This is where I may get torn to shreds by some people I really like – Open Data folk. For the last three decades, since my early qualifications in Operational Research, through my consulting and public and private leadership roles I have been fascinated by the role of data and analytics in helping make the…
Tag: local government
Recruiting for Commercialism
This article, which appeared under the name of myself and Veredus colleague Evelyn Dougherty, was first published in the MJ As we travel around the country visiting a diverse range of local authorities it is clear that “commercialism” is on the rise. We are often asked about the practicalities and pitfalls of recruiting people with…
The Challenge of New Ways of Doing Things
Last week a couple of local authority chief executives, a young entrepreneur leading a future government consultancy and I got together to discuss ideas from the emerging field of social media and – critically – how they could be adopted within local authorities. The conversation was quite wide ranging, covering some of the tools of…
Careers in and around Local Government
This is an extended and adapted version of a talk for alumni of the National Graduate Development Programme at their first conference 18-19 June 2009. We’re going to spend a bit of time talking about careers. If you look in the dictionary you’ll see a definition of career that’s about a purposeful work-based or professional…
Choosing an Organisation Structure for Local Governance
For as long as I’ve been associated with Local Government (coming up to a decade) the structure of local authorities has been pretty well determined by statute. Certainly the scope of what is in a local authority and what is elsewhere is pretty well set. And certain statutory roles like a Director of Children’s Services…