This episode is with Rob Whiteman, the Chief Executive of CIPFA. Rob is a very thoughtful and influential commentator on local government and public service reform. He has had a hugely interesting and varied career including stints as Chief Executive at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and at the UK Border Agency (UKBA). 

Rob was at Barking and Dagenham when the BNP won an unprecedented number of council seats and he describes how the council worked to reengage with local communities to push back against some of the dangerous propaganda which had led to this election outcome. The learning from this is very relevant for council leaders today as many of our communities become increasingly polarised. As the former head of UKBA, Rob also provides some historical context and contemporary commentary on the small boats crisis. 

We spend most of our time talking about the state of local government and the main drivers for the financial crisis the sector finds itself facing. We discuss what the solutions could be including a return of a more radical version of Total Place, more collaboration between councils on issues like children’s social care and the potential of enhanced powers for Mayoral Combined Authorities. 

I also ask a new question “What would you do it you were Prime Minister for a day?”. Rob has a pretty radical answer!

Empowering Local Places With Rob Whiteman

This episode is with Lesley Dixon. Lesley is the chief executive of PSS, a Liverpool based charity delivering adult social care services and wider support to vulnerable people in Liverpool and across the country.

Lesley is an inspiring leader who has been at the helm of PSS for nearly 15 years, which is a very long tenure in today’s age of chopping and changing jobs. We talk about how you can find a role that you really want to stick at and how it’s also important to make a quick decision if you know an organisation definitely isn’t for you.

We discuss the work of PSS and in particular the Shared Lives scheme, which facilitates community care for vulnerable people (which PSS actually invented in the late 70s!).

A large chunk of the discussion is about what makes for good commissioning and how we’d like to see a greater focus on outcomes rather than inputs and outputs and for there also to be more flexibility in the Commissioner provider relationship. Lesley would also like to see a shift in the emphasis towards preventative services and we talk about how that might happen. It is very difficult for the public sector to account for that type of early investment (something I covered with Rob Whiteman in an earlier episode).

And finally, Lesley wanted to talk about how you leave an organisation well, especially after being there for a long time. It’s a fascinating conversation and I hope you enjoy it.

Commissioning For Better Outcomes With Lesley Dixon

This episode is with Tom Riordan. Tom is a legend in public service circles. He's been the Chief Executive of Leeds Council for 14 years, having previously led the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward. 

Tom has achieved a huge amount in his time at Leeds, including substantial economic investment and regeneration, as well as being the Chief Executive that oversaw the turnaround of Leeds Children's Services from being in a very poor state to being a real exemplar. 

Tom and I talk about how you effect meaningful change in a place, how you work with partners, how it requires time, how you've got to have a really clear set of “ambitions” or “obsessions”. We get into some detail which I think leaders who are currently leading councils and “places” will find very useful. We also talked about prevention, how Leeds kept its Sure Start centres and had a focus on destigmatising people seeking support. 

Anybody who has encountered Tom (or even better worked with him) will know that he is totally against hero leadership. He sees himself as a servant leader and there's lots of good hints and tips as to how you can try and adopt a bit of that yourself.

City Turnaround With Tom Riordan - Radical Reformers Podcast

This episode is a bit special. It's the first time we have had two guests on at the same time. They are Charlie Pickles from the Reform Think Tank and Jack Shaw from Labour Together. You might recognise those names. Both Charlie and Jack have been on the podcast in their own right and had their own episode. 

Given that we've just had an election with a change of government, we wanted to get these two policy experts back in to talk about what a Labour government might mean in terms of public service reform. We cover a wide range of topics including the new central government missions and how they will be delivered, what the new government might mean for devolution and the relationship between central government. One thing is for sure – a lot more collaboration will be needed between public services at all levels. 

Both Charlie and Jack are so insightful and enthusiastic about genuine public service reform, which is what we hope you are all here to listen to!

Labour's Policy Agenda With Charlotte Pickles And Jack Shaw

This episode is all about the changing role of the council Chief Executive - and it certainly is changing!

The financial pressures on councils are more intense than they have ever been. The responsibility that sits on a council Chief Executive to act as a place leader, engaging with the health and care system through the Integrated Care System arrangements, and also engaging with a Mayoral Combined Authority for Councils that have that arrangement in place. So, the modern council Chief Executive role is one which requires a broad range of skills and capabilities, but also huge reserves of personal resilience as the role becomes ever more public facing and scrutinised.

So, the question has to be asked, who on earth would want to do this very difficult job? There isn’t a huge pipeline of people in the system ready to step up.

To answer all of these questions and more, I'm delighted that the guests on this episode are Professor Donna Hall, Mutual Ventures Non-Executive Director and former Chief executive of Wigan Council and Stephen Young, current Chief Executive of Halton Council.

