To LGDS or not to LGDS – Part 3
... for a proportion of their week; however, to date, these have mostly been internal to GDS.
Imagine if that talent could be taken out of the office instead? Imagine a team of LGDS staff, trained and experienced ...
To LGDS or not to LGDS – Part 2
...
A properly funded LGDS, with ideal staff and resources behind it, might do some wonderful things. But we’re not going to get a properly funded LGDS, are we.
Unless Mr Osbourne has found an uncashed ...
To LGDS or not to LGDS – Part 1
... everyone could use, from Adur to Wyre Forest.
Since then of course many things have changed. National elections have altered things somewhat, which when combined with some of the most senior staff in ...
The next steps for equalities?
... access to council services. By 1989 the Unit had 31 staff, including race relations advisers in housing, education, and social services. The Unit’s annual report for that year shows its activities included ...
Taking it offline
... and support, better able to access both of these things outside of their normal circles of influence, allow quicker and more streamlined communication between managers and their staff and can cut down ...
Time to elect a new system?
... council being unelected. On South Northamptonshire council, a third of seats went unchallenged. Both of these were an increase on the 2011 elections.
In South Staffordshire, in 29% of seats voters were ...
So Long and Thanks For All the Flags
... a high public profile meant that his undeniably negative public views of the sector bled out to the wider public, who were led to believe that all local government staff were sitting on their backsides, ...
A whole load of cuts
... of £2.3bn in the last financial year despite the coalition's austerity programme. The paper says local authorities have saved money partly through the loss of half a million staff since 2010 - about a ...
Writing about writing
... my own name could have things read into it which could make life awkward (rightly or wrongly). I’ve had posts which were entirely innocent in intent pulled up by senior staff who thought I was talking ...
The Comms2point0 Unawards are coming...
... in four chance of walking off with the Big Prize. Big hoorays all round an an appearance in the staff magazine along with the service area you did good things for. In other words, the profile of your team ...
Tattoos are a choice you will need to live with
... nobody forces anyone to get tattooed at all, let alone where and what is delivered. Staff – both current and prospective – need to bear this in mind as they flick through the catalogue of artistic designs ...
Cricket and Councils; more alike than you'd think
... surveys conducted with the public result in the sound bite of “get rid of the chief exec and senior staff”. A council without these individuals runs a very, very real risk of listing aimlessly without ...
The worst is yet to come
... Council who are set to lose another 1,000 staff on top of the 1,000 who have already left. The move equates to 1 in 6 members of the current workforce being made redundant or retiring and not being replaced ...
Political interference
... want to invest £2m in a network run by one of their former staff or Mayor Rahman wants to invest £2m in community groups he believes in we should accept that they were elected to do just that.
The ...
Showing our working out
... Picture the scene: a circle of senior Council staff from across the country, each describing their challenges and each looking to get some help and support to come up with solutions that will balance the ...
LGA Conference 2014
... it brought together leaders, councillors, chief execs and senior staff from across the country to look at the issues facing the sector and hear from others involved what their own thoughts are. It also ...
Is economic growth an imperative for councils?
... growth was being driven by a small group of managers. The vast majority of staff were, as far as I could tell, still working on delivering the services they always had (although obviously this number was ...
17 things we took away from the Local Government Strategic Leaders Forum
... Cornwall, Derby, Barnet, Liverpool, Northamptonshire, Staffordshire) and the input of multiple delegates.
Afterwards we agreed that there was so much at the conference that piqued our interest that ...
Some thoughts before the Local Government Strategic Leaders Forum
... Outcomes for Communities
Because not everything is about cuts and it will be good to hear what Nick Bell, Chief Executive at Staffordshire, has to say.
4) We'll be listening out for a possible regional ...
The local government brain drain
... add far more value than we are willing to pay for.
2) 2) Freedom
Local government is still, despite some changes, a buttoned down risk averse place.
Staff are constantly restrained from coming ...