Sophie started with South Hams and West Devon Councils as the Executive Director of Service Delivery & Commercial Development at the beginning of January 2015.
Since her appointment she has been responsible for driving forward the most significant change in the way two district councils work since reorganisation more than forty years ago but perhaps the most interesting element was the joint approach taken to recruitment.
The shared partners, South Hams District and West Devon Borough Councils, are pioneering a new working model to protect local services. In December 2013, the two Councils embarked on a transformational change programme to deliver a 30% reduction in annual net expenditure whilst radically improving the customer experience and making the Councils’ service provision fit for the 21st century.
In considering how best to deliver the quality of services residents need, the emphasis became as much about behaviours as it did about skills.
Sophie Hosking has worked in Local Government for over 23 years and has significant experience of the challenges of delivering a wide range of services in rural areas. Previously Sophie was the strategic lead for Alternative Service Delivery at Cornwall Council. Recent experience centres on merging and transforming services and developing new models of service delivery.
In 2009, Sophie was heavily involved in the merging of two tiers of councils into one unitary council in Cornwall. More recently her work has focused on implementing new service delivery models, including setting up wholly owned companies, establishing a charitable Trust for Leisure Services, implementing a strategic partnership with BT for support services, devolving some assets and services to local communities, and turning round in-house services.
Sophie has also been very involved in community affairs in Cornwall as the Chair of Governors for a large secondary Academy School, as well as the Chair of Trustees for the Cornwall Food Foundation (the Charity behind Jamie Oliver’s 15 Cornwall).
She has three daughters, and lives with her husband Jeremy and a motley collection of dogs, cats and horses on the family farm in Cornwall.
