Northern rock

Hair straighteners and a bottle of perfume adorn the mantelpiece of the massive Victorian fireplace in the chief executive’s office in Wakefield Town Hall. These are essential items for many a professional woman, but most perhaps wouldn’t leave them on show.

Doing so seems characteristic of their owner, Joanne Roney, for whom the most important thing is, in her own words, ‘to get on with it’. After all, where better to leave hair straighteners than in front of a giant mirror?

When it comes to house building, this is exactly the Wakefield boss’s approach. Throughout the end of last year, Ms Roney and her colleagues at Wakefield Council remained unfazed as major house builder Barratt took the authority to the High Court over its requirement for certain developments to include 30 per cent affordable housing. Wakefield stood its ground, and in December Barratt lost its challenge.

If there’s one thing Ms Roney knows, it’s housing. The 48-year-old started out in the sector as a teenage apprentice in Birmingham Council’s housing department. She stayed there for a total of 16 years, working her way up to senior manager. In 1997, she moved from her home city to Yorkshire and a job at Kirklees Council, the first of a series of roles which would shape her into one of the most significant housing players in the north and beyond.

When she left Kirklees in 1999 she was director of housing. From there it was a move south to Sheffield Council. There she ran housing for one Bob Kerslake, Sheffield’s chief executive before a knighthood and the top job at the Homes and Communities Agency beckoned.

Director of neighbourhoods and community care, Ms Roney worked closely with Sir Bob on all things homes and communities - she once jokingly told Inside Housing that she had ‘taught him everything he knows’ about them. In 2008 Ms Roney returned to west Yorkshire, this time to Wakefield and from being the chief executive’s sidekick, to running the show herself.

As the council’s first female chief executive, Ms Roney is a trailblazer for women working in housing and local government - and with her steadfast approach to what she wants to achieve in Wakefield and the wider Yorkshire region, this Midlands girl-turned-northerner is an asset to her adoptive home.

Her remit now extends far beyond housing. The archives of the Wakefield Express reveal her giving advice on swine flu and warnings about the big freeze. But even with a whole gauntlet of council policies to run, Ms Roney still sees housing and regeneration as central to the council’s work.
‘Housing is a huge contributor on so many agendas,’ she says. This is why she’s happy to back Inside Housing’s House Proud campaign, which argues housing should be at the heart of policy making. ‘I completely support the campaign. The thing that frustrates me the most is when the debate [around housing] only focuses on numbers of properties being built. This is important, but it’s not the only contribution housing can have.’

Barratt dispute

Sitting in one of the low armchairs around the coffee table in her office, Ms Roney launches into an explanation of what happened with house builder Barratt. She hasn’t lost her Brummie accent despite living in Yorkshire for more than a decade.

‘They object in principle to our core strategy and our assessments of affordable housing thresholds,’ she begins. ‘The basis of their challenge is that the evidence in our strategic housing market assessment and economic viability isn’t correct. We won the high court ruling, but [Barratt] was given leave to appeal on the basis that [Lord Justice Pitchford] said the policy could be interpreted in different ways.’

Wakefield now awaits the date of the appeal. ‘We’re saying we think that 30 per cent affordable housing is viable and can be delivered on most sites,’ states Ms Roney. ‘We need 921 additional affordable homes in the district. [Barratt’s] argument is that it can only deliver between 0 and 5 per cent affordable housing in the current market conditions.’

The chief executive leans back in her chair, legs crossed at the ankle in flat, black patent boots, glamorous yet practical for the slippery weather conditions. She believes that Barratt is using Wakefield as a ‘test case’, and that the leave to appeal is of national concern. ‘In many ways, I now see this as a national policy interpretation as much as it is a Wakefield policy interpretation,’ says Ms Roney. ‘I’m not taking it personally, and I haven’t fallen out with them,’ she says with a smile. ‘I think Barratt is making a case about whether affordable housing is deliverable in the current market conditions.’

She argues that in setting its local development framework and core strategy, Wakefield needed ‘to be clear that we have a shortage of affordable housing, that we will require developers to come forward with proposals that increases the supply of affordable housing,’ says an unshakable Ms Roney. ‘I don’t think our demands are abnormally high.’

And no, she isn’t scared that her firm line on affordable housing could scare developers off. ‘I’m not unsympathetic to the developers’ position - I’m not sitting here, not sharing their anxieties about the impact of the market. By setting our strategy, we’re indicating the kind of pressures that the district is under, and of course we’ll negotiate within that framework on specific sites.’

