Radical Reformers podcast

In this week's episode Radical Reformers, we welcome back a duo we've had on the podcast before - Scott Darraugh from Social Adventures and Sophie Clarke from We Are Juno. It's a rich conversation that touches on topics we've been thinking about a lot here at Mutual Ventures, specifically around the challenges in children's residential care: - The difficulty of finding suitable local placements so young people are close to their families and communities. - The need for a renewed focus on relationships and creating safe, trusting and inspiring environments for young people. - The role of Regional Care Cooperatives and the need for local authorities and organisations to work together to fix the challenges facing the children's social care system. This conversation also contains a strong message about ensuring all children and young people are not only kept safe - but have a “dare to dream” plan and the opportunity to find their “glimmer”. It's very inspiring stuff. Enjoy it.

In this new episode of #RadicalReformers, I chat with Kath O'Dwyer, former Chief Executive of St Helens Council and Chair of SOLACE. During her tenure at St Helens, Kath led the council through significant challenges, including a poor corporate culture, the COVID-19 pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, and a ransomware cyber attack. Despite these hurdles, she successfully transformed the organisation, leading to a very positive corporate peer challenge this year. Kath describes herself as a “fix it” Chief Exec and she explains why it's so important to recognise what sort of leader you are and what environment you are likely to thrive in. Trust and honesty are central to Kath's success and she explains the “kindness” of making tough decisions. Kath also emphasises the importance of collaboration across local authority boundaries and the benefits of St Helens being part of the Liverpool City Region and the positive impact of regional programs and investments on local communities. Enjoy it!

In this latest episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird is joined by Caroline Simpson, Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Transport for Greater Manchester and the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. Greater Manchester became the first new Mayoral Combined authorities in 2014 and in this conversation, Caroline has a refreshing approach to leadership and shares how she navigates the incredibly complex but rewarding Greater Manchester environment. What's clear from this conversation is Greater Manchester thrives on strong relationships built on trust and transparency, and not being afraid to have difficult conversations. This solid foundation of trust and knowledge of the place makes room for balanced risk and makes Manchester the perfect place for a test and learn approach. If you take just one thing away from this episode, we hope it's inspiration from the boundless energy that Caroline embodies as a leader. Times are certainly tough for public services – but all great change starts with the belief that it can be done and as Caroline says, going "All in"!

In the new episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird welcomes Graeme Duncan, Chief Executive of Right to Succeed, a charity that supports communities in areas of high deprivation to work collectively and give children and young people the best start in life. In this discussion, Graeme and Andrew discuss the transformative power of building community agency. Graeme notes that the biggest challenge facing our communities isn't just the individual issues like poverty, education, or health - but the lack of control people have in defining their own needs and solutions. True change comes from a collective approach, where everyone works together, rather than top-down or bottom-up methods. Graeme offers insights into how Right to Succeed engages with different levels of administration, from individual councils to the Liverpool City Region and how this approach has led to significant savings and better outcomes for communities. Allowing communities to take ownership, builds trust and collaborative solutions that are hard to beat. As Graeme says, if a community chooses an intervention – they will make it succeed.

In this new episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird chats to Graham Farrant, Chief Executive of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council. It's a particularly relevant episode for those going through the current local government reorganisation (LGR) process. Back in 2018, Graham was the inaugural Chief Executive of the newly formed BCP Council and this episode is packed with lessons and insight from his experience of leading a brand new council. He describes the challenges of the LGR process, the complexities of merging councils and the programme management that's crucial to do it successfully. It's a must-listen for those who have recently submitted initial LGR proposals. Graham is also renowned for bringing business acumen to his various public sector roles. He shares his insights on: - Budgets and the importance of forecasting and recognising likely overspend. - The importance of viewing risk management as an integral part of every role – not a separate function. - The potential financial benefits of public sector funded commercial activities.

This week, Andrew Laird is joined by Kate Josephs, Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council. Kate is a former Senior Civil Servant in Whitehall who has transitioned to local government in a City just around the corner from where she grew up. Sheffield is a city (with three-party political leadership) which has developed an ambitious set of City Goals through community collaboration, focusing on shared ownership and improving public services. The episode touches on the need for flexibility and adaptability in public service delivery, the power of optimistic leadership and the emerging role of council Chief Executives as conveyors of “place”. The conversation also highlights the financial and outcomes folly of delivering public services in silos. Better collaboration and the removal of duplication and the need for people to repeatedly tell their story not only improves efficiency, but more importantly can break people and families out of a downward spiral. Enjoy it! NB - this episode was recorded before the Government announced it was abolishing NHS England.

We've extended our International Women's Day celebrations here at MV. Inspired by our recent report and webinar, we have produced a special episode of the #RadicalReformers podcast. Since its launch, from the very first episode with Sophie Humphreys to the very latest episode with Louisa Mitchell, 60% of the guests on the podcast have been women. This is not a contrived thing, it is just where a lot of the leadership talent is! In this episode, @Andrew Laird introduces six clips from the archive with Theresa Leavy, Arianna Giovannini, Fatima Khan Shah, Sam Plum, Prof. Donna Hall and Naomi Hulston. A very wide range of topics are covered including, leaning into challenges, championing diversity, the relationship between employers and employees, the right power to devolve to local areas, local government reorganisation and the birth of the “Wigan Deal”. Enjoy it #AccelerateNow #Internationalwomensday #IWD25

