www.opm.co.uk/futureleadership/

Future Leadership Programme

Understanding the Context

1979 20192010

1. Looking back over your time in public service what developments have had most impact on you, your service, organisation or community?

2. What are you particularly aware of at present and what sense do you make of the current context for your leadership?

3. What is your ‘take’ on the next few years?

Public service – past, present and future

What do you experience?

• High volume of advice, guidance, change?

• Conditions, fewer targets, new inspection regimes?

• Tighter fiscal constraints - Having to do more with less?

• Public services need to ‘join up - complex partnerships?

• Service user demands increasing?

• Single status, workforce skills gaps

• Drive for civic renewal and stronger engagement with local people – ‘double devolution’ – political uncertainties

• Recognition of local distinctiveness; critical ‘place-making’ role for local government, new shared posts; unitaries & boundary commission changes

External drivers

• More elderly and disabled but demanding independence

• Greater differences between and within areas – more diverse communities

• Inequalities gap

• Rising expectations of quality of life

• Low level of public trust in public services, politicians and democratic process

• High profile cases – Baby P

• Environmental pressures

• “Glocalisation”

• Fast changing demography – migration

• Recession

The current political consensus

• the way we live and work is evolving at a rate faster than at any time in recent history. For all areas of public service delivery, there are existing pressures for change driven by demands of service users, partners, and citizens - whose satisfaction with local services has not mirrored the improvement in performance. As the budget made clear, efficiency is the watchword for public servants everywhere for years to come (Hazel Blears May 2009)

• …….. depends on the efforts of people in communities the length and breadth of Britain - charities and voluntary organisations, councils, businesses, unions, faith groups and social enterprises all working together with government to help people through these times of challenge and change.(Gordon Brown June 2009)

• ‘Our aim is to empower and embolden people to take action themselves, whether as individuals or as members of independent organisations, voluntary groups and social enterprises.’ (Tory Party Manifesto, June 2009)

• ‘We’ll make it possible for local people to work together to run local services, fight crime, and take charge of the future of their neighbourhood. (Lib Dem Party Manifesto July 2008)

Context - how Government sees it …

Centralisation has brought benefits – it’s seen as “gettinga grip”!

But,• value for money has remained the same

• Satisfaction with local services remains low

• Local democracy is weak and participation in local services is low

So, need to work together to find ways of improvingoutcomes and engaging people in their local services

Government’s view

Cabinet Office, 2006

Seismic shifts? - 2009 to 2012

• Impact of recession on service demands & income 14%+ savings over 2 years

• The costs of recession

– public spending now but clawed back from 2011

– Investment in capital but reduced income streams?• Contract in / contract out?• What does local government have to do c/w what it can afford to

do? Westminster, Barnet, Essex?• Total place – local efficiency or bean counting?• Melt down in children’s and social services? • Duty to assess and promote economic development

– Community Empowerment Housing & Economic Regeneration Bill 2008/9

The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007

Responsiveness & choice

• Community call for action

• Neighbourhood charters

• Quality parish councils

• Demonstrable community

participation

Community cohesion

• Local forums – youth and

community engagement

• Preventing extremism

Core business – the LAA

Comprehensive Spending Review 2007

Meeting increased public expectations • Delivering modern and responsive health and social

care• Increasing access to decent and affordable homes• Building strong and cohesive communities• Building safe and secure neighbourhoods

Next stage of reform - increased efficiencies • Performance management framework top 30 PSAs• Value for money - 3% pa savings by 2010-2011• Focus on procurement • Shared services / e-government

