Ealing Council, the winner of Public Sector Finance Team of the Year, has achieved a fantastic financial transformation for local people.

Cautionary tales of financial mismanagement are legion in the world of local authority finances. But Ealing’s finance team, led by Richard Ennis, has worked tirelessly to restore credibility, improve transparency and communication, and impose financial rigour on the council’s spending and budgeting habits.

‘It’s hard to imagine a team that could have worked harder and set about reaching its aims with more enthusiasm. They faced enormous difficulties but took them and delivered innovative solutions and performed an astonishing turnaround,’ the judges said.

In July 2005, Ennis was appointed as the new head of finance. He and the team set about improving lines of communication to ensure everyone was clear about their roles and objectives, and establishing an honest dialogue to address past failings.

The team introduced a monthly ‘finance monitor’, which described the council’s financial health in plain English for the benefit of the board and the cabinet. Ennis and his team also took a lead on communicating to services that no new capital investment bids would be supported unless they were prudent, affordable and sustainable.

In 2005, Ealing Council’s chief executive and entire executive board stood down and the authority’s cash position was officially in crisis. Auditor KPMG described finances as ‘extremely challenging’ and the cash balances of £2m as ‘inadequate for a council of Ealing’s size.’

The team achieved some dramatic reversals in the council’s fortunes. So while the local council tax increased by 25.1% in 2003/04, the rise was only 2.49% for 2006/07. The general fund cash reserve has also been increased from £2m to £10m.

In 2003/04 there was a social services overspend of £2.6m (and £1.8m in 2004/05). For 2005/06, social services spending was within budget. And earmarked reserves rose from £13m in 2004 to £27m in March 2006.

It is clear that Ennis and his team have halted the financial crisis and restored order and morale to a formerly embattled finance function.

FINANCIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

● Some £22min efficiency savings.
● An award of £2.4m from government under the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive scheme.
● A balanced and robust budget for 2006/07 despite the minimum grant increase from government of 2%.
● Books balanced for the first time since the 1990s.