In this episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird is joined by Louisa Mitchell MBE, Chief Executive of All Child, an organisation dedicated to supporting communities in underserved neighbourhoods across the UK to help children and young people flourish. All child has a crystal-clear purpose and methodology. They identify children who need support, they develop a trusted relationship with the child and the family, and they align public services around the child. Louisa and her team have achieved amazing results. In the eight years of their existence, they have worked with nearly 6000 children and 2/3 of those children are no longer at risk in their social and emotional health and around 60% have improved their school grades. Louisa also talks about the benefit of outcomes contracts and how they make space for trusted relationships and support that's tailored to individuals. This type of commissioning gives providers power and permission to do whatever it takes to help, rather than ticking activity boxes. This episode majors on something we come back to time and time again on Radical Reformers – the transformative power of relationships and trust. It's also a rallying cry to anyone thinking of making the jump into public services, as Louisa started her career in finance, before moving to policy research writing – until she decided, in her words “enough writing, time for some action”

In our latest episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by Kim Wright, Chief Executive of Brent Council. In London, 1 in 23 children are homeless… think about that for a moment…that's one in every classroom. Tackling an issue like this requires a new, more radical way of getting public services to work together. The New Public Management approach of constantly assessing and passing vulnerable people and families from one siloed service to another will not cut it. Kim and I discuss the “Radical Place Leadership” work Mutual Ventures have been doing with Brent, which emphasises the importance of putting the person and family first and creating the permission and space for public servants to really understand the core challenges people are facing. This is riskier that sticking to traditional service silos. It requires public servants to have the ability to “fall forward”, which means accepting that not everything will work but also embracing the importance of properly learning the lessons. To enable this new way of working, Kim is driving a major culture shift in her own organisation and also across partner organisations and in communities. Kim discusses how she is approaching this. Kim is an inspiring leader who knows what needs to happen and has the drive to do it…. oh and she loves Abba!

In this latest episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew talks to Kersten England, former Chief Executive of Bradford Council and current Chair of Bradford City of Culture 2025. Kersten highlights the importance of public services really getting to know local communities and understanding the context and contributing factors within people's lives. It's the only way to deliver meaningful support which will lift individuals and families out of downward spirals. Andrew and Kersten discuss the English Devolution White Paper and while a lot of the provisions are welcome, there is a risk that councils end up being squeezed between their statutory social care obligations and the demands of the Regional Strategic Authority. Kersten also shares her views on the bombardment of influencers targeting Gen Z and the importance of leaders understanding this environment in order to communicate and connect with young people. It's a great episode touching on councils and place – and ultimately, relationships and community cohesion

In the latest episode of Radical Reformers, I get into the detail of the English devolution White Paper with the local government expert Arianna Giovannini. We discuss:

In the first Radical Reformers episode of 2025, I welcome Naomi Hulston, Chief Executive of Catch 22, a national charity delivering employment, education, justice, health, and social care services. Naomi shares her journey to becoming the Chief Executive of Catch 22. Her story is a powerful reminder that success often comes from doing what you love and making a positive impact on the community. Naomi describes how Catch 22, despite being a large, national organisation, remains properly connected to communities to understand the full context of a person's life. She also discusses the evolving relationship between employers and employees and asks if we have lost some connection and accountability post covid. Naomi's practical approach and unwavering optimism are a breath of fresh air. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in public service innovation and community development. Enjoy it!

Radical Reformers is live! Join me as we dive into an insightful conversation live from the Reform Think Tank's "Reimagining the Local State" conference in Sheffield. In this episode, a range of guests explore the changing relationship between central and local government, the importance of collaboration among different local partners to tackle complex societal problems and the momentum behind devolution. They also discuss the role of mayors, the impact of structural changes versus policy changes, and the concept of Radical Place Leadership. Thanks to our live guests: - Angie Ridgewell, Chief Executive Officer at Hertfordshire County Council - Charlie Pickles, Director, Reform Think Tank - Paul Morrison, Chief Executive, The Planning Inspectorate - Simon Kaye, Director of Policy, Reform Think Tank Don't miss out on this engaging discussion that spotlights innovative policy conversations and the future of local government.

Radical Reformers returns! In this latest episode, I talk to Emmanuel Akpan Inwang, Founder and Director of Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust. Emmanuel's career journey is truly inspiring. He began as a teacher in Birmingham where he witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by looked-after children. This experience ignited a passion for improving the lives of those children and ultimately to the establishment of the Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust. The Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust is dedicated to providing exceptional residential care experiences for looked-after children. Emmanuel's journey to founding this organisation included extensive research and a transformative trip to Europe, where he visited children's homes in Germany and Denmark. He observed the positive outcomes of social pedagogy practices in these countries and was inspired to implement similar approaches in the UK. I love that The Trust focuses on creating stable, nurturing environments that are close to home and prioritise long-term relationships and holistic care for children. it's an inspiring listen and very relevant given the Government's focus on improving children's care homes in England.

In this episode of Radical Reformers, I speak to Martin P Griffiths, CBE, Trauma Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust and Clinical Director of Violence Reduction at NHS London and Chair of the Board of Trustees at SHiFT UK. This episode is different from previous episodes. It is about gun and knife violence, its impact and why we all need to pay attention. As well as having to operate (often repeatedly) on young people involved in gun and knife violence, Martin spends a lot of his time and effort reaching out to communities where children may be at risk. He is an advocate of showing young people ‘green lights' and a positive alternative rather than just ‘red lights'. We also delve into what real collaboration in public services means and how there is often a need to “unlearn” and to undertake “cultural healing” to get out of a siloed mentality. One of my favourite parts of the conversation is where Martin talks about the importance of having conversations and the power of an additional voice… a simple but often neglected practice. NB – parts of this conversation are quite hard hitting, especially for those who may be affected by the themes being discussed.