Local Authority Business Growth Incentives

Six areas for improvement

1. The central/local performance management framework

2. Better economic growth for cities

3. Improved local leadership

4. Local government as a convenor of public services

5. Community/neighbourhood empowerment

6. Local government structures

Negotiation and agreement

Local priorities and targets

18 statutoryDfES targets

~35 targets

LAA

Local accountability to citizens

‘Non-designated’ targets monitored only by LSP

Local consultation through the LSP with Partners and

Stakeholders

Local Challenges and Ambitions Sustainable Community

Strategy

Better outcomes for citizens

CSR07 national priority outcomes & 200

national indicators

Cross –Govt view through GOs on local priorities

LSP view of local priorities

‘Designated’ targets monitored by LSP and GO

New LAAs

Improved: places, VFM & outcomes for customers

Neighbourhood charter Neighbourhood targets

National outcome requirements

Housing partnership delivery arrangements National & local targets /

information

Sustainable community strategy / local development framework

LAA

Reports from inspectorates

Local scrutiny & other evidence

Audit / UoR

Resident & customer intelligence

Performance information

DoT

LSP evaluation of local area

Ri sk

Assessmen t

Improvement notices / intervention

Directive action / referral to secretary

of state

Government office support

Risk-based inspection & assessment

Peer challenge / Peer review

Sector self support

Local improvement activity

Improvement support options

Structures & governance

Neighbourhood arrangements

& parishes

Other partnerships Housing &

regeneration

LSP / council

Central government / Government

office

Outcomes delivery framework Risk-based assurance

National outcomes

Local outcomes

The new performance driver: Comprehensive Area Assessment

Leadership in local government

1. It’s about leadership, not just leaders2. Leadership is of the place, not just the organisation3. Respect difference4. Leading means telling a story5. Leading requires “reading”6. Members and officers travel together7. Politics matter8. People learn more from experience that from being

told

Living Leadership, Leadership Centre for Local Government

1. Vary 2. Have some needs in

common

3. Have history 4. Are multi-layered

5. Are personal 6. Can empower

7. Can divide 8. Need vision and leadership

9. Need power to change things

10. Places in places matter

10 Principles of places (Leadership Centre for Local Government)

Place-making is about leadership

No single model• Can vary in style – ‘disciplined pluralism’• Outlast an individual

It is a political task• Having a vision for the future• Building coalitions and consensus with other agencies• Effective public and community engagement to inform it• Effective use of powers to deliver the vision

Influencing well-being as it is affected by place• Economic, social, environmental aspects• About a ‘place’ in its richest sense• A community which has a sense of its past and its future• More prosperous communities: ‘growing the cake’

Implications and issues

• Encouraging and facilitating action by others – Capacity building – VCS & individuals– Negotiation and contracting re. what is done where and by whom e.g.

LAA• Dealing with disagreement

– Balancing different views– Conflicts e.g. pressure to deliver efficient and more personalised

services

• Outcomes can only be achieved in partnership with other providers and users/citizens – co-production

• Emphasis on outcome goals requires significant change – means taking risks and innovating

• Democratic renewal requires a better understanding of reasons for non participation

• Demands that local politicians can grasp these issues, build a widely shared vision and a strategy for achieving it.

• Low involvement and confused accountability highlights importance of building legitimacy to act

What kind of leadership do we need?

1. Organisational/managerial leadership

2. Political leadership

3. Partnership leadership

4. Community leadership

1. Organisational / managerial leadership

All senior managers need to:

– Deliver the political vision and hold the values

– Maintain effective relationships with politicians

– Work on implementation and performance management

– Design “fit for purpose” structures

– Invest in effective engagement and communicate information effectively

– Deploy resources & build capacity

– Create frameworks for change

– Demonstrate a proper reticence!

2. Political leadership

• Give more attention and resource to developing political leaders

– Ability to take on a bigger role and be held accountable locally

– Support democratic legitimacy

– Read trends and direction at different levels

– Understand power conflicts and dynamics

– Build alliances

• (Whose job is this?)

3. Partnership leadership

• Negotiating the “rules of engagement” for all the players

• Creating the capacity to relate well

• Encouraging learning and space for creativity

• Brokering relationships between different belief systems

• Using creative tension – drawing strength from difference

• Creating trust

• Developing mutuality

4. Community leadership

• Moving from leadership in an organisation to leadership in a locality

– Championing an area and developing coherent sustainable strategies

– Listening

– Building alliances and cohesion

– Crafting local solutions

– Building different leadership approaches

– Brokering and advocating

Task

Taking all this into account, what are thecharacteristics and needs of place and what isnow needed in local services leadership to makeit work?

Set out a person spec for a future leader with therequired: • knowledge • skills• aptitudes