Matt Leach

Some great practical advice here from Gill Pipkin about bid writing. Well worth a read!

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Charities and Government Excellent Research from Pro Bono Economics who have published a very useful free resource for charities https://lnkd.in/e_a8ybFN . This says "The 2024 General Election brought 335 new MPs into the House of Commons. For the many charities that seek to influence parliamentarians, this creates a significant challenge. That’s 335 new MPs to research and sift through to try and understand if they might be inclined to support a charity’s cause. "Many small charities cannot afford parliamentary monitoring systems or expensive agencies to do that sifting for them. If hundreds of organisations all undertake the same research into those MPs’ backgrounds, it means massive amounts of duplication and wasted time for already time-starved organisations. Also see https://lnkd.in/ebSvCG_Y which explains that "Experience in the charity sector has accelerated the most dramatically of all with this new Cabinet. #Starmer has appointed eight #Cabinet members who have previously worked within the charity sector. That is a quadrupling of charity experience at the top of government." CFG : Charity Finance Group Charity News Association of Charitable Foundations Association of Chairs The Resource Alliance Charity Excellence - a FREE one-stop-shop for everything a non-profit needs.

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I've just completed this: my wish list includes some kind of charity/ citizens panel to consider the impact of proposed policies on charities and their beneficiaries before implementation, and some kind of long term core costs grants so that charities that are providing essential services e.g housing, education can meet their costs. The impact on the NI change for Emmaus Bristol isn't huge, but will further eat into reserves - already halved by the cost of living crisis. There have been waves of charities closing after the double blow of the pandemic followed by inflation. Lots more will go if there's another crisis which adds to costs or stops income. It's been such a hard five years I do sometimes think what's going to be next? Extreme weather as a result of climate change is definitely something we need to be thinking about in terms of service continuity, and building reserves for.

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Lots to digest in today's budget! https://lnkd.in/etes2zfE The Federation for Industry Sector Skills and Standards (FISSS) welcome the focus on stimulating economic growth and on long-term funding for growth-driving sectors. The evidence is clear – a government that is serious about achieving its economic growth ambitions also needs to be serious about investing in #skills. The £300m for further education and £40m to transform the Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy are a welcome first step. As government continues to develop its plans, a focus on responding to employer skills needs must remain a priority.

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Insightful report that clearly articulates the current challenges

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Transforming local Government only happens collectively! Really looking forward to keynoting TechUK's upcoming Local Public Services Innovation Summit on 12 June in London. I only have 15 mins so no time to mess about: we need to talk about replatforming the sector. If Tescos wouldn't dream of running each of its 2,899 local stores as a separate fiefdom each with its own corporate layer (finance, customer services, operations, marketing, IT, HR/recruitment, etc etc), why on earth would we imagine that it's OK to carry on doing exactly that in local services at a time of such crisis - and just how bad do things need to get before we see the writing on the wall? https://lnkd.in/evR7sycD #localgovernment #transformation #govtech #solace

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Neighbourhood Care is the future! An important step for Citizen Network as we beging to converge to emerge solutions for resilient and sustainable societies. Bringing together all the work done in the network for more than 50 years offers an alternative way to approach social and health care, democracy, business and sustainability with citizen and community approach. The systems in place do not serve their purpose any more and there needs to be a transformation to ways to live together not only for us people but for the whole living environment. We need to care more about ourselves, our families and friends, neighbours and neighbourhoods. Resources, actions and economy should support freedom and responsibilities. We need to build a world of diversity, equality and community. A world where everyone matters. Things locally are linked with people and communities worldwide. It is getting easier and easier to collaborate and create together without boundaries of place and language. We are not starting from scratch. Neighbourhood care developments are happening in various places around the world just now. Citizen Network brings together several important innovations. Have you come across examples of emergent signs of change? What is inhibiting the change? What should we transform to make the neighbourhood care possible? #neighbourhoodcare #citizennetwork