In this episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by Theresa Leavy, former Executive Director for Children (DCS) at Dorset Council and Interim Director of Children's services at Cheshire East Council. In this wonderfully honest and open discussion, Theresa takes us through her career from an 18 year old in charge of a group of kids in residential care, all the way through to leading Dorset's improvement journey over the last four years. It's a leadership master class where Theresa talks about the importance of connecting as a person with your work, the importance of delivering high support and high challenge as well as the true meaning of being kind. My favourite bit of the whole conversation is how leaders need to show vulnerability. I think this is something which is really lacking. Enjoy it!

In this latest episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by Lucy Butler, Director of South East Regional Care Cooperative. Lucy shares how her early life experience led her to a career in public services, starting in adult social care and ultimately to various leadership positions in children's services. Most recently, Lucy was Director of Children's Services at West Sussex. She discusses their improvement journey and the importance of ensuring a good culture filters all the way through an organisation and the key role persistence and consistency play in driving improvement. My favourite part of this episode is where Lucy shares the turning point in her career when she helped fight against child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Oxfordshire. She highlights the creative thinking that led everyone from hoteliers to taxi drivers to become part of tackling CSE during her time at Oxfordshire County Council. It's an inspiring listen. Enjoy it!

This episode is with Mark Sims, the Chief Executive of the P3 Group. He describes P3 as an organisation that supports people who are having a "tough time" and he doesn't like putting labels on people. This really gives you an idea of the sort of leader Mark is and the sort of organisation P3 is. P3 are particularly active in supporting people who don't have a place to live and Mark sets out housing situation we find ourselves in and what some of the drivers are. For P3's work to be successful, Mark's team need to be able to collaborate with other service providers within the public sector or other third sector and private organisations - so he talks about how his team are empowered to work across organisational boundaries and to collaborate. The ambition of P3 is to find people somewhere to live, someone to love and something to do. Mark explains how when they're reviewing how successful they are as an organisation, it's not looking at growth metrics, it's not looking at numbers of contracts, numbers of staff. They ask themselves, are we living, are we loving, are we doing? And I think that's really powerful. For many organisations, taking that approach rather than just looking at the metrics would give them a much better idea of how successful they are. For any of you who know Mark, you'll know this will be a brilliant conversation and it really is. I enjoyed it and I learned a lot from it.

This episode is with Simon Beeton, the Chief Executive of Navigo Health and Social Care CIC, a mental health and wellbeing provider in Northeast Lincolnshire. Navigo have been named in the Sunday Times top 100 not-for-profit organisations to work five years in a row! So there will be lessons to learn for everyone.   Simon has been on quite a journey. We talk about his transition from long standing Finance Director to Chief Executive and the challenges of moving to this broader, more strategic role.   We discuss Navigo's impressive entrepreneurial activity, such as their purchase and running of a garden centre and restaurant. Public service entrepreneurialism is important in terms of giving individuals the space to be creative and also being entrepreneurial at an organisational level. Simon provides some good examples of how Navigo is creating the space to beg forgiveness rather than ask permission… The main section of the conversation is around £radical" place leadership and place working. Simon and I talk about how the local organisations in Northeast Lincolnshire want to work more effectively together, and how it's so important (in the words of NE Lincs Council Chief Executive, Rob Walsh) to put place above organisation. The Mutual Ventures team are lucky to be doing some innovative work with Northeast Lincolnshire on developing a more Radical Place Leadership approach and we talk about that and what the ultimate goals are.

This episode is all about the changing role of the council Chief Executive - and it certainly is changing! The financial pressures on councils are more intense than they have ever been. The responsibility that sits on a council Chief Executive to act as a place leader, engaging with the health and care system through the Integrated Care System arrangements, and also engaging with a Mayoral Combined Authority for Councils that have that arrangement in place. So, the modern council Chief Executive role is one which requires a broad range of skills and capabilities, but also huge reserves of personal resilience as the role becomes ever more public facing and scrutinised. So, the question has to be asked, who on earth would want to do this very difficult job? There isn't a huge pipeline of people in the system ready to step up. To answer all of these questions and more, I'm delighted that the guests on this episode are Professor Donna Hall, Mutual Ventures Non-Executive Director and former Chief executive of Wigan Council and Stephen Young, current Chief Executive of Halton Council.

This episode is a bit special. It's the first time we have had two guests on at the same time. They are Charlie Pickles from the Reform Think Tank and Jack Shaw from Labour Together. You might recognise those names. Both Charlie and Jack have been on the podcast in their own right and had their own episode. Given that we've just had an election with a change of government, we wanted to get these two policy experts back in to talk about what a Labour government might mean in terms of public service reform. We cover a wide range of topics including the new central government missions and how they will be delivered, what the new government might mean for devolution and the relationship between central government. One thing is for sure – a lot more collaboration will be needed between public services at all levels. Both Charlie and Jack are so insightful and enthusiastic about genuine public service reform, which is what we hope you are all here to listen to!

This episode is with Tom Riordan. Tom is a legend in public service circles. He's been the Chief Executive of Leeds Council for 14 years, having previously led the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward. Tom has achieved a huge amount in his time at Leeds, including substantial economic investment and regeneration, as well as being the Chief Executive that oversaw the turnaround of Leeds Children's Services from being in a very poor state to being a real exemplar. Tom and I talk about how you effect meaningful change in a place, how you work with partners, how it requires time, how you've got to have a really clear set of “ambitions” or “obsessions”. We get into some detail which I think leaders who are currently leading councils and “places” will find very useful. We also talked about prevention, how Leeds kept its Sure Start centres and had a focus on destigmatising people seeking support. Anybody who has encountered Tom (or even better worked with him) will know that he is totally against hero leadership. He sees himself as a servant leader and there's lots of good hints and tips as to how you can try and adopt a bit of that yourself.

