John Foster interview

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Islington's new chief may have a tough act to follow, but there is still plenty to get his teeth into.

With more than 35 years' local government experience John Foster has had time to build a reputation. Genial, sure, but not one to suffer fools.

Waiting in the cool, marbled floor reception area of Islington town hall, LGC ponders some of the fearsome Foster-based tales regaled by his fellow chief executives and wonders if perhaps we could be in for a challenging morning.

Battle-hardened after three demanding stints with large northern authorities, the former Wakefield MDC and Middlesbrough BC chief executive has now migrated south to head up one of London's most diverse boroughs, Islington LBC.

• John Foster: CV

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Tough act to follow

His predecessor, Helen Bailey, who left earlier this year for a top job at the Treasury, will be a tough act to follow, having transformed the council from 'poor' to three star under the comprehensive performance assessment (CPA). But Mr Foster is confident he can build on the achievements of Ms Bailey's five-year tenure.

So, while Ms Bailey's legacy will largely be view in terms of service improvement, what will shape the Foster years? 

Tackling inequalities

An unconventional childhood, a large chunk of which was spent in a foster care, has stoked a passion for tackling inequalities, which he outlines as one of the main aims of his Islington tenure.

"In the next three years we want to achieve some real inroads into tackling inequality across the borough. I think we [the local authority and its partners] are agreed that the vehicle for that will hinge around the local area agreement [LAA]."

Like many councils, Islington has recently signed off its LAA with the government. With targets set to get more 16-18 year olds into training, education or employment and increase the number of vulnerable people achieving independent living, Mr Foster appears to have made his mark on the contract.

He is also keen to cut the number of smokers and teenage pregnancies in the borough. Teenage pregnancy rates vary significantly across Islington but in some parts, rates were up to 81 per 1,000 — almost double the national average.

Likewise, the borough contains nearly double the amount of smokers than average, so success will be a tall order.

Another of Islington's targets refers to increasing social housing. Housing matters are right at the top of most local authorities' agendas, but few more so than Islington.

Forty percent of the housing in the borough is social housing and, according to Mr Foster, it also boasts the highest housing density in London. There is though, he claims, space for more.

"Islington has capacity for greater density despite being the most densely populated area of London. Its density is one of the reasons why it's so vibrant and I am not afraid to increase it," he says.

This may be music to the ears of Boris Johnson. The recently elected London mayor has set a target to build 50,000 affordable homes in the capital over the next three years and finding boroughs which are keen to up the amount of development on their patch will be no mean feat.

The issue of social housing is also entwined with the worklessness agenda. Mr Foster is looking at less conventional ways to tackle worklessness in the borough. One potential solution he is looking at is extending the amount of apprenticeships.

Clean slate

Along with a new set of indicators, the conversion from CPA to comprehensive area assessment (CAA) means that the new man at the helm has a real chance to mould the council and the area to a shape of his own choosing.

While CAA is viewed with suspicion by many chief executives, Mr Foster enthuses about the possibilities it offers. "I am a supporter: the timing by the Audit Commission was right. The improvement programme is embedded and it's time to look to the next level, which is improving the place."

With Islington about to make its submission to the commission, he remains tight lipped about the potential for changes but one thing is for sure, he is relishing the potential leadership role.

More mayors

An enthusiasm for building is not the only thing Mr Johnson may like about the newest addition to the London chief executive club. Mr Foster is also very much in favour of the directly elected mayoral model.

"I know that most chief executives are not convinced, but I am in favour of elected mayors, I always have been," he explains, "Where you have good characters, it works very well."

Since the Local Government Act (2000) paved the way for directly elected mayors, there have been 37 referendums held on the matter, just 12 of which went in favour of mayors. London, of course, has a mayor as well, although this was imposed on the capital without a vote.

One of that dozen is the mayor of Middlesbrough, Ray Mallon, with whom Mr Foster worked with during his tenure at the Tees Valley authority. Mr Foster was chief executive when the former policeman first took over.

"Ray is a good example of a popular mayor. I realised in 2002 that very quickly, virtually everyone knew that Ray Mallon was the mayor of Middlesbrough.

"Not many leaders — even in the large cities — can claim that the majority of their citizens could put a name and a face to them."

And while his relationship with Mr Johnson is in its embryonic stages, he likes what he sees. "The key matter of being an elected mayor is about the personality of the individual. Boris certainly has personality and a willingness to learn, which is very important."