The Changing Role Of The Council Chief Executive - Radical Reformers Podcast

This episode is with Simon Beeton, the Chief Executive of Navigo Health and Social Care CIC, a mental health and wellbeing provider in Northeast Lincolnshire. Navigo have been named in the Sunday Times top 100 not-for-profit organisations to work five years in a row! So there will be lessons to learn for everyone.
 
Simon has been on quite a journey. We talk about his transition from long standing Finance Director to Chief Executive and the challenges of moving to this broader, more strategic role.
 
We discuss Navigo's impressive entrepreneurial activity, such as their purchase and running of a garden centre and restaurant. Public service entrepreneurialism is important in terms of giving individuals the space to be creative and also being entrepreneurial at an organisational level. Simon provides some good examples of how Navigo is creating the space to beg forgiveness rather than ask permission…

The main section of the conversation is around £radical" place leadership and place working. Simon and I talk about how the local organisations in Northeast Lincolnshire want to work more effectively together, and how it's so important (in the words of NE Lincs Council Chief Executive, Rob Walsh) to put place above organisation.

The Mutual Ventures team are lucky to be doing some innovative work with Northeast Lincolnshire on developing a more Radical Place Leadership approach and we talk about that and what the ultimate goals  are.

Radical Place Leadership With Simon Beeton - Radical Reformers Podcast

This episode is with Mark Sims, the Chief Executive of the P3 Group. He describes P3 as an organisation that supports people who are having a "tough time" and he doesn't like putting labels on people. This really gives you an idea of the sort of leader Mark is and the sort of organisation P3 is. 

P3 are particularly active in supporting people who don't have a place to live and Mark sets out housing situation we find ourselves in and what some of the drivers are.  For P3's work to be successful, Mark's team need to be able to collaborate with other service providers within the public sector or other third sector and private organisations - so he talks about how his team are empowered to work across organisational boundaries and to collaborate.

The ambition of P3 is to find people somewhere to live, someone to love and something to do. Mark explains how when they're reviewing how successful they are as an organisation, it's not looking at growth metrics, it's not looking at numbers of contracts, numbers of staff. They ask themselves, are we living, are we loving, are we doing? And I think that's really powerful. For many organisations, taking that approach rather than just looking at the metrics would give them a much better idea of how successful they are. 

For any of you who know Mark, you'll know this will be a brilliant conversation and it really is. I enjoyed it and I learned a lot from it.

Supporting People Who Are Having A Tough Time With Mark Simms - Radical Reformers Podcast

In this latest episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by Lucy Butler, Director of South East Regional Care Cooperative. 
 
Lucy shares how her early life experience led her to a career in public services, starting in adult social care and ultimately to various leadership positions in children's services. 

Most recently, Lucy was Director of Children’s Services at West Sussex. She discusses their improvement journey and the importance of ensuring a good culture filters all the way through an organisation and the key role persistence and consistency play in driving improvement. 
 
My favourite part of this episode is where Lucy shares the turning point in her career when she helped fight against child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Oxfordshire. She highlights the creative thinking that led everyone from hoteliers to taxi drivers to become part of tackling CSE during her time at Oxfordshire County Council. 
 
It’s an inspiring listen. Enjoy it!

Empowering Leadership With Lucy Butler - Radical Reformers

In this episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by Theresa Leavy, former Executive Director for Children (DCS) at Dorset Council and Interim Director of Children’s services at Cheshire East Council. 

In this wonderfully honest and open discussion, Theresa takes us through her career from an 18 year old in charge of a group of kids in residential care, all the way through to leading Dorset's improvement journey over the last four years.

It's a leadership master class where Theresa talks about the importance of connecting as a person with your work, the importance of delivering high support and high challenge as well as the true meaning of being kind.  

My favourite bit of the whole conversation is how leaders need to show vulnerability. I think this is something which is really lacking. 

Enjoy it!

High support and high challenge with Theresa Leavy

Radical Reformers returns! In this latest episode, I talk to Emmanuel Akpan Inwang, Founder and Director of Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust.

Emmanuel's career journey is truly inspiring. He began as a teacher in Birmingham where he witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by looked-after children. This experience ignited a passion for improving the lives of those children and ultimately to the establishment of the Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust.

The Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust is dedicated to providing exceptional residential care experiences for looked-after children. Emmanuel's journey to founding this organisation included extensive research and a transformative trip to Europe, where he visited children's homes in Germany and Denmark. He observed the positive outcomes of social pedagogy practices in these countries and was inspired to implement similar approaches in the UK. 

I love that The Trust focuses on creating stable, nurturing environments that are close to home and prioritise long-term relationships and holistic care for children.

it's an inspiring listen and very relevant given the Government's focus on improving children's care homes in England.

New tracks tagged #localauthorities