This episode is with Lesley Dixon. Lesley is the chief executive of PSS, a Liverpool based charity delivering adult social care services and wider support to vulnerable people in Liverpool and across the country. Lesley is an inspiring leader who has been at the helm of PSS for nearly 15 years, which is a very long tenure in today's age of chopping and changing jobs. We talk about how you can find a role that you really want to stick at and how it's also important to make a quick decision if you know an organisation definitely isn't for you. We discuss the work of PSS and in particular the Shared Lives scheme, which facilitates community care for vulnerable people (which PSS actually invented in the late 70s!). A large chunk of the discussion is about what makes for good commissioning and how we'd like to see a greater focus on outcomes rather than inputs and outputs and for there also to be more flexibility in the Commissioner provider relationship. Lesley would also like to see a shift in the emphasis towards preventative services and we talk about how that might happen. It is very difficult for the public sector to account for that type of early investment (something I covered with Rob Whiteman in an earlier episode). And finally, Lesley wanted to talk about how you leave an organisation well, especially after being there for a long time. It's a fascinating conversation and I hope you enjoy it.

This episode is with Rob Whiteman, the Chief Executive of CIPFA. Rob is a very thoughtful and influential commentator on local government and public service reform. He has had a hugely interesting and varied career including stints as Chief Executive at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and at the UK Border Agency (UKBA). Rob was at Barking and Dagenham when the BNP won an unprecedented number of council seats and he describes how the council worked to reengage with local communities to push back against some of the dangerous propaganda which had led to this election outcome. The learning from this is very relevant for council leaders today as many of our communities become increasingly polarised. As the former head of UKBA, Rob also provides some historical context and contemporary commentary on the small boats crisis. We spend most of our time talking about the state of local government and the main drivers for the financial crisis the sector finds itself facing. We discuss what the solutions could be including a return of a more radical version of Total Place, more collaboration between councils on issues like children's social care and the potential of enhanced powers for Mayoral Combined Authorities. I also ask a new question “What would you do it you were Prime Minister for a day?”. Rob has a pretty radical answer!

This episode is with Dr. Linda Harris, the Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer of Spectrum Community Health a Wakefield based social enterprise, which delivers services covering a wide range of areas including prison health, sexual health and substance misuse. Linda describes Spectrum's services and their incredible growth journey from an organisation of just 100 people to more than 800. We talk about the challenges and opportunities of managing a large organisation of primary care professionals, many of whom are GPs, who we know can be quite independently minded! We also talk about what Linda calls jail craft, which is all of the various precautions and processes you have to follow when you're delivering health care in a secure environment. Delivering these types of services on a day to day basis, Linda understandably has a tremendous interest in the wider social determinants of health and we get into a discussion about health neglect, and social issues and how a person's situation can deteriorate over time. We also talk about some of the measures that can be put in place to try and prevent this very damaging and cumulative harm being done.

This episode is with Sarah Thomas, the Chief Executive of the Fostering Network, the UK's leading fostering charity and membership organisation. The network provides training, support and advice to everyone involved in the fostering journey. This episode is part of Mutual Ventures' 2024 #PrioritisingPublicServices campaign. Sarah has an incredible and very relevant backstory, which involved going from homeless at 16 to being a Chief Executive at 40, which is incredible. Her passion for supporting vulnerable children and parents comes across strongly, along with some completely understandable frustration at how parts of the system work. You won't find many people with as much knowledge about the UK fostering and children's social care system so we really get into how system is performing, what's going well and what some of the challenges are. Sarah and I also unpack why the system isn't improving outcomes for children and young people, and what she thinks needs to happen to make a difference. We then move on to talk about one of the big questions troubling leaders across all public services i.e. how do you move towards prevention and away from crisis response? Especially at a time when council services don't have a lot of money. They certainly don't have much in the way of reserves. Within this context, how do you make that flip towards prevention? We also discuss how to tackle the stigma of seeking support as a parent, and also have a detailed discussion on children's residential care and why that market isn't working. And it certainly isn't!

This episode is with Rob Walsh, the long standing Chief Executive of Northeast Lincolnshire Council. Rob has been Chief Exec of Northeast Lincolnshire for 10 years now which, in an era of quite high turnover for top local government jobs, is quite some achievement! Rob tells the story of how Northeast Lincolnshire is an area which has seen decline in the fishing industry - but is now embracing a new era of possibility around the decarbonisation and renewable energy market. Northeast Lincolnshire is a fantastic case study for Place Leadership: It was the first time to receive a Town Deal back in 2018; It has a long-standing section 75 agreement, which is essentially a way of pooling funding and resources between councils and the health system; and they are also part of proposal for a Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral Combined Authority. On top of that, within Northeast Lincolnshire itself, there's quite a lot of co-terminosity between some of the key anchor institutions, the council, and some of the key health providers, who are largely social enterprises. Rob is a very humble and quietly inspiring leader. And in my opinion, there is something quite special happening in Northeast Lincolnshire. I think they are quietly becoming a forerunner for what other areas in the country could aspire to.

This episode is with Sam Allen, the Chief Executive of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System. This system covers a huge geography with 3.6m people living in both urban and rural settings in 14(!) different council areas. As you can imagine, getting this up and running was a real challenge and Sam explains how she has led that work and engaged with partners across the region. Sam understands really effective public services needs to be centred around the person and she has a very clear understanding of her role as a system leader focusing on the strategic things which are best done at scale while empowering places and neighbourhoods to do the really important locally focused work. A big segment of our conversation is on children's health. We discuss how no one part of the system (NHS, councils, third sector) can hope to improve outcomes acting on their own. Genuine collaboration must be enabled from the system level all the way down to places and neighbourhoods. We also talk about women's health and the importance of raising awareness and understanding particularly in the workplace. It's a fantastic conversation and I hope you enjoy it.

