Maidstone Council as a business? Peter Erlam reports on the Town Hall debate


THE chief executive of Leeds Castle has accused Maidstone Council of “spoiling my business”. Speaking in a Town Hall debate about the council’s role in business, Victoria Wallace ob- served that the borough stages an open-air prom concert and so does the castle. “The difference is I charge £35 a ticket and


Council ‘hampering’ Leeds Castle success ‘We must boost


you don’t charge at all. Why do you do it…[when] people willingly pay for tickets?” she wondered. “Either you, as a council, are providing cul-


tural services for free to the public and that’s part of a programme. In which case, you should find a distinctive niche market. “But don’t compete head-on with me. It spoils


my business and undermines the value of that concert. £35 sounds awfully expensive if all you want is a picnic, a drink and fireworks. “It’s the same with the theatre and the sports centre. There are a number of things you already do in competition with other businesses. But you are perhaps not valuing them as you should. Perhaps you should charge £20 a ticket.” Ms Wallace believes the council already


does run a business to a degree, via its leisure centre and theatre. After observations were made about the Town Hall, she stressed that if she had such a “great hall” she would “scrub it up, put in fresh carpets and hire it out for wed- ding receptions”. The council could be making some money from that, but only if it com- peted on a “level playing field” with others in the wedding industry. Council leader Chris Garland agreed with the point. “Yes, this building could be opened up as a mortgage shop to provide annual rental. It would not be competing but providing extra capacity for the mar- ket. Where we have empty capacity, we bring in the private sector tomake profit for themselves and some in-


Leeds Castle CEO VictoriaWallace


come for the local authority.” Individuals have also expressed interest in opening a coffee shop in the Town Hall’s ground-floor reception area, now that the tourist information desk has moved to the museum. But there was less enthusiasm for the council competing with established firms in the town. Cllr Garland said: “When it starts to sell serv-


ices in a stagnant economy I get extremely con- cerned. There are ways councils can generate money between themselves but we should not encroach on the private sector.


THE debate began at the council’s own front door – and then focused on the Town Hall chamber itself.


Members had invited key business figures to a scrutiny committee to discuss ‘The council as a business?’.


Discussion initially centred on whether the agenda item meant adopting a “business-like” approach or referred to selling services, or a combination of both.


Ironically, when councillors and business leaders arrived for the meeting, they were greeted by a “tacky” note on the Town Hall’s closed doors, explaining that services had moved. “Not very business-like,” commented one.


The castle aviary is to close in 2012


Exotic birds to fly the nest LEEDS Castle trustees have decided to close the aviary, citing that it is no longer a sustainable part of the castle’s activities. Visitors will be able to view the large collection of exotic birds until around April next year. Six bird-keepers will be made redundant, but they will be of- fered a package or alternative employ- ment on the estate. There are currently 100 pairs of birds ranging from parrots, through kook- aburras and toucans, to avocets. About half the birds are not owned by the cas- tle but are on loan from other collec- tions. They will be returned. Leeds Castle chief executive Victoria


Wallace explained that such collec- tions, which are focused on conserva- tion rather than entertainment, are difficult to maintain without the back- ing of a major zoological institution. The castle’s collection of water fowl


and peacocks, which roam freely through the grounds, are unaffected.


28 Town


ELAINE Collins, chairman of Marden Busi- ness Forum and the Network of Rural Busi- ness Forums, an organisation of some 430 members, said they were concerned when the agenda – entitled ‘The council as a business?’ – arrived “If you started pro- ducing road sweepers (as does Scarab, based in Marden), that would be directly competing with the private sector.” She suggested the council should get an outside consultant for a month to take a fresh look at it as a busi- ness, “quite harshly and without bias”. But Cllr Garland replied that Maidstone


council income’ LIB Dem leader Fran Wil- son (pictured) said the council must explore ways of boosting its income. “If not, we


will become a tiny organisa- tion doing a few basic services. You can’t keep re- ducing staff forever and you can’t maintain services at their current level if you can’t generate income. “It’s time we had a real


dose of reality about what is happening with boroughs up and down the country. We have to start generating income. Clearly the bor- ough can always improve in the way it runs itself.” Cllr Wilson added: “We


have to wise up to the fact that [under proposed legis- lation] the council are being actively encouraged to run themselves as a business and thatmeans income gen- eration. “We should not be in di-


rect competition with our local businesses but I think there are areas where we could sell things we are al- ready doing.”


‘Don’t compete with the private sector’


erated by the private sector and we have a support role. Get the relationship right and you will have efficient public and pri- vate sectors.” Cllr Garland added: “We should be look- ing to be more efficient. Revenue support (from the Government) is de- clining. Five years ago, the council budget was £21.5m-£22m, now it is £19.1m. “A lot of money is


The Scarab Sweepers site in Marden


had squeezed £500,000 out of various budgets by sharing services with neigh- bouring councils. For the past four years, it had also had a business improvement unit looking at reducing council processes. He said: “The reality is that profit is gen-


LOCAL estate agency di- rector John Taylor told the meeting that the byword of any business is ‘efficiency’. “If you are efficient in everything you do, you will be an efficient local


being taken out of the public sector, though there’s been no great degradation in quality. The cost to taxpayers has been reduced. That


is a route we should continue to follow.” Economic development manager John


Foster said the council’s role should be “to create the right conditions for economic development. “That is our number one priority,” he


said. ‘Efficiency’ the byword for business success


authority, and efficient in serving the people you rep- resent. “The watchword of the


draft Core Strategy is growth. But itwon’t be you who provides growth, it


will be the private sector.” And hewarned the coun-


cil about it competingwith the local economy. “If you do that, businesses will turn away in droves.”


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