19 June 2009

NEW PRESIDENT TO LEAD CSS

Alison Quant has today (Friday 19 June) taken over as President of CSS, the influential body for local authority directors responsible for environmental and economy issues.

She takes up the position with a promise that driving new levels of efficiency through collaboration between authorities will be high on her agenda for the year ahead. Working closely with her will be Vice Presidents George Batten (Wiltshire) and Matthew Lugg (Leicestershire)

Director of Environment for Hampshire County Council for the past eight years, Alison Quant will combine that role with leading CSS in its 125th year. CSS covers waste, transport planning, highways management, waste management, spatial planning, economic development, climate change and environment. Its members work at a strategic level, providing a channel between local and national government officials on service issues and policy agendas

“I am honoured to be the new President of such a long standing and well respected body, and very much looking forward to the challenges of the year ahead,” said Quant.

“It is a time when local authorities will need to work harder than ever to meet the challenges they face. Policy priorities are changing, so are local government structures; and the political and economic climate is shifting dramatically. Public services are under threat from tightening resources at a time when public expectations continue to rise.

“The impact of changing weather patterns is also taking its toll on our infrastructure. Over the last few years we’ve seen more extreme weather events, with an increased risk of flooding, severe cold weather and hotter, dryer periods.”  

Emphasising the importance of CSS in helping drive efficiency measures through more collaborative work across authorities, Quant said: “Because of the threat to public finances, there is a golden opportunity to challenge the waste that occurs due to duplication in layers of Government. CSS is well placed to identify where better value can be secured through both devolution of spending powers and aggregation of service delivery. 

“Bringing directors together from across the UK helps local authorities share in best practice and develop ideas for driving out waste and inefficiency across the government spectrum.”

CSS will be holding its inaugural conference in November 2009, ‘Managing Today: Shaping Tomorrow’ which will see an estimated 250 executive members and directors gather for a two-day event focussing on the efficiency agenda and climate change.

Ends

Media contact  

Daybreak Communications 0845 644 3845

Barrie Hedges (m: 07899 923756) barrie.hedges@daybreakcomm.co.uk

Notes to editors

• CSS represents local authority chief officers who manage some of the most pressing issues facing the UK today. Membership is drawn from all four corners of the United Kingdom with members responsible for three-quarters of the road network, two thirds of the land area and just under half of the population of England and Wales. Operating at the strategic tier of local government, they are closely involved in crucial transport, waste management, environment, planning, energy and economic development issues.
• Biographical details - Director of Environment for Hampshire County Council since 2002, Alison Quant has had a varied professional career in UK Local Government over the last 20 years, working for all shapes and sizes of Council, in Districts, Counties and a London Borough.  Although born and educated in the UK, she spent eight years in Australia, where she first joined local government as an urban planner working for the Victorian State Government.  She holds qualifications in Economics, Environmental Science and Town and Country Planning. As Director of Environment at Hampshire, Alison is responsible for services covering transport planning, highway management and maintenance, traffic management, passenger transport, waste disposal, minerals and waste planning, strategic planning, and  the built and natural environment.  She is the Council’s corporate lead on sustainability. Alison will be the first women to become President of CSS.