This episode is with Sam Plum, the inaugural Chief Executive of the new Westmorland and Furness Council. This council was created when Cumbria County Council split into two – so Westmorland and Furness has half the old County Council and the three districts, which used to sit in that geographical footprint. This #RadicalReformers episode is part of the February "Place Leadership" theme of our #PrioritisingPublicServices campaign. Sam gives her perspective on the different stages of implementing the change, starting with a period where the focus is on settling and stabilising. However, Sam has never lost sight of the forward vision and ensuring that the benefits of reorganisation are achieved for the people of Westmorland and Furness. Sam has some very clear ideas of what she wants to achieve in the long term, focusing on the three E's of equity, economy, and environment. One of the really striking things for me in this conversation is how Sam sees herself as a “place” leader, not just the leader of an organisation. She is ready to focus on wider benefits rather than just those which directly impact the council. I think there are huge lessons to be drawn from this conversation for place leaders and council leaders everywhere. Enjoy it!

This episode is with Elly De Decker, the Chief Executive of the Bromley by Bow Centre, a nationally renowned community centre in East London. Before this, Elly was the England Director of the National Lottery Community Fund, a huge job controlling a budget of £400m. Elly describes her decision to move from this highly visible national role to an ultra-local community-focused one. We talk about the support the Bromley By Bow centre provides, which ranges from health and wellbeing services, employment and skills support through to adult social care. The most impactful thing about the centre is the physical environment and culture which creates an “oasis” for local people to come to and get the help they need. The centre works closely with the NHS as well as council adult social care and public health services which gives Elly great insight into what's working in the current system and what isn't. We talk about the importance of the wider social determinants of health and how these are not yet prioritised by the formal system despite the impact they have on preventing demand for expensive NHS interventions. Elly and I discuss about how leaders will often talk the talk on better collaboration - but often this doesn't filter down to day-to-day activities and therefore organisations and services remain siloed and people seeking support see no real difference. A key element of effective collaboration has to be better data sharing which allows partners to target their support in the best possible way and to also track their impact. Unfortunately, this remains a difficult issue and is often left in the too difficult pile. Having said all this, Elly is remarkably optimistic and positive. Her mantra is “assume it's possible!” and I think you will be inspired by this conversation.

This episode is with Andy Couldrick. Andy is the Chair of the Birmingham Children's Trust, having just stepped back from being the Chief Executive since the organisation was founded. Before joining the Trust, Andy led an incredibly fast children's services improvement journey in Wokingham Council, moving up from a rating of “inadequate” in just a year. He explains how that was achieved and the importance of having the right team and being able to do many things in parallel. Andy also talks about his transition to Chief Executive from Director of Children's Services and the different mindset and skills that required. Birmingham is not the only Children's trust in the country and Andy explains exactly what a Trust is and how it works to give a service space and protection from what might be a difficult Council environment. Anyone with an interest in Local Government will know that Birmingham is facing some severe challenges. A key attribute Andy demonstrates is perseverance. He talks about the critical importance of keeping showing up and keeping consistent messaging over time, particularly of you are asking people who have been on multiple failed improvement journeys to trust you and buy in to what you are trying to achieve. And finally, we talked about the role of children's services in the wider system and in particular the key role council services play in achieving system objectives around children's health and wellbeing.

This episode is with leading health and care expert Nigel Edwards. Nigel recently stepped down as the chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust, a leading health think tank, after a wide-ranging career in the sector, which included a stint at NHS Confederation. This episode is very timely. Health and care services are adapting to a new structure at the same time as being under huge pressure and Nigel brings fantastic insight into what is currently happening within the system and what might change. We talk about the emphasis on “place” and “neighbourhoods” and the ambition for local services to be more co-ordinated, driven by local priorities and ultimately more focused on keeping people healthy and out of hospital. We ask the question – are leaders able to make time to build the relationships which are needed to enable this type of high trust working. We take a deep dive into children's health and discuss the ambitious plans Integrated Care Boards have for children's health and the fact that the NSH cannot possibly achieve them without working very closely with councils and other partners. We ask, what enabling leadership and conditions need to be in place to achieve these ambitions for children? None of these changes will have any effect unless the change permeates down to middle management and front line staff. We challenge the notion of the “frozen middle” or “permafrost” which is a criticism sometimes aimed at public sector middle managers and look at the potential of regional working and ask what the right level is for different activities. Enjoy it!

This episode is a real treat for anyone interested in a more person-centred way of delivering support. The conversation is with Helen Thomson, the Deputy Chief Executive of the Calico Group, an independent charity group which operates in the northwest and does everything from house building to employment support to helping people with drug and alcohol addiction. Andrew and Helen cover a lot of ground including how the Calico group is able to integrate the services they provide to ensure people get the seamless help they need. They do this through a focus on internal data sharing and ensuring trusting relationships and an understanding of all available services provided are in place across the organisation. Its all about not putting anyone in a box but rather offering them the tailored support they need. The Calico group also understands the multiple benefits of giving opportunities to people with lived experience to participate in the delivery of services. Who better to connect with and guide someone looking to reduce their dependence on drugs and/or alcohol than someone who has been on that journey. Helen also talks about the importance of taking controlled risks in the delivery of public services and the wonderful concept of “reverse mentoring”. Enjoy it!

