VIP enjoys 'capital' visit to Worcestershire

Worcestershire was visited by an influential VIP last week.

Baroness Hanham CBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), took a tour of the county on Thursday, February 2. 

Organised by Worcestershire County Council's Property Service team, the visit follows the launch of the council's major capital and assets programme (CAPs) last year (June 2012).  Worcestershire is one of six pilot counties in England to introduce a programme of working with partners to make better use of its property management and ownership. 

During the visit, the Baroness was joined by Adrian Hardman, Leader of Worcestershire County Council and Trish Haines, Chief Executive to see the Worcestershire Hub in Evesham.  Hub manager Margaret Gromley took the VIP group on a tour to view the one stop service for council services and other public sector services in Worcestershire such as the town and district councils and the police.

 The visitors were then taken to Worcester to inspect progress at The Hive.  This is the first integrated University and Public Library in Europe and will also house the County Archive and Record Office, the county's Archaeology Service and a multi agency customer contact centre.

Baroness Hanham CBE also took part in a top-level meeting of key decision-makers during the visit. Representatives from all partner organsations and local leaders discussed the programme achievements to date, further opportunities and any barriers facing them as well as how the government could help Worcestershire's communities further.

Baroness Hanham said: "I was delighted to have had the opportunity to see the excellent progress Worcestershire County Council has made with its work on capital assets. The Hub illustrated the value that can be gained by bringing together several Public Services in one place and the impressive Hive was an excellent example of how working with other public bodies, such as the University of Worcester, that outstanding projects can be achieved".

Councillor Adrian Hardman, Chair of the Worcestershire Partnership and Leader of Worcestershire County Council, said: "It was a pleasure to welcome Baroness Hanham to Worcestershire and show her our Capital & Asset Pathfinder work.  The Government's focus on Worcestershire reflects our status as a pioneering county.

"We have a successful track record of partnership working and I'm confident our visitors will be impressed with progress so far. Our approach to managing existing buildings as well new constructions are truly leading the way towards achieving greater community benefit through better use of property and assets throughout the county.

The Capital and Asset Pathfinder scheme is a major partnership project based on the principles of sharing resources and reducing costs and overheads.  The key objectives is to make better use of public assets, to release underperforming buildings for sale and to align services across organisational boundaries to share support services, reduce overheads and remove duplication.

It has been promoted by DCLG and delivered locally through the Worcestershire Partnership.