For Ms Roney, the facts speak for themselves - 14 per cent of households in Wakefield are registered on the housing waiting list, she says. She goes on to stress: ‘There is a massive need [for housing] here and we want to get on with it.’

Elsewhere within the Leeds City Region, which brings together 11 local authorities, demand for housing is even greater, she adds. ‘As one of two [pilot city regions] we are absolutely clear about the housing agenda and how to address it,’ she stresses. ‘We’re quite forward thinking.’

Ms Roney’s office isn’t short on signs of her pioneering influence, both in the north and nationwide. One windowsill is lined with cards. ‘Most of them are from when I received my OBE at the end of 2008,’ she explains. On the wall there’s a mocked-up newspaper front page announcing the honour bestowed on Ms Roney by the Queen. ‘My colleagues did that,’ she laughs.

A pin board displays a photo of the iconic Park Hall estate, which stretches across the hills near Sheffield town centre. ‘I’m extremely glad I pushed that through,’ smiles Ms Roney. Saving the residential blocks, which featured in nineties Brit-flick The Full Monty, from demolition and putting them in the hands of developer Urban Splash is clearly a source of pride.

Beside Ms Roney’s desk is a photo of her and former boss Sir Bob. ‘That’s the FA cup we’re holding,’ she says. ‘I’m still in touch with Bob, and not just for [HCA] money. I did once joke that I taught him everything he knows about housing. But that’s no longer true. I’ve learned more about being a chief executive from Bob, than I could ever have taught him about anything.’

When approached about this, Sir Bob agrees. ‘I wouldn’t say Joanne taught me all I know, but she did teach me about fundamental change, about neighbourhood renewal, which was a challenge in Sheffield,’ he says.

The adjectives the HCA chief executive chooses to describe Ms Roney are: ‘energetic’, ‘direct’, ‘positive’ and ‘challenging’. ‘She wants to improve things and drive forward change,’ he says. ‘And she has a very natural approach.’

Ms Roney agrees that her area of expertise is indeed neighbourhood renewal. ‘I’ve never been a fan of housing and regeneration being about numbers of properties that are thrown up. I’ve only ever been interested in housing leading regeneration where it was linked to improving the quality of life for people,’ she explains.

Wakefield has just embarked on a district-wide consultation, she says. ‘It’s called The Blueprint and it gets local communities to talk about what they want in terms of their sense of place,’ she says.

In common with much of the region, the greatest challenge for Wakefield, where economic activity fell 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of last year, concerns health within communities and skills and jobs for young people.

‘Unemployment for the first time has gone above the national average,’ explains Ms Roney - figures published by the Office of National Statistics last month show that 4.2 per cent of people living in Wakefield are claiming unemployment benefits, 1 per cent higher than the national average. Ms Roney believes regeneration should be used to tackle these problems, and praises the city’s stock transfer association, Wakefield and District Housing, for its initiatives to get people back to work.

The chief executive doesn’t bypass any questions, listening attentively and giving honest and frank answers. She says that being the big boss at a council can feel anything between ‘overwhelming’ and ‘thrilling’. Asked about her management style she says, ‘I like to build consensus, but I’m also happy to take the lead. I’m passionate about what I do. I set the vision for this organisation and I’m quite tough at wanting to see progress.’

When interviewing a woman in an executive position, it’s too tempting not to ask why she is one of a rare breed - just one fifth of councils across England and Wales are female-run. ‘I think there are loads of talented, brilliant women who work in housing and local government, but I think a lot of women talk themselves out of going for the senior roles because they think there may be too much challenge and stress associated with it,’ she answers.

Ms Roney says she can never escape her work. Even when she visits family back in Birmingham she is confronted with the regeneration that has gone on there. ‘You never forget where you come from, do you? I suppose the ultimate test for me is what difference does it make to people?’

Going home to the midlands is always going to hold ‘attraction’ - Ms Roney can’t deny it. ‘But equally, I love Yorkshire,’ she says. ‘I like that Yorkshire folk are plain speaking. I find there’s less rivalry here. The networks are genuinely supportive. There’s a real regional identity, and the spirit of wanting to do right binds us. We get things done, because we have to, and I like that.’

This attitude is on display as Ms Roney poses for photographs outside. It may be cold, but she wants to see the job done. She smiles as she is directed to turn to face this way and that, despite the fact she knows that even straightened hair cannot remain frizz-free when exposed to Yorkshire drizzle.

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