Truth about Local Government

Truth about Local Government

por Matt Masters

The need for robustness with councils code of conduct with Helen McGrath

I sat down with Helen McGrath, Executive DIrector of Policy and Governance at the LLG (Lawyers in Local Government). We discussed the need for robustness with councils code of conduct, particularly on the use of council address for political purposes. We then explored how this can be extended by reference to cllr addresses and the increase in abuse against them.

How to gets the most from your recruitment managed service provider with Alan Griffin and Dale Hampshire.

Recruitment and retention are two of the largest challenges facing the local authority space. With so much spend on interim staff, councils utilise MSP (managed service providers) to deliver a cost effective and trackable recruitment service. For any council with an MSP, re tendering or considering using an MSP, finding a cost effective solution, that meets your financial, social and organisational requirement is extremely challenging. Today we have to experts from Page Group, Dale Hampshire - Senior Business Development Director and Alan Griffin - Account Director to talk through Page’s offering in the local government space, providing a fresh solution to the market. They explored how to get the most from your recruitment managed service provider.

The constitutional standing and status of local government. Ft Professor Colin Copus

In our second part with the eminent Colin Copus, we discussed the constitutional standing and status of local government. We explored why we need to emphasise the ‘government’ in local government more – the sorts of freedoms, powers and autonomy that is commonplace to local government across the globe, but lacking here and why.

How to improve integration in health and social care with Lauren Sadler

Great to sit down with Lauren Sadler, who is a health and social care transformation consultant, exploring how we can achieve better integration between local authorities and the NHS. We explored the challenges and the solutions in a compact, but highly productive conversation. If you start with the why, instead of the governance, the momentum can help overcome the considerable challenges to integration.

Addressing inequality via flexible working and place shaping. Ft Alison Coutinho.

Today Alison and I explored how by utilising the levers of flexible working and placemaking we can tackle inequality within society.

How to build and retain a legal team with Sarah Hall.

Sarah Hall is the Deputy Director of Law and Governance at West Northamptonshire Council. She shared her experience of recruiting an entire new legal team from essentially a standing start when the new unitary was formed. She gave her advice to monitoring officers and legal leaders about how she has via direct recruitment achieved this. Sarah's proactive and entrepreneurial approach is exactly what the local government sector needs to do more of. Instead of trying to achieve a different outcome with the same approach. Also, big shout out to West Northamptonshire for having such a high proportion of female representation in their leadership, shout out to Julia Rickards, Nicki Agalamanyi and Katherine Hall. It is fantastic to see and on international women's day is a powerful reminder of how gender equality and inclusivity are key ingredients to successfully building effective councils.

Collaboration in IT, has infinite potential for the sector with Will Callaghan

For me LocalGov Drupal is the epitome of the potential of local government. Instead of each council reinventing the wheel, via collaboration they are saving councils time, money and the isolation of tackling IT challenges alone. What WillCallaghan, Co Founder and Product & Project Lead and his team have created is an inspiration. The profit that come from the group go back into the platform. LocalGov Drupal is the publishing platform created by councils, for councils. It has 44 member local authorities across the UK and Northern Ireland. Today we explored: How did LocalGov Drupal get started? What challenges are council digital teams facing? How does LGD help? What other initiatives are doing this? - open referral - open digital planning - open source revs & bens - Cumbria’s track & trace system What does it feel like working on LGD or for an LGD council? Is there any scope to expand this collaborative approach? What’s stopping more councils doing collaborative work? For more information reach out to Will Callaghan will@localgovdrupal.org or look at the website https://localgovdrupal.org/about-us/our-story

How to grow your electric vehicle infrastructure with Adrian Fielden-Gray

The future of the expansion of green transport fundamentally relies on the ability of local and central government to embrace electric vehicle infrastructure. Today I sat down with Adrian Fielden-Gray COO - Be.EV; Co-Founder. Be.Ev is responsible for the growth and ongoing operations of the 'Be.EV' network, currently the largest network of public EV chargers in Greater Manchester and expanding across the North of England. Cover the full life cycle from design though to installation, ongoing operations and asset management. Additional focus on key stakeholder management, customer journey, membership engagement, data insights and UX. We discussed the steps local authorities must take place to grow electric vehicle infrastructure in a economically sustainable and logistically relevant manner. The solution is a targets-based system allowing local government and the private sector to put in a reliable, future-proof, extensive network. Great to hear about the great work that Be.EV are doing with Trafford Council and Stockport Council.

How to get central government to play ball, Ft Majeed Neky.

It was great to sit down with Majeed Neky, Assistant Director - Economy at West London Alliance to discuss what local government can do to encourage devolution from central government. Majeed has worked at a senior level in both central and local government and thus provides a really interesting vantage point, to discuss how local and central government can best work together. We discussed: Local and central government: the view from both sidesDecentralisation and accountability – why is central government reluctant to let go of power; what can be done about this; what does local government need to be able to take on new responsibilities Experience of working on devolution negotiations from both sides Cultural barriers and similarities The role of London in the devolution and cities policy discussion

How to cultivate leaders in local government with Mariana Pexton.

I sat down with Mariana Pexton, Director of Strategy and Resources at Leeds City Council, Leeds Rhinos Foundation Director and Director of Leeds Rhino Netball. We discussed the three key methods of increasing leadership capacity and capability in local authority officers and members. A very humble and talented local authority leader, who gave some really constructive points for the listeners at home. I however managed to pronounce Mariana's name wrong, at least three times! Thank you to Local Partnership LLP for their continued support, allowing us to bring this free content to you at home.

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