Our organisational responsibilities

All corporate directors, directors and senior managers have an explicit responsibility to deliver our collective agenda.

Council-wide responsibilities

We have a responsibility to:

seek to improve the lives of all residents in Kent and economy of Kent
act as corporate parent to the council’s looked after children
take an active role in promoting and ensuring the council’s responsibilities for safeguarding are met.
understand, communicate and contribute to the delivery of our strategic aims
meet statutory obligations and promote and ensure compliance with policies and procedures and the Council’s Code of Conduct (Kent Code).
advise elected members and support the democratic process
promote the Council brand and enhance the overall reputation of the Council
understand and monitor the measures of performance, including customer insight, which define successful outcomes for our services
maintain and ensure a relentless focus on the customer
support the council-wide need to deliver services within budget, thereby avoiding an overspend that could damage the financial viability of the council
overcome professional and service silos to achieve the county council’s objectives.

We will strive to:

focus resources where they have the biggest impact
deliver services that are flexible and adaptable
integrate services within the council and work with partner agencies to ensure a seamless customer experience
fully and inclusively engage all staff in the delivery of services, demonstrating the council’s leadership values and competencies.

We will achieve this by:

establishing an outcome focused organisation
meeting the financial regulations and standing orders of the council
challenging the status quo and engage with the market to constantly improve
ensuring all services are delivered effectively and efficiently
proactively and continuously seeking to improve service delivery
proactively managing risk to avoid inertia whilst not exposing the council to needless and avoidable challenge or loss.

We will manage change by:

understanding and supporting the Authority’s overall change agenda
delivering required outcomes of service specific change on time and to budget
understanding the quality of staff, support their development, nurture those with talent
identifying the skills for the future and the level of staff through robust workforce planning
identifying and deal with underperformance
delivering to agreed budget and income targets.