AUTUMN OF CHANGE FOR THE FALKLANDS
A Report for BBC World Service "Calling the Falklands" by Jenny Hargreaves (JH)
Autumn this year will be a real season of change for the Islands. Both the new Chief Executive, Chris Simpkins (CS), and the new General Manager of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation, Julian Morris (JM), will be arriving to take up their posts. We’ve already interviewed both of them briefly on this programme but given the important role they will be playing in the life of the Islands, we thought you’d like to hear more from them. The new Chief Executive, Chris Simpkins, an expert on Local Government, will be with you later this month. When I caught up with him, he was already in a whirl of preparation for departure. But he took the time to tell me how he’d got into Local Government in the first place. Chris Simpkins, I gathered, is the kind of man who likes to get on with things. Originally, he dreamed of being a sports teacher but when he left school at 18, the job that really took his fancy, was in Local Government in the Midlands. And, he took to it like a duck to water.
CS: Yes. In the sense that what I enjoyed so much was the variety, really. At that stage, I was working with very small Local Authorities. It was just the variety I got which was immense and extremely rewarding. And, I was working with some very good people.
JH: And then, at the age of 36, you were appointed South Holland District Council Chief Executive. I believe you were the youngest Chief Executive in the country.
CS: I was told at the time I was the youngest in the country. I had spent 14 years at a borough council in five different jobs over that time. It seemed like whenever I got restless and applied for jobs elsewhere, they promoted me internally. I was getting tremendous experience in the heady days when we were building 1,000 council houses a year and 1,000 private sector completions in the borough a year as well. It was a fantastic experience. That sort of pace of development just is unheard of these days in local Government. I ended up for a time as Deputy Town Clerk and, as you say, in 1988 was fortunate enough to be appointed Chief Executive here in South Holland.
JH: And, what sort of qualities do you find that that job of Chief Executive are called on?
CS: I think the Prime quality of being able to work with and through people. People often ask me what the job of a Chief Executive is and I understate it when I say that my role is about creating an environment in which others can excel. That’s basically it, I think. It is over-simplifying it but it is working through others and helping them to achieve their best. I guess, to a certain extent, it’s a bit like teaching in a way because you encourage students and young people to maintain and achieve their best. We’ve got over 300 people that we employ. It’s not huge by any means. Again, there is variety that falls across my desk. But what I’ve enjoyed is working with some very good people and working for some very good people.
JH: And, what sort of district is South Holland District Council? What sort of region were you taking on when you became Chief Executive there?
CS: My one concern when I came here when I came from the borough I mentioned a moment ago, was an authority that was extremely active in terms of its own development and the things it was doing. Coming to a very rural area, I was concerned about the words others were using about the need to change, the need to move on, etc. Was it lip service and was it really going to be a sleepy little backwater that really didn’t want anybody to rock any cosy boats? So, in accepting the position, whilst I was delighted to do so, I was somewhat nervous about whether or not I was going to get the stimulation. I am very happy to say that members gave me more than enough rope to hang myself a dozen times over, every single challenge that I put before them – and some were really quite big – they grasped with enthusiasm. It’s been a great buzz. Of course there have been times when there was despair a little bit and frustration. Any job’s like that. But for the majority, it’s been an exciting and challenging time. I’ve been here for fourteen years but I can honestly say that no month, no year has been like the previous one. There’s always a challenge. Not least, challenges imposed by Central Government and their own agenda but also the challenges which the Local Authority itself wants to rise to and respond to in terms of developing the community it serves.
JH: Now you, in fact, launched the first Rural Action Zone in the United Kingdom. What exactly did that entail?
CS: This was something we worked on very carefully and closely with our colleagues in the County Council and I want to emphasise that we couldn’t have done it without them. It wasn’t a question of one leading the other. We were doing this very much in partnership. I prefer to call it collaboration because I think that’s what it’s about. What we were saying was that we have an industry here, a very successful industry – the food industry – about 605 of our workforce in the district is employed in the food chains both in agriculture right the way through to distribution – distributing all this food produce around the country and to some extent, indeed, to Europe. Now if that food industry found, for a variety of reasons, that it got into difficulty and relocated, we would have the same levels of unemployment overnight that were experienced in the coal fields and steel producing areas in the country a decade or two ago. And, typically, when the local economy fails like that, it takes about 15 years to recover because of the change period that is required. What we were saying is that a little bit of attention now, hopefully, would avoid the potential for that happening in the future. We have a bit of an outdated economy in the sense that it is so reliant upon the food industry but we have full employment. And, whilst wage levels are typically somewhat below the National Average, I personally believe it’s better to have full employment and lower wages than high levels of earnings and high levels of unemployment. And, I think that’s evident in the local economy and the marketplace.
JH: Given this experience in South Holland District Council, what was it that appealed to you about the job in the Falkland Islands?
CS: An opportunity for adventure in part but I was absolutely fascinated by the description of the job because I had long felt that Shire Government in England is not terribly efficient because we’ve got division of responsibilities between County Councils and District Councils. And, of course, in the Falkland Islands, you’ve got very much a whole system of unitary Government because there is no separation between Local and Central Government. It is the Government. So, I was impressed with the opportunity to get involved in that whole system of Government and in the whole system of economic achievement, if you like. It was an absolute fascination to me and it was that that attracted me particularly.
JH: So, you are really looking forward to it?
CS: Oh, absolutely! It’s going to be an adventure. I have no illusions about that. If you like, I am casting away my comfort blanket of the UK and South Holland but I am really energised by the opportunity and really looking forward to it.
(100X Transcription Service)
