Welcome

Dear Candidate

Thank you for showing interest in the Deputy Chief Finance Officer role.

West Sussex CC is on a significant improvement journey.

Becky Shaw, our Chief Executive, was appointed by the new political leadership 18 months ago as part of an innovative local improvement partnership with East Sussex, a Department for Education (DfE) commissioned report into the council had found broad governance failures after an inadequate Ofsted judgement on children’s services and significant challenges in the council’s fire & rescue service.

Many of those issues have been tackled, so much so, that the DfE has paused plans to put children’s services into a separate children’s trust. Everyone involved with WSCC understands that there is still a long way to go, but the County Council is now unquestionably on the right trajectory.

We have responded well to the pandemic, developed a robust corporate plan in place and aligned our budget process to ensure the budget supports the council’s clear priorities, including the recovery from the pandemic.

West Sussex councillors are ambitious and want to ensure money is spent on their priorities maximising outcomes for residents. Value for money is a key principle underpinning our council plan to ensure we maximise our spending power. As Deputy Chief Finance Officer, working with the senior leadership team and members, you will be leading on setting a sustainable budget that meets our aspirations.

We have many exciting projects on the go, such as a new property joint venture company, improvement programmes in children’s services and fire and rescue services and implementing a new ERP system (SAP to Oracle Fusion) enabling a significant step change in how we deliver the finance function. Finance leadership is essential on these projects and you will be supported by an experienced finance team that is valued by the business.

I hope you decide to apply for the Deputy Chief Finance Officer role. West Sussex CC offers a great opportunity to apply your skills and expertise to the council’s improvement journey.

Katharine Eberhart – Director of Finance and Support Services