This episode is with Adele Taylor, the Executive Director of Finance and Commercial Services at Slough Borough Council. Those of you who know your local government onions will be aware that Slough has been in some financial difficultly. Adele joined the council earlier this year with a remit to get the finances back under control and to rebuild confidence and trust with local residents. I think its fair to say that Adele is attracted to a crisis situation and feels her skill set is well suited to it – I completely agree. She is also a finance director who really gets the importance of culture and relationships particularly when the priority is re-establishing trust both within and with people outside the council. We talk about how aware local residents are of their council's financial situation and the impact it has on those who rely on services, especially when terms like “bankruptcy” are used freely (and incorrectly). Adele also understands the need to communicate the financial situation in understandable terms both within the council to staff and members, but also to the wider public. We also talk about the value of diversity within the public services workforce and the huge value people with different perspectives and abilities bring to an area like finance, which is sometimes regarded as quite dry and purely objective. And finally, if you are looking for a bit of inspiration as to why a career in local government is the right thing – Adele gives a powerful rallying call to people to say “come and work in a council and have an meaningful career. Look at the amazing things we do!”.

Another conference-based episode! This time I travelled to the impressive new City Hall in Sunderland for the Co-operative Councils Innovation Network's (CCIN) annual conference. CCIN is a network of like-minded councils who believe in a set of principles including: social partnership; co-production; social economy; new models for meeting priority needs; and innovation. We really think the moment has arrived for this type of community focused thinking and there were a ton of ideas shared on the day. As per previous conference specials, the result a series of mini-interviews with some of the key speakers of the day and provides a great summary of wide range of topics discussed, including the impressive benefits of mutuals and co-operatives as deliverers of public services, and values driven approaches to AI. So quite a mix! Interviewees include: - Cllr. Louise Gittins, CCIN Chair and Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council - Scott Darraugh, Chief Executive, Social adVentures - Jeff Scales, Head of Services, Locality - David Hepworth, Digital Transformation Partner, Newcastle City Council - Rob Gregory, Assistant Director Digital Transformation, Wigan - Nicola Huckerby, CCIN Operations Lead and conference organiser - And “Pepper” the University of Sunderland welcome robot Finally, I spent some time discussing the conference with MV colleague John Copps, who was also there.

Last week, Andrew attended the #Solacesummit2023 in Birmingham. In collaboration with the Solace team, he recorded a podcast episode to try and capture some of the key themes and takeaways from the day. Regular listeners will know we did something similar at the New Local #Strongerthings conference earlier in the year (you can find that episode on the podcast site). As then, the result is a series of mini-interviews with some of the stars of the day and provides a great summary of the main discussion points. Solace Summits are focused on personal development so there is a lot on how leaders make time for reflection and development. But we also get into some of the challenging issues of the day including playing a leadership role in a council which is under intervention and supporting local residents with the cost-of-living crisis. Interviewees include: - Adele Taylor, Executive Director of Finance and Commercial, Slough Borough Council - Sophie Hosking, Strategic Director – Neighbourhoods, Cornwall Council - Hal Khanom, Head of Strategy and Community Participation, London Borough of Barnet - Ruth Du Plessis, Director of Public Health, St Helen's Council - Rob Powell, Executive Director for Resources, Warwickshire County Council - Allison Thomas, Chief Executive, North West Leicestershire District Council Finally, Andrew spent some time with Solace Managing Director, Graeme McDonald reflecting on the conference and what he hopes people took away from it. One immediate reflection was that despite all the pressure the local government sector is under, the leaders and future leaders at the summit were resilient and determined to do the best they can for the communities they serve. We owe them all a debt of gratitude. It's all very inspiring stuff. Speaking of inspiring, one of the keynote speakers on the day was the inspiring John Amaechi. So as well as reflecting on the discussions with the interviewees, Andrew also talks about on the important messages from John on equality and diversity. I hope you enjoy it!

This episode is with Andrew Christie, a children's services professional who is held in the highest regard across the sector. He has been the Director of Children's services across three London councils (Tri-borough), a Department for Education appointed Commissioner supporting failing children's services and the Chair of the Birmingham Children's Trust. There are very few children's services professional who bring the level of experience and knowledge that Andrew does so it was a pleasure to discuss with him some of the current issues the sector is facing. We talked about what it was like bringing together the children's services from three different London Boroughs and the challenge of differing populations and needs as well as organisational cultures. But there are also benefits which can be gained such as reaching a critical mass for services such as fostering and how they were able to identify and adopt the best practices from each council across all three. Andrew and I discussed recent research from Pro Bono Economics which shows the worrying trend of spending on crisis response going way up while spending on early intervention is dropping through the floor. I ask Andrew what can be done about this within the funding constraint councils are currently subject to? The Mutual Ventures team are very lucky to be working with Andrew on a Department for Education programme focused on improving the recruitment and retention of foster carers. This is critical to the proper functioning of the wider social care system and we discuss the “relational” approach to foster carer recruitment and retention and how this more human focus is applicable more broadly across public service reform.

This episode is with Deborah Cadman, the Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council, Europe's largest local authority. Deborah was previously been the Chief Executive at the West Midlands Combined Authority having also led at a County and District level. Those of you who follow the news will know that Birmingham City Council is in financial difficulty. This isn't a news podcast and although Deborah chooses to talk a little about it, it's not what I focus on. The #radicalreformers podcast is about public service reform, leadership and culture and on these Deborah has a wealth of experience and insight. We spend time talking about her role in Birmingham and the challenge of driving economic growth whilst also tackling inequality and also how keep a focus on delivering the public services so many vulnerable people rely on against a backdrop of a huge range of strategic challenges. Deborah shares her unique perspective on the different levels of local and devolved government and the responsibilities that should sit at each level. Leadership and culture feature heavily in this conversation. Birmingham is a very large and complex organisation and I ask Deborah how she tackles issues such as gender and race equality. Deborah also explains the three things she expects from people who work for her – be brave, be curious, and be true. Enjoy it.

