Derby is a safe, compact city with a clearly-defined centre and distinct, cosmopolitan neighbourhoods. With an internationally recognised industrial heritage and now one of the world’s leading aerospace cities, it has a strong identity and yet is surrounded by beautiful countryside. The city itself includes over 800 hectares of municipal parks and the river Derwent flows right through the centre.
We have been a unitary Council since 1997. We employ over 12,500 people and are now the largest single employer in the city. A significant number of these employees work in Environmental Services and are dedicated to maintaining and developing the core infrastructure of our busy city.
The department has three divisions: Environmental Health and Trading Standards, Facilities Management and Local Environment. Together they cover such diverse services as waste management, parks, sport and leisure including 5 Council-run sports centres, schools caretaking and catering, grounds maintenance and fleet management.
One of the Council’s priorities is to ‘lead Derby towards a better environment’ and Environmental Services has a key role to play in delivering this priority for the people of the city. For example, we are working in partnership with Derbyshire County Council to procure a new £450 million waste management contract disposal site. This will make sure that the city’s waste can be disposed of in a way which minimises the continuing strain on land-fill disposal. We have also recently increased recycling rates to make us one of the best performing Unitary Councils in the Country with a rate of 33% of household waste recycled.
Another of the Council’s priorities that the department works hard to deliver is that of ‘helping us all to be healthy, active and independent’. This isn’t just about running 5 vibrant and successful sports centres. We have a track record of attracting funding for sports development work and are currently running an internationally recognised campaign to get more young people in the city active. The b-active campaign is part of our Public Health Strategy which we have developed in partnership with the Derby City Primary Care Trust – an approach typical of working in Derby and leading the way nationally.
There is innovation in the work that is the bread and butter of this department too. Our street cleaning service now has specialist teams across the city that are working hand in hand with our partnership ‘neighbourhood teams’. These neighbourhood teams are made up of officers from the police, fire service, community safety partnership, Derby Homes (the arm’s length management organisation which manages the Council’s housing stock) and the Council. The role of our teams in this localised setting is to deliver a super-responsive service to street-cleaning, graffiti, fly-tipping and other environmental crime.
We always have an eye on the quality of our services too. As a four-star excellent Council it is important that we maintain high standards across the board and as a department we have achieved both QA and Environmental Standard accreditations (ISOs 9001 and 14001).
Working in partnership is key to delivering our priorities. The Council plays an important role in the Derby City Partnership which has been working for over ten years to improve the quality of life for the people of Derby. The Environmental Services Department is involved in the partnership in many aspects of its work. We recently won a partnership contract with Derby Homes on repairs and maintenance. We have successfully implemented the smoke-free and liquor licensing legislation with strong trade and business engagement and support. Our successful refurbishment through Lottery grants of England’s first purpose-built public park, the Arboretum, was only possible by working in partnership with local residents and community organisations.
Our vision is for Derby to be a ‘city for all ages’, a city where people of all ages and from all walks of life will feel they belong to Derby and that Derby offers them everything they need - for work, education, housing, leisure and a safe, healthy lifestyle. The Environmental Services Department has a lot to contribute to this vision. The role of Corporate Director is not only responsible for the operational running of a complex organisation. The successful candidate will work confidently across the city’s partnership and will give a strategic lead to making Derby’s environment fit for our 21st Century city.