Joyce Redfearn sounds as if she’s enjoying chairing the Chief Executives’ Task Group. In her new role she steers local authority colleagues, all of them chief executives of councils.

To ordinary mortals that might be daunting. The group leads the nine regional improvement efficiency partnerships, and as such is the lead body driving local government’s improvement and efficiency agenda.

“It’s a job where you are working among peers and the thing about that is that it feels right to do it as long as it’s right for my peers. I’ve been a chief executive for a very long time. I have some superb colleagues and it’s a really positive group. We all care desperately about getting better outcomes.”

She has a strong track record as an innovator, having joined Monmouthshire County Council as it was being forged into a unitary authority from county and district councils. While there she worked on the advisory group that launched the Welsh Assembly. “I have always been involved and engaged in changing and improving,” she says.

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Redfearn came to the rescue when another “first among equals” posting went wrong, in Gloucestershire. Under her leadership the council got back on track, securing a good rating in the comprehensive performance assessment.

“The director who was first among equals got into some real performance difficulties and returned to the chief executive model. But being the chair of the task group is about collaborative endeavour, not running the organisation.”

She is taking over at a good time, she says: “We can have a different relationship with central government that helps us to really take our place as community leaders. This is possible because of the significant move in devolving resources to local government. Local government is recognised as driving improvement. We need to build on that.”

Indeed last month, John Healey, the Local Government Minister, praised councils for being poised to make efficiency savings of £4.2 billion, exceeding the £3 billion target.

Redfearn won’t be sitting back to admire the view: “We have taken some of the more straightforward opportunities in work already done both nationally and locally. We are talking transformation; step change which is all focused on outcomes for our customers.

“It is about system change. [It means saying] who drives this rather than doing things in traditional ways. The future will be about more personalisation and choice. Local communities will be more engaged in shaping services themselves.”

Her own council, Wigan, provides an example of what she means: “Young people with learning disabilities and their families were given control of their own budgets and some very different services materialised. One boy who always went to school in a taxi arranged to have a sixth-former take him on the bus. He wanted to be like everybody else.”

For the future she says: “We have to get better at knowledge transfer. You do not have to reinvent the wheel in an area if someone else is already tackling a problem.

“The London story is very persuasive. There they are saying ‘we support each other but because we believe all 32 London boroughs should be excellent we will also challenge each other’. The next few months are about making national government feel increasingly confident that the nine partnerships can deliver and are delivering.”

Before she is whisked off to her next meeting there are a few seconds to ask her what she does in her leisure time. Uncharacteristically she pauses, then says: “Hill walking.” Be in peak condition if you want to keep up.

Born: January 27, 1955.
Career: After reading English at Oxford University became a graduate trainee at London Borough of Camden and worked in personnel for the Equal Opportunities Commission; assistant chief executive, Bolton Metropolitan Council 1987-95; first chief executive of Monmouthshire, South Wales, 1995-2000; chief executive of Gloucestershire County Council, 2000-05; moved to Wigan in 2005.
What she says: “I did the entrance test for my secondary school at 10. I got in. I’ve always been a bit precocious.”
Little-known fact: Was taught English at school by a Mrs Fielding, whose daughter Helen wrote Bridget Jones’s Diary.

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