills and experience on a consultancy basis.
He will continue a personal commitment as acting chairman of Emmaus Leicestershire and Rutland, the Hinckley-based charity supporting homeless and disaffected adults, until a permanent appointment is made and then he will drive away from the town for good.
“I won’t be sitting in the stands like Ferguson,” he said.
“I’ve told Bill (Cullen, his successor) once I’ve gone, I won’t come back.
“If I do, I’ll see all the good things that are happening and feel jealous that I am not doing it.”