Inclusivity… Inequality… These are important, much-used words – but how do you generate meaningful action? This episode is with Fatima Khan Shah, West Yorkshire's Inclusivity Champion. Fatima's role is new, wide ranging and sits right at the heart of what both the West Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin, and the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, led by Rob Webster, are trying to achieve. This is certainly no box ticking role – something new and exciting is happening. There is a lot to learn from this episode! Fatima is a wonderfully engaging and inspiring interviewee and we discuss the origins of her role and how it works in practice, including some top advice for balancing the desire for quick reform with the importance of bringing people with you on the journey. There is a lot of advice on how to positively influence people, which involves putting yourself in their shoes and tailoring your “pitch”. We also get into the nuts and bolts of her inclusivity goals, including the main wider determinants of health and wellbeing, how you can move the dial on them and how that plays into improving inclusivity and reducing inequality. We also have an important discussion on the “culture wars” which are raging at the minute. How should public professionals engage in these debates? How do you tackle difficult issues and call out poor behaviour at the risk of being lazily labelled as “woke”?

We are in the midst of a housing crisis and a climate crisis – so how do we build more homes and how can this be done in a way that is “planet positive”? What is a “Passivhaus”? And what is a Building Biologist? These are all questions I ask Emma Osmundsen, Chief Exec of Waltham Forest Council's property development company, Sixty Bricks. Emma explains how property development companies operate, how the financing works and the relationships needed with councils and other partners. Emma is an advocate for Passivhaus, which is a highly efficient and environmentally friendly building standard. She explains what this is and how it is achieved before going on to talk about the fascinating work of building biologists and how the way a house is designed and built influences health and wellbeing. We also discuss how building physical houses alone is not enough – the focus needs to be on building communities with the right social infrastructure in place such as access to green spaces, public services and schools etc. It's not just housing Emma is interested in. She has also led the development of the UK's first Passivhaus leisure centre which is a remarkable achievement given how energy inefficient leisure centres tend to be.

This episode is a wide ranging and captivating conversation with Marian Ridley, the former Chief Executive of the Evelina Children's hospital in London. Marian is a thoughtful and quietly inspiring leader and there are a lot of more generally applicable thoughts and ideas which emerge from this episode. We talk about the changing health needs of the UK population since the NHS was founded and how this is challenging the NHS model. We also discussed the balance between management and clinical delivery within the NHS and how perceived wisdom of there being “too much management” is wrong. Marian has some insightful thoughts on the role of place leads in the new ICS model, their role as conveners and the ability of local leaders to make their own prioritisation decisions regarding health and care activity. Local place leads are often council chief executives who should be well placed to appreciate and influence the wider determinants of health and the full range of available local assets. We also got into the ability of NHS organisations to become more effective local anchor institutions. Finally, we discuss the critically important but often heart-breaking job of caring for seriously ill children and the difficult decisions which professionals and families have to make.

This episode is with Graeme McDonald, the Managing Director of Solace, a national membership network for current and future public service leaders. As you can imagine Graeme has a pretty unique perspective on the myriad of challenges and opportunities facing public services and local government in particular. Solace is primarily focused on leadership development so we talk about how public service leaders can continue to develop whilst operating in a state of “perma poly crisis”. This means both formal learning but also creating space for more informal reflection and thinking time – so important to support leaders to make good decisions and avoid burnout. We also talk about the state of local government sector more generally. There have obviously been some high-profile failures – but are these one-off cases or are the challenges more systemic and bubbling beneath the surface more broadly? We have a great discussion about this. And what about how the sector responds to failure? Graeme doesn't think we have the balance between central intervention and sector led improvement quite right. It tends to be one or the other and Graeme argues there is scope for more of a blended approach. I think you will agree that Graeme is a very thoughtful and considered interviewee and I learned a lot from this discussion and I hope you will too.

This latest episode is with Stephen Young who has been chief Executive of Halton Council for just 14 months – but you wouldn't think it! What follows is an in-depth, thoughtful conversation about how you get things done in a council, how you engage with the wider system and how you drive change… without driving everyone around you mad in the process. Stephen and I discuss Halton's radical transformation programme which seeks to move the councils attention away from constantly dealing with crisis and onto early help and prevention. We talk about the approaches and tactics you need to deploy to make a success of it, including knowing how much credit as a new leader you have in the bank (and using it carefully) as well as my usual favourite topic of levelling up (Halton style this time!) and the benefits of being a council within a Mayoral Combined Authority. We also talk about what a “place” needs to attract inward investment including investing in developing the right skills within the local population and ensuring public services and the broader public realm are up to scratch. Finally, and I wasn't expecting this, we have a great conversation about AI and the impact it could have on council services. This is a big area of interest for me and I expect to be talking about this a lot more.

This episode is with Adam Hawksbee, the Deputy Director of the Onward think tank having previously spent time working directly with West Midlands Mayor Any Street. This is for anyone interested in levelling up and the different lenses through which you can consider it including: economic development; public health; crime and antisocial behaviour; and local workforce skills. Onward have conducted some fascinating research across the country and Adam relays some of the learning from that including what levelling up activity is happening in Barry – the home of TV hit Gavin and Stacey. Adam also discusses the concepts of levelling up fast and slow and what they mean (spoiler alert! you need both), how public investment and private investment need to work together and why some areas are very happy to be “commuter towns” and others aren't. If levelling up isn't your thing then we also find time to explore the impact of AI (particularly on public services), a new idea for national service, the importance of hydrogen to the net zero goal, and how patriotism has become a misunderstood concept.

