New Local

We need to end the false divide between “protected” and “non-protected” Whitehall departments when it comes to public spending decisions- it’s increasingly becoming a false economy in places, where everything is connected. My latest TheMJ column makes this case: https://lnkd.in/eBEZZS2y Yesterday’s Spring Statement brought some welcome relief to those fearing “non-protected” departments such as local government and justice would face significantly deeper cuts at the Spending Review- currently still expected at 1% in real terms (which is not negligible given existing funding gaps but not worst case scenario of 11%). But as exact allocations across departments have yet to be finalised- think it’s important to make the case for abandoning notions of certain departmental spend being protected (health, education) versus others facing more extreme measures. The experience of the last 15 years has taught us that withdrawing spend in some areas (eg social care or probation) leads to rising demand in other areas where services-of-last-resort pick up the costs: hospital pressures, police call-outs etc. People’s needs don’t fit neatly into service silos. Bridging the gap between individual circumstances and national policy frameworks- it is at the level of place that it’s possible to convene and coordinate services and take a whole system approach, designed around identified community needs and patterns of demand pinch-points, in order to shift the balance of resource upstream to focus on prevention and early intervention. Having written the article before the Chancellor’s announcement of the £3.25bn Transformation Fund for the public sector- the prospect of investing upfront in the reform journey ahead is very welcome. I hope an element of this will be focussed on supporting place-based collaboration responding to community priorities. The opportunity of longer term multi-year funding settlements expected at the Spending Review should create headroom to plan a deeper shift to prevention and whole-system approaches than the reactive, hand-to-mouth footing services have been on for too long.

Enjoyed speaking at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy conference today- discussing the weaknesses in our centralised governance structures for responding to left behind areas, as policy churn has led to short term, impermanent initiatives. The trend over recent decades has been a long term decline in local revenue funding then parcelling out small pots back that mitigate but don’t resolve challenges. Couldn’t help but reference my favourite examples of “inititativitis” the Chewing Gum Taskforce and the Levelling Up Park Chessboards scheme. *But* there are big opportunities around devo, place-based public service reform and community participation in decisions that matter to them. These can establish deeper roots capable of shifting the dial by structurally redistributing power towards places and communities. Alongside a great panel of Tom Walker Andrés Rodríguez-Pose and Mike Kenny…

We need to end the false divide between “protected” and “non-protected” Whitehall departments when it comes to public spending decisions- it’s increasingly becoming a false economy in places, where everything is connected. My latest TheMJ column makes this case: https://lnkd.in/eBEZZS2y Yesterday’s Spring Statement brought some welcome relief to those fearing “non-protected” departments such as local government and justice would face significantly deeper cuts at the Spending Review- currently still expected at 1% in real terms (which is not negligible given existing funding gaps but not worst case scenario of 11%). But as exact allocations across departments have yet to be finalised- think it’s important to make the case for abandoning notions of certain departmental spend being protected (health, education) versus others facing more extreme measures. The experience of the last 15 years has taught us that withdrawing spend in some areas (eg social care or probation) leads to rising demand in other areas where services-of-last-resort pick up the costs: hospital pressures, police call-outs etc. People’s needs don’t fit neatly into service silos. Bridging the gap between individual circumstances and national policy frameworks- it is at the level of place that it’s possible to convene and coordinate services and take a whole system approach, designed around identified community needs and patterns of demand pinch-points, in order to shift the balance of resource upstream to focus on prevention and early intervention. Having written the article before the Chancellor’s announcement of the £3.25bn Transformation Fund for the public sector- the prospect of investing upfront in the reform journey ahead is very welcome. I hope an element of this will be focussed on supporting place-based collaboration responding to community priorities. The opportunity of longer term multi-year funding settlements expected at the Spending Review should create headroom to plan a deeper shift to prevention and whole-system approaches than the reactive, hand-to-mouth footing services have been on for too long.

