The opening words of Chief Executive Kenneth Lawrie made clear the important role the Make it Happen (MIH) Board has in helping the Council of the Future (CotF) programme deliver.

At its first meeting on June 5th, Kenneth described the board, which he chairs, as the “engine room” that would help inject “the energy and pace” needed to deliver change.

He said: “We have to be ambitious and challenging and not shirk our responsibilities as we all have a critical role to play and all our views are valid. This board - and the five workstream boards - are cross-cutting, adding value and weight to what we’re trying to achieve. I get the real sense the workstream boards will drive the Council of the Future programme forward and we will be the engine room injecting the energy and pace that we need.”

Set up following the launch of the Council’s five-year business plan, the MIH Board aims to track progress and address any issues that arise from the newly established workstream boards, escalating challenges to the CotF Board if required.

Stuart Ritchie, Director of Corporate & Housing Services and Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) of the CotF programme, reiterated the need for “honest and robust conversations” to ensure goals were met.

He said: “Our job is to check that we are not only delivering on the programme but stretching beyond it. We have to look outwards for new ideas and ways of working that aren’t currently contained within our business plan, and we need to ensure our workstream boards are also casting their eye wider. By doing that we will see opportunities for new projects and it will give us insight into strategies and approaches that have been successful elsewhere.

“It’s also the responsibility of this board to resolve issues that may arise within our workstreams. We cannot leave these meetings moaning and complaining about something we didn’t raise here.”

Comprised of the workstream SROs and Directors, the board went on to agree:

• The ten priority CotF project listed in the presentation would be the board’s main focus (see PDF below).
• Monthly project reports were essential to keep the board abreast of overall programme progress.
• Interdependencies of projects would clearly be mapped once all Project Management documentation was submitted by July 1st.
• CANs had been underutilised by Services and that more opportunities to get them involved had to be created. Recognition was given to the CAN event on June 21st as a positive step.

The next meeting of the MIH Board takes place on July 30th. 

Make it Happen Board papers (PDF, 722KB)