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Danone made huge profits, and give healthy and increasing dividends to shareholders as seen here https://lnkd.in/ezs39xYZ My email to the Council's planning dep. "I wish to place on record my strong objection to the above planning application by the Danone Harrogate Water Corporation in Harrogate. Considering all we know about climate change, loss of biodiversity and the role that trees and forests play in the eco-system, for nature and our own health, I am amazed that a company that promotes 'clean' Harrogate water to the world is even considering such a regressive development. I walk frequently through and around the Rotary Woods and Pine Woods. A lovely area enjoyed by families, the elderly and many children. Already there a large number of heavy water trucks driving to and from Harrogate Water's plant, they are clearly damaging a public road (a road taxpayers will need to pay for repairing), and these trucks pose a danger to pedestrians and cyclists who share and cross the road. Adding more heavy goods traffic is both non-sensical & not in the interests of people, nor the finances of the council itself. It benefits Danone only. I understand that protected bats and badgers call the woods home. Replanting new trees in place of older growth trees and established woodland is obviously not going to provide a home for these protected species, in fact it will both displace and potentially kill the existing wildlife, including a significant bird population. Whilst Danone's proposal to use durable, harmful chemicals to manage any new woodland further threatens wildlife and your rate payer's health and well-being. Not only is this in direct conflict to the public's interests, I cannot see how Danone's own brand will not be damaged by such measures. There are other matters that Danone's application directly conflicts with or contradicts, including government policy, and the Deciduous Woodland Priority Habitat, Asset of Community Value and Special Landscape area status of Rotary Woods. By itself this surely shows that the application should not be granted, and any future attempts thrown out with it. Danone is a highly profitable multi-national business who can and should afford to find an alternative to this clearly unpopular and regressive plan. They are more than capable of finding profits in other parts of their water businesses across the globe that do not cause so much damage. In fact, it is in their own interests and ESG credentials to put profits second to the well-being of our shared environment, the wildlife that relies and thrives in it currently, and the health and well-being of your rate payers, all our neighbours and their children. Please put local people and the environment before Danone's profits and reject the planning application - they have alternatives".

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🚨📰🚨📰🚨 In my latest Local Government Chronicle Briefing for Localis we argue the devolution agenda must be grounded in the reality of resource and capacity at local and regional level. 🆙The UK government is pushing for devolution and reorganisation, with plans to shift strategic planning upwards to combined authority level. 📈This has sparked debate about the balance between local democracy and efficient planning. 🔜The government's intentions on power transfer and financial governance are expected to be detailed next week in the upcoming English Devolution White Paper and the 2025 Comprehensive Spending Review. 🤔However, this ambitious agenda must be grounded in the reality of available resources and recognise the English local government workforce has shrunk significantly since 2010, leading to capacity constraints and a loss of experienced staff. 📉This depletion of resources and trained and skilled staff poses a significant challenge to meeting the increasing demands in local service areas. Our report last week "Restoration and Resilience" for South East Councils South East Employersproposed several strategies to address this workforce crisis, including: * Collaborative training programs * Shared frameworks for recruiting temporary staff * Joint procurement for training or specialist local authority outplacement services * Strategic and integrated workforce planning * Better succession planning and workforce analysis * Workforce flexibility, such as four-day work weeks Despite the importance of workforce capacity and capability, these issues are often overlooked in discussions about devolution. What we talk about when we talk about devolution isn't really staffing and resourcing in the new age or a trained professional cadre to vouchsafe financial governance complex single settlements - as we argued in our recent report with Grant Thornton UK LLP 'Present Tense: renewing and reforming local government finance'. This brings into question how combined authorities will be adequately resourced to handle the increased responsibilities and financial governance demands. Regardless of future structures, the success of devolution and public service reform hinges on a capable and dynamic local government workforce. So its incumbent on the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Workforce Development Group and the sector to proactively address the workforce challenges of the emerging local and regional future. 👏👏 many thanks Kirsty Weakley 👏👏

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Of course I am biased, but there's a fabulous line up for #IEDConf2024 this November, at a pivotal time for the #econdev profession in delivering HM Treasury's "Mission Growth". Get involved via details below>> #localgov #growth #regeneration #investment

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The Skills England report published last month illustrates the difficulty that officials and their advisors have with reconciling early 20th Century Fabian/Haldane planning mindsets with the 21st Century pace of change and the need to harness the full diversity of human talent, not just traditional filtering for memory and logic - "which any properly programmed computer can handle". The challenges of educating for an AI-driven world were identified over 40 years ago. See "Learning for Change", put on-line for me by the Oxford Internet Institute in 2010. Albeit we used the terms "Intelligent systems" and "Machine Learning" and the "systems" often needed air-conditioned mainframes to drive them. BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT Better Hiring Institute (BHI) TechSkills.org Skills England Labour Digital WCIT Financial Services Technology Panel Real Time Club Digital Policy Alliance Digital Leaders https://lnkd.in/efSqwmEZ