Brilliant to be in a room full of people who care about the future of community spaces and the role they play in flourishing neighbourhoods. Thank you The Rayne Foundation for hosting and to Pauline Daniyan and Rebecca Trevalyan for their energy and passion 🔥 Anthropy UK New Local Platform Places London Youth Crispin Truman OBE Chris Falconer Summer Simpson

We kicked off our Reorganising for Outcomes series within our New Local network this afternoon- hearing from Andrew Seekings about the journey for Cumberland Council, established in April 2023 as one of two new unitaries within Cumbria. Our network sessions will focus on how LGR can be approached as an opportunity to rethink local public services. How in practice can prevention, integration and community-led models be embedded in the new organisations that emerge? What can we learn from previous experiences of LGR? How can we ensure the current process applies these lessons- what do we need to think about now to ensure better and more sustainable outcomes? We’ll be focussing further on the practicalities of how reorganisation has been approached in different areas and how we can support those thinking imaginatively and creatively about the future. For both those going through the priority programme now, and those two tier areas not yet embarking but surveying the prospect- I am interested in the questions you are holding in this time?

We're recruiting two key new leadership roles at New Local. 🌠 Director of Partnerships & Engagement: leading the development of our fantastic membership network, events programme & comms activity. 🌠Director of Practice & Programmes: overseeing and building the impact of our far-reaching consultancy, research & policy projects. With a new Chief Executive & a refreshed strategy, these new roles have been created to play a core part of our leadership team, helping take our impact to the next level. Deadlines: 14 April, 9am Salaries: £80,000 PA Read more & apply: https://lnkd.in/dgZjaT5B

A new form of leadership is emerging in the local government sector- my latest Local Government Chronicle article sets out (link below to accessible version). Some key points: This ‘radical leadership’ is driven by the shortcomings of the turn-of-the-century New Public Management framework for our era of constraints, complexity and crises. In practice the demands of senior executive leadership require different skillsets and attributes in order to operate beyond a single organisation and without the more predictable operating context of previous eras. Those in leadership roles must increasingly negotiate ‘up’ with national govt & across the sector over devolution, reorganisation & reform, and work ‘out’ with partners and communities to achieve impact with finite resource. This requires working in new ways and holding significant uncertainty. There’s no rule book for this- we need to build a common understanding of the leadership demands in the local public sector- and support, embed, retain and recruit for it. And importantly, Government needs to recognise and support the value of this emergent, radical leadership as it commits to a new national-local partnership through devolution. The piece below sets this out in more detail, based on our learning at New Local within our network of forward thinking chief execs and senior leaders, who shaped our recent report on Radical Leadership. Read more via the link below - interested in your thoughts and feedback as we continue to iterate. https://lnkd.in/eriPwRzZ

Big work highlight = hosting New Local How We Did It sessions, and interviewing brilliant people like Nicol McConnell at Sunderland City Council. Nicol set up digital inclusion hubs throughout the city - bringing together 1000+ people - from school kids to grannies - to build skills, forge connections, navigate employment, and master the art of QR codes. She spoke about having the bravery to 'tear up the paperwork', and abandon plans for regimented and measurable courses, opening the hubs up to whatever the community wanted - everything from finding knitting patterns online, to accessing support after domestic violence. Such is the success of the programme that she will now be working with homeless people, prison leavers and other excluded groups. Thanks Nicol + all attendees whose questions keep these sessions rooted in what local gov wants to know! (And to brilliant NL team Laura Payne, Lou Matter and Natalie Raeched) #Sunderland #DigitalInclusion

Very much enjoyed talking to Ben Unsworth, particularly as it gave me the chance to directly ask my own dumb question: "But what actually is this design thinking thing?" I got a very good analogy back, and my mind is at peace/thinking of upside-down spikey chairs. "Someone once gave me a furniture business analogy – if you sell furniture, you have designers who create chairs that are both functional, attractive and economically viable. Local government is a services business, yet for years, we didn’t have service designers. We built systems around how departments functioned rather than what residents actually needed. 💡 🪑 💡🪑 💡🪑 💡🪑 💡🪑 💡🪑 💡 TPXimpact | B Corp™ #DesignThinking

"Pushing for design-led change in local government is exhausting because you constantly have to justify it, while traditional ways of doing things don’t get questioned." So what keeps Ben Unsworth going? TPXimpact | B Corp™'s tireless advocate for design and digital transformation discusses the design flaw at the heart of councils, why digital professionals need a seat at the top table, and why traditional leadership models don’t cut it in a "deeply interconnected" world. 💡 Read the interview: https://lnkd.in/eYmHn9an #Leadership #DesignThinking #DigitalTransformation #LocalGovernment Nick Kimber | Buckinghamshire Council