Jennifer Lees-Marshment’s Post

Warren Madlin has shared his thoughts on the changing landscape of UK public affairs in our latest blog. What are you anticipating the biggest challenge for the sector will be?

Size of federal public service swells to record high, according to report https://lnkd.in/gSWBEyEu

"Public administration put simply is the implementation of government policies. Today public administration is often regarded as including also some responsibility for determining the policies and programs of governments. Specifically, it is the planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling of government operations". Without an efficient and effective administrative machinery (human resource), governments crumble.

#Staffers are your best friends in policy making. I say this because often, people want the high level meeting right away. They want to meet with a Congressperson or Senator and make their case. They want to meet the big boss who makes the decision and get their buy in immediately. And its understandable, after all these members hold tremendous power. While those type of meetings have their use, the real critical people to build relationships with are staff. Staffers do the research, they fall in love with policy, they know the ins and outs of bureaucratic process and legislative realities. They advise the policy makers and policy makers trust their staff to bring them the best information available. Staffers know other people to talk to inside and outside the government. Building a relationship with staffers, helps you build out those connections. Their buy in, will help build by in from policy makers. Though, I am a little biased as a former staffer. #policy #policymaking #government #legislation #regulation

Excerpt: It’s common for political candidates to disparage “the government” even as they run for an office in which they would be part of, yes, running the government. Often, what they’re referring to is what we, as scholars of the inner workings of democracy, call “the administrative state.” At times, these critics use a label of collective distrust and disapproval for government workers that sounds more sinister: “the deep state.” Most people, however, don’t know what government workers do, why they do it or how the government selects them in the first place. Our years of research about the people who work in the federal government finds that they care deeply about their work, aiding the public and pursuing the stability and integrity of government. Most of them are devoted civil servants. Across hundreds of interviews and surveys of people who have made their careers in government, what stands out most to us is their commitment to civic duty without regard to partisan politics.

Arrogant? Really? A council, doing its best to recruit and retain, tries something new. People like it. Looks like it could work. So they give it a go. Local politicians approve it. But central government cannot leave it alone and, of course, must know best. so it's now officially "arrogant '. The relationship between central and local government must change in this country. Thanks to the TheMJ for the story. #localgovernment #flexibleworking #recruitment #retention

The Council's 2023 State of Corporate Public Affairs Report has the data you need to make your function the best it can be. You'll find benchmarking data on the challenges of political polarization for public affairs teams, restrictions on political giving & much more. Purchase the report: https://lnkd.in/e8ath7pY

Nothing from me on the election today. I will however keep banging on about the planning system and how utterly broken it is. Having had an application in the system for 2 years with: 1 meeting with the Officer and 2 changes of Officer Zero engagement and constructive feedback Reports/documents overlooked, ignored or missed 100s of emails and phone calls requesting meetings/feedback Viability report ignored and no response whatsoever as to its' content To then include this in the decision notice seems utterly incomprehensible and dishonest. In this application there has been a need to balance conflicting considerations, and the local planning authority has also attempted to work proactively with the applicant to find a solution to the problems with the development; however, an acceptable solution to improve the economic, social and environmental conditions of the area could not be found.

Refreshing to see this article. We need more of this discussion. Value for money is not achieved by simply insourcing and it’s not simply wasted by outsourcing. Balance is required, engagements should be meaningful (in many instances shorter) and targeted. It does need to look different.

52% of government affairs professionals predict there will be a higher level of policy uncertainty during the election cycle. Gather more insights into the current state of the industry with FiscalNote’s “The State of Government Affairs: 2024 Industry Report,” in which respondents candidly share their fears, motivations, and predictions for 2024 and beyond. https://fnlink.co/3OfiaNl #governmentrelations #governmentaffairs #publicaffairs #advocacy