The job, the challenges and the achievements: Manchester's chief executive talks
Manchester city council’s Chief Executive Joanne Roney received a CBE in the King's New Year's Honour List for services to local government. This follows an OBE in 2009. She's now a Commander of the British Empire.
To quote the official release: “She is among a list of people who the King has honoured for the part they have played in making a difference in their communities. The honour follows a lifetime’s public service in both local council and in national advisory roles."
Joanne became Manchester's first female chief executive in 2017.
But what the hell does a Chief Executive of a city council do? We asked her this and other questions about the role and her time in Manchester.
Q) Please define the role of chief executive of a town or city?
A) Manchester City Council is a large and complex organisation with around 7,600 staff (headcount figure - around 6,900 Full Time Equivalent) and annual spending power of over £1.1 billion (including capital and revenue budgets).
It has a wide range of responsibilities from the services you see in your neighbourhoods such as waste collection and recycling, road maintenance and running parks and libraries through to child protection and adult social care, overseeing housing policy and tackling homelessness to setting the strategic course for the city’s economic growth, work and skills development, action to address climate change and addressing health inequalities through Making Manchester Fairer.
As the head of the paid service, the chief executive’s role is to work with the elected political leadership and my senior management team to oversee and deliver the Council’s strategic priorities while supporting the effective operation of day-to-day services.
I also work closely with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), made up of the 10 Greater Manchester authorities including Manchester City Council, on issues being dealt with at a city region-wide level such as transport and devolution. In particular, I lead on the skills portfolio which is about ensuring GM residents have skills and training opportunities which are aligned with the needs of the region’s growing businesses.
I am also Place Base Lead for Manchester within Greater Manchester Integrated Care, working with partners in the NHS to integrate health and care services within neighbourhoods.
Q) The bureaucracy in local government can be excessive, if predictably so: how have you managed in your leadership roles to break through this to make a difference?
A) I don’t think that the bureaucracy is excessive, although I appreciate it may sometimes seem like that from the outside. We have both complex legal responsibilities which we have to discharge and accountability to the public which means we need to be transparent in our decision-making and have effective governance. These responsibilities always have to be balanced carefully alongside our determination to get things done for the benefit of Manchester people.
At Manchester City Council, I have continued to develop a culture where the focus is on outcomes rather than process – in short an ambitious and confident place determined to get things done for the benefit of the city and its residents. So it’s been about empowering people to take measured risks and not be afraid to innovate, but also recognising that we could do more to streamline processes and be as efficient as possible in a growing city with a diverse and complex resident base.
Q) List three things of which you are proud of achieving in your leadership roles.
A) I’m keen to stress that anything we achieve as a Council is very much the product of a collective effort – by elected members, staff and often partner organisations, businesses and the voluntary and community sector as well.
During my time as chief executive, the city has continued to be on a course of sustained growth – both in population and economic and employment terms. In the last decade or so the population of the city has increased around 100,000 from 503,000 in 2011 to an estimated 607,000 now. At the same time, the number of people employed in the city has increased from 330,000 to 426,000.and Manchester is regularly named in global lists of the best places to visit.
In a competitive world, Manchester has really reinforced its position as a place where people want to be and that’s something the whole city can be proud of.
We’ve seen significant improvements to crucial services including our Children’s Services which are now rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, having been found inadequate in 2014.
On an organisational level, I am proud that we are making progress to tackle structural inequalities and make sure that our workforce at all level more closely reflects the make-up of the city we serve. I was pleased to see Manchester City Council recognised in The Sunday Times Top 100 not-for-profit organisations to work for in 2020 and awarded Council of the Year in 2022 by the Local Government Chronicle.
A) What are the challenges for Manchester in 2024?
Q) At the risk of sounding like a broken record, funding continues to be a major challenge across the local government sector. While due to sound financial management over the years we are not in the same position as many councils which have either declared themselves effectively bankrupt through section 114 notices or warned that they may have to, our government funding has not kept pace with inflation, a growing population and demand for services. Manchester has been particularly badly hit since 2010. We have had to make £443m of savings in that period to cope with funding cuts and unfunded pressures and there need to be urgent reforms to local government funding to ensure it is sustainable in the long term.
An ongoing challenge for the city is ensuring that the growth we are achieving as a city is inclusive and that everyone is in a position to share in Manchester’s success. From a skills perspective, that means having clearer pathways both from schools and for adults to jobs and other opportunities. Our Making Manchester Fairer plan is addressing long-term inequalities in the city and tackling interconnected issues such as poverty and health.
Q) The CBE is for a national contribution. Please could elaborate a little upon this.
A) At a national level, I continue to work with senior officials on national policy and its impact on Manchester.
I was President of Solace [Society of Local Authority Chief Executives] between 2020 and 2022, where I focused on leadership development and addressing inequalities in order to ensure that each Local Authority workforce represents the communities that we serve. In 2021, I was recognised by the Municipal Journal as local government Chief Executive of the Year. Most recently, in late 2022 I became a board member of the Whitehall & Industry Group, who aim to foster ties and learning between the public and private sectors.
Q) We deal a lot with food and drink at Manchester Confidential. Have you any favourite food and drink venues?
A) I have a flat in the city centre and love going out in a number of places. I have some favourites. For a glass of wine, a meeting or a post-work catch-up there's Salut which also does a good cheese and charcuterie board. Then there are favourite winter pubs such as the Briton's Protection. Summer would be a rooftop or canalside outdoor place such as Caffe Grande Piccolino for lunch or a working breakfast. Then there's El Rincon or San Carlo, Sam's and Hawksmoor. I like San Juan in Chorlton too. Cocktails would be Schofield's, that's a great place to hide on a rainy Sunday.
Joanne Roney biography
Chief Executive of Manchester City Council since April 2017, Joanne Roney CBE has helped guide the Council through one of the most difficult periods in its history.
Beginning her long career in public service at the age of 16 in Birmingham, she made history when she joined Manchester City Council, becoming the first woman to hold the position of Chief Executive.
Joanne was previously Chief Executive of Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council, where she held the top post from 2008.
She has a strong track record in transforming public services and delivering major regeneration initiatives such as the Hepworth Gallery Wakefield and Parkhill Housing in Sheffield. She has extensive experience in housing and local government having previously worked as Director of Housing at Kirklees Council and Executive Director with responsibility for housing, communities and adult care services at Sheffield City Council. Joanne is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
During her near seven-year tenure in Manchester, Joanne has been faced with immense challenges including the aftermath of the Arena Bombing, and the response to the Covid-19 Pandemic during which Manchester was forced to navigate one of the longest periods of restrictions imposed on a local authority.
Joanne’s priority whilst in Manchester has been to sustain growth and regeneration, whilst ensuring that growth is spread fairly and equally throughout all of the city’s communities. In particular Joanne has focused on the wellbeing of young people and delivering integrated neighbourhood-based services across Manchester to improve local health outcomes. In 2022, Joanne became the place-based lead for Manchester within the Greater Manchester Integrated Care System.
Joanne served as the President of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE) in 2020-2022.
She is also Trustee of the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund and Chair of the Manchester Memorials Trust.
In September 2021, Joanne was named the Local Authority Chief Executive of the Year at the annual MJ (Municipal Journal) Awards. As Chief Executive, Joanne oversaw Manchester City Council attain Council of the Year status at the annual LGC (Local Government Chronicle) Awards in July 2022.
Joanne was awarded a CBE for services to local government in 2023.
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