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Reflecting on a unique New Local event co-hosted with TPXimpact | B Corp™ at the end of last week: our first Radical Leaders Overnighter. We had a packed agenda over two days with a group of pioneering #localgov chief executives and directors, exploring the shifting nature of demands on leadership in our era of perma-crisis. New Local’s long focus on community power stems from a growing sense that traditional state-led or market-led approaches to public services have diminishing returns, when confronted with the complexity & pluralism of different circumstances that characterise the mid 2020s. Lots has been written about the “perma-crisis”, but there are layers of implications for where #localgov as a sector finds itself: - prolonged financial pressures & underlying structural shifts such as ageing and deepening inequality, which create new pressures on traditional service models. - external global market shocks, pandemic(s?) & climate change, all have variable and unpredictable local consequences. - increasing community polarisation, the rise of populism & extremism and wider decreasing trust in institutions, which all play out at a hyperlocal level with sometimes toxic and volatile consequences. It’s fair to say that in this context, the linear predictability that New Public Management style approaches were based on can no longer be assumed. Leadership in public services in the era of perma-crisis does need to involve efficient resource allocation, management of large organisations, workforce optimisation, etc. But increasingly, a new set of capabilities are required of leaders: to mobilise communities and partners beyond institutions, to build resilience across the workforce and to lead with compassion and empathy. These are less formal capabilities, but no less impactful. We enjoyed exploring this all with our radical leaders in a creative, constructive way with a brilliant group of open-minded, curious and pioneering individuals in council executive leadership roles. New Local will keep developing this approach - exploring, defining and advocating for increased awareness of the skillsets that will help us navigate through the challenges confronting public services. For now a big thanks to our partners and collaborators TPXimpact | B Corp™ NeuroLeadership Institute Adah Parris (she/her) Jen Byrne Liin Nur Nikolai Koval-Radley, MA (Cantab) CPCC ACC and our fab team Natalie Raeched Shaheen Warren Laura Payne and to Adam Lent who was there at the start developing our approach.

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🚀 In case you missed it: Last week, The National Lottery Community Fund launched our new ‘missions framework.’ These are the community-led missions where we will be focusing our funding, learning, and efforts. The foundation of this approach is rooted in what we’ve heard from communities: a desire for us to be more ambitious, more long-term, and more focused on tackling bigger challenges while supporting continuous learning across communities. My colleague Thomas Walters has shared a blog and video about this (see below), so if this is your first introduction, start there. I’m adding some wider reflections to complement his. 💡 Why a mission framework? For us, a mission approach is about translating the 'why' into outcomes ('what') and identifying the target group ('for whom'). It provides a sharper focus on specific community goals without restricting flexibility on 'how' these goals are achieved. In fact, by being firmer on missions, outcomes, and target groups, we create more space for different, new, local solutions in delivery. It’s central to our commitment to agility, partnership, and, ultimately, solutions rooted in ‘it starts with community’. 🔍 Balancing priorities There’s often concern about whether missions can reflect the entirety of what an organisation can or should do. We recognise that while they can’t cover everything, setting clear priorities supports transparency and intentionality. At The National Lottery Community Fund, we expect more than 90% of grants will align with one of our four community-led missions. This still leaves room for responsive funding, ensuring we remain adaptable to emerging needs. 🌍 Complex vs. Complicated Some argue that the world is too complex for mission-based approaches. But I believe missions help us break down the often-complicated systems at play and develop a deeper understanding of the assumptions, learning, and evidence required to make meaningful progress. By defining clear goals, we seek to enable community led solutions to approach challenges more confidently, fostering curiosity, learning, and improvement. In short, the framework is about being bold, strategic, and community-focused. And when done right, it creates opportunities for greater collaboration, innovation, and long-term impact. This is a brief reflection on a big topic: there’s lots that Nesta, the Institute for Government and others have written about missions-led approaches. But if you want to hear more about our experience The National Lottery Community Fund, I’m looking forward to joining NPC (New Philanthropy Capital) Ignites Conference on 15 October! And as Tom says in his blog, we welcome reflections and feedback. Dan Corry

