In a country house, on the outskirts of Darlington, the North East branch of SOLACE held its first conference in seven years last week, led by branch chair and Sunderland CC chief executive, Ged Fitzgerald. And the question was, why such a long break?

SOLACE director general, David Clark, told the one-day event he had always been surprised at chief executives' approach to their own personal development.

It would seem that those at the top of the organisation were keen to ensure everyone received their own training and development programme, but if anyone asks about them, they are generally nonplussed.

The conference provides a learning experience for chief executives and senior officers and a support network. As Mr Clark said: ‘You can't do the job as well without assistance.' It can, after all, be lonely at the top.

The past seven years have seen massive changes in local government – and the pace is unlikely to slow at any time soon. We were now, according to Mr Clark, facing a world of rising expectations against a backdrop of falling funding.

Delegates also heard from Ipsos-MORI managing director, Ben Page, about how services were getting better, but customer satisfaction was falling – so council chief executives would have to find alternative and ever-more creative ways to deliver their services.

But Mr Clark warned delegates that shared service partnerships were often ‘more trouble than they are worth', and they were certainly not the panacea for efficiency as was being portrayed in some quarters. The recruitment market had also changed dramatically. SOLACE president, Byron Davies, told the conference councils were delivering local services in an increasingly global market. Modern staff working for an international private firm might expect to be posted around the world during their working life. What were local authorities going to offer to compete with the global jobs market in an effort to attract the young staff of tomorrow?

South Tyneside chief executive, Irene Lucas, described one of her council's innovations which was being used to create a stronger community, while cutting costs for the council. When social services had to be reduced, the council looked at the softer services offered to elderly residents.

The council could no longer care for the elderly with home helps to check on their welfare and run a few errands. Instead, they had asked local faith groups to fill the gaps.

Now, members of the church might drop by to play cards, or have a meal with an elderly resident. Not only did this fill the care gap, she said, but it also built the community. ‘By doing a good act, people feel good about themselves,' Ms Lucas told The MJ.

She told the conference of the major failing of local government. While councils had always been good at providing services, they failed to build communities. ‘The bit we have been absolutely lousy about for years and years is making people feel like they belong – and their sense of community,' Ms Lucas said.

And building a community was key to the ‘happiness' agenda. It seemed that councils were increasingly taking on a subtler role in promoting well-being by trying to help citizens feel happier.

According to Mr Page, there were things which could make people happy – to be married, to be part of a religion, or to have more personal or family time – but often they were not the things people thought would make them more happy – such as having more money.

Similarly, despite the press interest in council tax, that was not something which influenced how happy residents were with services.

Mr Page told the conference: ‘There is no correlation between how much council tax you charge and satisfaction.' However, ‘satisfaction ratings and value for money are exactly the same'.

‘The prime minister has made you double the price of your product in the past 10 years,' Mr Page said. So, it was crucial councils became smarter at explaining where the cash was going. He cited the example of signs by roadworks in California which read: ‘Your tax dollar is working here'. It just goes to show, chief executives obviously have a lot to learn.