About the council

Like many councils across the country, St Helens Borough Council is not without its challenges. Significant reductions in funding over the last decade coupled with rising demand, higher levels of social deprivation and volatility and uncertainty in the economy, has ensured a council-wide focus on delivering efficiencies, maximising commercial opportunities, pushing for social value, and providing greater value for money.  

Despite these challenges, over the past five years the council has made significant improvements to modernise and transform into a fit for purpose, well managed organisation delivering high quality services through effective partnership working. We know that there are ways in which we can further refine our organisational model and operations to deliver more and better, and we are looking for a Chief Executive who can build on the strong foundations that have been laid in recent years and take the council on the next stage of its journey to excellence.

Political make up

We have 48 elected councillors, elected to 18 wards, with local elections held every four years, when all councillors are elected at the same time. The next local election is May 2026.

• There are currently 28 Labour councillors, 7 Independent councillors, 6 Green councillors, 4 Liberal Democrat councillors, 2 Conservative councillors and 1 Reform councillor
• The Leader of the Council is Councillor Anthony Burns (Labour)
• The Mayor is Councillor Jeanette Banks (Labour). The role of mayor is ceremonial.

St Helens Borough Council is part of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and works closely across the membership on strategic and investment decisions. The Council Leader sits on the combined authority as the St Helens' representative and also holds the Net Zero portfolio. The current Chief Executive holds the CX lead role for Children & Young People across the city region.

The council's cabinet is made up of the Leader, Deputy Leader and eight councillors:

Senior Management Structure

The Chief Executive leads the Executive Leadership Team (ELT):	ELT is supported by the Senior Leadership Team:

 

Our Borough Strategy and Council Priorities

Our Borough Strategy 2030 presents a clear and long-term narrative about our priorities and ambitions. We continue to develop an increasingly evidenced based approach to understanding the needs of our communities and a sound basis for our strategic ambitions. The annual key priorities and the outcomes framework against which our performance in achieving each of our priorities form part off this key suite of documents.

View the St Helens Borough Strategy 2030 on our website.

Read more about our key priorities and strategies.

 

Vision, Values & Behaviours

Our organisational vision, values and behaviours were developed collaboratively, with colleagues participating in workshops run across the organisation and in a variety of locations. We have made good progress in our organisational culture improvement journey and strive to embed our values further to ensure the genuinely values-based culture we strive for. The continued development of our organisational culture is a key component of the Chief Executive role.

Trust We will respect each other's feeling and opinions​ We will always strive to do our best and ask for help if we need it ​ We will do, what we say we will do	Integrity ​We will always be open and honest We will do the right thing and speak out if we think it is not We will be accountable for our actions
Collaborating We will actively seek the views of others​ We will explore and address barriers together​ We will get involved and make a positive change	Keep Innovating We will always ask "how can we make it happen"​ We will look for better ways of working and not just do what we always do​ We will be trend setters not followers​

 

Managers' Behaviours
Trust I will work together with my team to identify our objectives, communicate the priorities and explain the reasons why I will actively encourage my team to feedback, share their concerns and act upon it I will ensure that my team are heard and respected I will identify and build on people's strengths	Integrity I will lead by example and role model our values and behaviours I will make timely decisions and be accountable for them I will be consistent in my approach and treat my team and individuals fairly I will act in the best interest of the whole council taking a St Helens Together approach
Collaborating I will be generous in sharing my knowledge and expertise with others I will keep people informed and updated I will actively work across departments and with partners to improve our services I will encourage my team to seek the views of others and enable them to work effectively together	Keep Innovating I will encourage and enable my team to experiment, be creative and try new ways of doing things I will constructively challenge and ask why or why not I will support my team to view challenges as learning opportunities I will actively seek ways to personlly  develop my skills and capability

 

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