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Articles by Martin Cresswell
Embracing innovation is key to LATCOs
By Martin Cresswell | 11 September 2023 It’s a very difficult operating environment for local government. Councils are facing increasing pressures from all angles – inflation and a cost of living crisis from one side, an upcoming General Election with a lack of clarity around policy reform on the other, and all of this compounded by a predicted funding gap of almost £3bn over the next few years according to the Local Government Association.
Tactics to support the health workforce
We’ve been supporting a range of health and care systems to plan their response to Covid-19, and what is particularly striking is that a crisis really can bring out the best in humankind. It is a privilege to work alongside people who are working so effectively despite the enormous pressure they are under. It is also clear that the health and care systems are radically and rapidly changing.
Diversity, Inclusion and Leadership
Last week I was fortunate to be a panellist at the Management Consultancy Association’s event on the Future of Talent, Diversity and Inclusion. Ann Francke, Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute, was also on the panel and gave an inspiring presentation. Ann is an expert on gender balance in the workplace and talked both about her own personal story and about how far we in business still need to go.
The EDGEWORK Manifesto: How to deliver sustainable change in complex public services
Almost 10 years ago, Martin Reeves (Chief Executive of Coventry City Council) bought a project from IMPOWER that we almost didn’t do. IMPOWER had been doing a lot of work on personalisation in adult social care and we thought to ourselves ‘what else could this apply to?’. We ran a workshop in Coventry with Martin’s wider leadership team which flagged two top challenges: teenage pregnancy and home-to-school transport for children with special needs.
Local Government and the Rugby World Cup
Those of you who know me well will remember that I was a pretty good footballer in my youth. These days I mainly watch sport on TV – and my current viewing addiction is the Rugby World Cup being held in Japan. While watching the titanic struggle between Scotland and Japan this weekend, I listened very carefully to the commentary from former rugby players explaining how the professionals on the field, particularly the Japanese, achieve such high levels of performance.
IMPOWER'S JON AINGER NAMED 'THOUGHT LEADER CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR'
I am absolutely delighted that Jon Ainger, Director at IMPOWER, was named ‘Thought Leader Consultant of the Year’ at last night’s Management Consultancies Association Awards. In addition, our work on the Valuing Care programme (with Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Norfolk, North East Lincolnshire and Central Bedfordshire) was Highly Commended in the ‘Best Use of Thought Leadership’ category.
IMPOWER and clients named as finalists in 3 categories of 2019 MCA Awards
I am delighted that IMPOWER and two of our clients have been named as finalists in three categories of the 2019 MCA Awards. The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) is the representative body for management consultancy firms in the UK. Their annual awards demonstrate the value of consulting, and celebrate the results achieved when clients and consultants work together.
Resilience is largely irrelevant. Local government needs to focus on productivity
The recent LGC article (‘Divisions over resilience index but officers open to new approach’) raises some interesting questions about how performance should be measured. Rob Whiteman’s comment that CIPFA’s index has received a “mixed response” reflects the general mood music that I picked up at this year’s CIPFA conference. It is clearly important to have some visibility over when an authority is likely to run out of road financially, at both a local level and within wider local government.
This time it's personal – making personalised care real | iMPOWER
My colleagues and I recently met Jackie Kennedy and her labrador, Kingston, at a King’s Fund conference about the increasing personalisation of care. Jackie was a police officer who was attacked during a criminal incident, leaving her wheelchair-bound and with life-changing head injuries. Her experience of health services during her recovery was not always positive.
How productive is local government?
It was going to happen sooner or later, and in reality, given the scale of the challenge that local government has faced, it’s a surprise that it’s not been sooner. The emergency measures put in place in Northamptonshire and alarm bells being sounded elsewhere in the country are sadly not a surprise to those who have worked with and within local government over the last decade.
Learning from Carillion: How to avoid being left without a chair if the music stops | iMPOWER
With the widespread media coverage of Carillion’s collapse and the impact on public sector organisations, local authorities across the country are no doubt double-checking their own resilience.As Council Leaders and Chief Executives take stock of their exposure, here are five steps to take if you don’t want to be left standing:Identify your major and your important suppliers – they are not always the same.
2018: Reframing the problem to deliver sustainable change
There will undoubtedly be plenty of distractions during the coming year: local elections and Brexit; crunches in public services and the seemingly increasing turnover of Council staff; financial stresses and as yet unknown crises. There is not a lot we can do about these distractions; they are just part of the job. Therefore whatever 2018 brings, the main job in public services remains the same: delivery in uncertain times. I say ‘delivery’ as there has been too much talk of ‘transformation’.
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