I have been in the team for 15 years and have thoroughly enjoyed working in it. The team is at the heart of the council and plays a key role in understanding how the issues of the day impact on the county and developing policies to address them – supporting members and senior officers make decisions on priorities.
My role is within the research team. We are responsible for consulting with the public and partners to find out what matters to them as well as providing up-to-date analysis across the range of areas that the council is involved in. I have a lead role in the council’s economic analysis, identifying how the county’s economy is performing, where areas are struggling and understanding the impact of external factors such as Brexit and the pandemic locally to people and places.
I also lead on the council’s engagement with Derbyshire’s black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. This is about getting to know the communities and identifying how the council’s policies and services can be as culturally sensitive as possible. This brings me into close contact with BME representative groups and a wide range of officers across the council and wider partners.
I really like the way you get to use your initiative in the team and work out how you can help to contribute to the team’s priorities as well as the chance to forge relationships across the council and externally. Crucially, colleagues in the team are very supportive and make you feel like you are a part of something much bigger.