Benjamin Brook Email & Phone Number

Benfleet, England, United Kingdom

Responsible for:- providing clear, authentic and inspirational leadership to the strategy policy & performance, information technology and customer services teams- providing support and advice to the Chief Executive, Directors, Portfolio Holders and Elected Members- assessing opportunities to drive value for money, improve customer service, (both internal and external customers), to drive forward the organisational strategy and Member vision for Castle Point- translating and implementing the strategic goals of the council into operational delivery- developing policy and data to support decision making across the council- identifying opportunities for improvement and innovation and ensuring the council is adopting a digital first approach to service delivery (and project sponsor for implementation of a new Customer Relationship Management CRM system)- working collaboratively with the team of Assistant Directors to drive the council’s change and organisational effectiveness agendaAccountable for:- Customer Services including the contact centre- Digital Transformation of the council’s services- Information technology unit- Strategy, policy and performance

Benfleet, Essex

- Organisational lead for strategy and policy development; business planning; performance management; strategic partnerships, inc. communities and health; projects; risk; and corporate governance- Extensive collaborative working with Leader, Deputy Leader and Cabinet across a range of policy areas, including Levelling Up and UK Shared Prosperity Fund- Council representative and Chair of the Healthy Neighbourhoods Partnership, part of the South East Essex Alliance, working with partners across local government, health and the community & voluntary sectors to address health inequalities- Covid-19 operational response lead, providing systems leadership across public, community, faith, and voluntary sectors to support residents during the pandemic and through phases of recovery- Worked with NHS to facilitate provision of an effective local vaccination programme delivered through GP surgeries and mass vaccination centre- Deputy Returning Officer (Elections)

Chelmsford, United Kingdom

- Lead bid writer to secure £100m funding for transport infrastructure in north Essex to unlock the development of 7,500 new homes- Designed a whole-system view of the housing supply pipeline to improve understanding of where Essex County Council and partners can directly and indirectly influence housing delivery- Developed and implemented an Essex-wide performance dashboard to understand delivery issues and prioritise interventions- Produced an analysis of the applicability and effectiveness of levers to maximise developer financial contributions towards infrastructure- Wrote a range of briefing papers covering the Housing White Paper, Modern Methods of Construction and the Independent (Letwin) Review of Build Out

Chelmsford, United Kingdom

- Strategy and analytical support to key internal clients, including the CEO, Director of Housing & Property and Head of Planning- Designed an organisation-wide strategic planning framework, including the development of the organisation strategy and business plans- Developed a new performance management framework, working closely with colleagues in Intelligence & Insight and Organisational Development & People- Provided analysis and recommendations to the corporate leadership team on governance structures resulting in rationalisation of strategic decision-making boards- Developed a forward plan for meetings of the CEO and his leadership team and chosen to act as secretariat for these meeting setting agendas, tracking actions and ensuring quality and relevance of reports- Led on the consultation response to the Housing White Paper, working with the Cabinet Member and planning colleagues- Representative at the Essex Policy and Performance Network and South East Strategic Leaders Policy Group

London

- Leadership role in the successful delivery of the referendum on UK Membership of the European Union, Police and Crime Commissioner elections, Local Government elections and London elections- Relationship management of senior external stakeholders, particularly in the context of planned elections and the referendum on UK Membership of the European Union- Organisational lead for maintaining, monitoring against, and measuring the effectiveness of the Commission’s performance standards frameworks to support improvement in the delivery of elections/referendums and electoral registration- Coordinated the production of a series of case studies to share best practice in electoral registration across the electoral services community- Provided leadership to both the Performance Standards and English Regional Teams (5 managers as direct reports, total of 13 employees)- Managed a revenue budget of £500k

Chelmsford, United Kingdom

- Led a high-performing and motivated team who were well regarded by internal and external customers and who produced a variety of high-profile reports, including the leadership team performance report, corporate health and workforce analytics- Employed tact and diplomacy to ensure that performance reports provided an appropriate level of challenge and assurance- Undertook briefings with senior managers and councillors to advise on performance issues and provided consultancy support when developing new reports for the organisation (e.g. People and Culture, Corporate Governance, Traded Services, Essex Partnership)- Implemented a strategic performance framework to support the delivery of strategic outcomes- Delivered a review of productivity across council services to identify the areas of business in need of efficiency improvements- Designed and implemented a mentoring scheme to ensure that colleagues across the department continued to develop and fulfil their potential

Castle Point Borough, United Kingdom

- Demonstrated front-line leadership capabilities through operational and supervisory management of the Housing Service (housing needs, allocations and landlord services)- Led a programme of change to transform the customer experience, efficiency and effectiveness of the service using a range of improvement techniques, including business process re-engineering- Project management of IT system development to support more efficient working practices and move to a choice-based lettings system of allocating housing- Client role for delivery of services under a £800k per year reactive repairs contract and £600k of capital improvement works- Nominated by peers as Chair of the Operational Management Team and undertook the role for 12 months

Castle Point Borough, United Kingdom

- Transformed the organisation’s performance management culture, facilitated by implementation of an integrated business intelligence technology solution – including training and ongoing system support – to ensure effective execution of the corporate strategy- Lead for performance reporting and analysis to the Corporate Leadership Team and Cabinet- Implemented a performance framework for the Local Strategic Partnership- Reformed the business planning arrangements across all departments- Produced guidance documents for project management and business process re-engineering- Lead contact for external regulatory inspections and specialist for the managing performance elements of inspections- Chosen by the CEO to facilitate politically sensitive workshops with councillors to develop priorities for the corporate plan

Chelmsford, United Kingdom

- Maintained ISO 9001:2000 accreditation for department’s quality management system- Achieved Charter Mark status for the department in recognition of customer service excellence- Lead for service plan and performance measure development and tracking- Provided analysis for and supported development of housing and homelessness strategies

Chelmsford, United Kingdom

- Improved organisational focus on performance management by designing and implementing a management information system for the CEO- Refreshed the corporate plan- Improved service delivery by supporting a series of Best Value reviews and inspections

London, United Kingdom

Kashima, Japan

Post Graduate Diploma, Local Government Management

Master Of Arts - Ma, Study Of Contemporary Japan (Degree Awarded By University Of Essex), Distinction

Master Of Arts - Ma, Study Of Contemporary Japan, Distinction

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Economics And Industrial Studies, 2(I)