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The UK establishes some public bodies every year. But how can we do it better? Our new Institute for Government report - "How to set up a public body" - dives into some case studies to find out: https://lnkd.in/esRi9RJN. We spoke to people involved in setting up six bodies over two decades, ranging from the Office for Budget Responsibility to the UK Health Security Agency. And the lessons learned are timely: Labour has pledged to create 17 new public bodies (and counting). My colleague Shivani Chivukula will be monitoring progress and has a new tracker for you here: https://lnkd.in/eqY4ceks. We divided our lessons into those for the design phase – primarily for ministers and civil servants – and those for the set up phase – primarily for public body leaders. Our lessons for the design phase are: 1/ Define mission and objectives 2/ Build widespread support 3/ Agree the powers, independence and governance required 4/ Secure the right resources early 5/ Plan realistically for the future from the start Our lessons for the set up phase are: 6/ Recruit and prepare a well-balanced senior team 7/ Build on the enthusiasm that can surround a new body 8/ Anticipate change and growth 9/ Maintain political licence 10/ Resist mission creep that detracts from the core purpose These lessons are explained in detail in our report, alongside a wealth of insight on how public bodies have been created over the last 20 years. This report assumes that the initial decision to set up a body has already been made - on which see our companion report, "When should public bodies exist?" (https://lnkd.in/eu3yhHD8). It completes our series on the public body life cycle, which also includes last year's report on "How to abolish a public body" (https://lnkd.in/eqN24zzN).

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Really helpful practical tips on how to do co-design in the public sector by Leon Cruickshank. You can now re-watch his talk at the #PublicPolicyDesign events library here.... https://lnkd.in/eQ9Qmf7T

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As #publicservices face increasing complexity and resource scarcity, reform prescriptions emphasize #localism and relationships such that people and communities are centered in service design and delivery. #PublicAdministration is awash in concepts that acknowledge the influence of relationships on service effectiveness (e.g. #cocreation, #networkgovernance, #citizenparticipation) suggesting relationality is an 'implied characteristic' of the discipline. Still, its conceptual dimensions and effects remain blurry. The hope with this special issue is to move the conversation forward theoretically and empirically as well as advancing discussions about how, as academics and practitioners, we might practically develop the field. If this sounds like a conversation you'd like to be a part of, I hope you'll consider sending us your work! The call for papers can be found below! PMM: Public Money & Management UK Association for Public Administration (UKAPA) Government Outcomes Lab, University of Oxford Rob Wilson Hannah Hesselgreaves Britt Regal, PhD Sam van Elk Adina Iulia Dudau Dr Ian C Elliott Felix-Anselm van Lier

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"The headline data has been well covered, but I want to focus on two sentences from the ACNC commissioner’s summary: “It is important to recognise that the rise in expenses and liabilities outpaced the rise in revenue and assets in percentage terms.” and “Employee expenses alone increased by almost 10% – the highest annual rise ever recorded.” These are compelling figures. And yet in many ways they represent the tip of an iceberg. Just below the surface are a range of emerging problems that are eating into the sector’s capacity to survive and continue serving their communities. The reality is that despite all the reports, all the supportive rhetoric, all the calls for action, almost nothing is being done to address the squeeze on charities and community organisations. The charity and not-for-profit sector is largely left to try to do business as usual with less income, increased costs and, in many areas, increased demand and complexity."

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What is #neighbourhoodcare? And why does it matter? Currently in South Yorkshire (and with allies in other parts of the world) we're developing a Neighbourhood Care Strategy. This is not just 'yet another reorganisation.' It is a fundamental reassessment of what care is and what fosters genuine care. Most care is provided by family, friends and neighbours. Yet the state does little to support this and a lot to undermine it. Most funding for care is extractive. It is spent taking people out of their neighbourhoods, often permanently, and in many cases funding is going to private equity firms that are avoiding UK taxes. We are not just burning our own money, we are undermining our ability to flourish and contribute to our own neighbourhoods. We need a radical change in thinking and organisation. Resources need to stay in communities, communities need structures so they can develop intentional strategies for care, professionals need to be embedded in and accountable to those communities. We are now at the end of a 40 year failed experiment in care which prioritised privatisation, contract management, regulation and hierarchy. The evidence is in - these reforms made things worse. It's time to close the book and start again. There are many good things to build on within the failing architecture: peer support, neighbourhood networks, self-direction, micro supports, person-centred planning, direct payments, local area coordination and more... But we need a new strategy within which they can truly flourish. We need systems that support #EverydayCitizenship Plena inclusión Ester Ortega Citizen Network Markus Vähälä https://lnkd.in/eC8cxymw

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