This episode is a bit different. Last week I attended the New Local #StrongerThings2023 conference. It was an amazing day at the spectacular City of London Guild Hall. I don't know exactly how many people were there in person but it felt like about 600 - the (very large) hall was packed to the brim. The New Local team very kindly agreed that I could record a podcast at the event. I have never done anything like this before - but I have to say it was brilliant fun and I hope you enjoy the result. The result is a series of mini-interviews with some of the stars of the day and I think provides a great summary of the main discussion points of the day. Interviewees include: - Jess Studdert, Deputy Chief Exec of New Local - Immy Kaur, Director of Civic Square - Emily Morrison, Head of the Institute for Local Studies at the Young Foundation - Kate Josephs, Chief Exec of Sheffield City Council - Sophia Parker, Joseph Rowntree Foundation - Seb Payne, Director of the Onward think tank - Barry Quirk, Former Council Chief Exec - Nick Temple, Chief Exec of the Social Investment Business - Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies - Jon Alexander, Founder of the New Citizenship Project I then spent some time reflecting on the day with Prof Donna Hall, who has been the Chair of New Local for the last five years and is a talisman for this empowering communities movement. A true legend. Donna also reflects on her time as Chair and what's changed and what hasn't over the last five years. Donna's call at the start of the day for a new #rebelalliance really took hold as you will hear from the interviews. So was this a step-change moment for community empowerment? Maybe - but only if we keep the momentum up. There are clearly enough leaders in positions of local power who get it. I hope you enjoy it!

This episode is all about leadership. It's a conversation with Brigid Russel, one of the most humbly inspiring people I have had as a guest on the podcast. Brigid is a public service leadership coach so this conversation is a little bit different from the usual #Radicalreformers podcasts but it is highly relevant to those leaders and aspiring leaders who want to discover their most “authentic” selves. This conversation is essentially a welcome takedown of the concept of “hero leadership” where you have to pretend to know the answers to everything and can't let your authority be challenged. Brigid and I talk about relational leadership and how important trust is between leaders in public services and within teams. We are all humans trying to do our best and no amount of project plans and processes can eclipse the power of a trusting human connection. We talk about system leadership and how in the increasingly complex environment within which public services operate, no one leader can possibly know everything or control all the levers needed to achieve a good outcome. Finally, Brigid discusses in some detail how much of yourself and your personal life should you bring to work… not an easy one for many people and unsurprisingly there is no one size fits all answer.

This episode is with Paul Morrison, the civil servant who ran the “Homes for Ukraine” refugee housing programme. As you would expect, it is a fascinating story of collaboration and trust between central government, local government, the third sector and communities. Before this Paul had also led the Syrian refugee rehousing programme and he describes how he was able to bring to bear the lessons learned and the network he built up during that crisis to deal with the more extreme (in terms of speed and numbers) Ukrainian crisis. Paul is multi-talented to say the least, so there are multiple dimensions to this conversation. He is now the Chief Executive of The Planning Inspectorate and part of our discussion is about helping listeners understand the context of the often very political public discourse on the number of houses we are building in the UK. Finally, Paul is also a driving force of a group of radically minded public servants who gather to discuss public service reform and particularly how to break down barriers between departments and service areas and also between the public, private and third sector. It's a fascinating group and I have been lucky enough to participate in some of the sessions.

This episode is all about food and farming. Sue Pritchard is the Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. The FFCC started life as a classic “Commission” with a start and end point but has evolved into a sustainable standalone charity focused on ensuring decision makers understand the issues facing farmers post Brexit. Sue does a great job of explaining the current situation in the UK including how self-sufficient (or not) we are as a nation, our reliance on “ultra processed” food and global commoditisation of food which is limiting the sustainability and resilience of our food supply chain, limiting biodiversity and driving the climate crisis. Food is something most of us take for granted – but we really shouldn't. This is a crash course in what you need to know. The challenges facing the rural economy are substantial – did you know that nearly half of all farmers earn less than £20k a year? The image of a rich farmer in the Range Rover does not represent the majority. Sue and I also discuss what a better future might look like with the idea of sustainable 15-minute communities playing a key role. On a lighter note, I think we get to the bottom of where Jeremy Clarkson got the idea for his “Clarkson's Farm” TV show from. I learned more from this conversation than I think I have from any other episode. I hope you enjoy it and learn from it as I did.

This episode is with Katie Kelly, the Deputy Chief Executive of East Ayrshire Council and the focus is on the benefits of empowering communities. This is an amazing conversation with a truly inspirational leader. When you listen, I think you will agree we need more like Katie working in public services. There is little doubt East Ayrshire is leading the way on community engagement and community power. They have a very advanced and mature model which includes significant achievements in transferring assets to communities. We get into some detail as to how that works. There is a drive for transferring assets to community ownership and English councils could learn a lot from this Scottish exemplar. Katie also talks about how East Ayrshire engages with third sector to deliver services. They have a rich history of supporting and trusting community based organisations – a trust which was repaid over the difficult pandemic years. Finally, we discussed Katie's history as a high level sports player and coach and how she has brought the lessons she learned from that experience to bear as a public sector leader.

This episode is with Lucy Wightman, the Director of public health at Essex and it is a fantastic exploration of the role of public health in today's public services and how far from being a specialist niche service area it should be front of mind for every public servant. This is the second episode in succession with a public health focus (following the conversation with Kate Ardern). This is very deliberate. At this critical juncture for the government's levelling up agenda, I want to highlight the key role public health must play in supporting individuals, communities and local economies. We talk about the complexity of Lucy's role in Essex, where she sits at a County level but engages with three Integrated Care Systems and 12 district councils – how does this work in practice? How does she influence the key people she needs to? We talk about the current set of health and care reforms and what the key elements are for a county like Essex and more broadly. Lucy has a particular interest in health inequalities and why, despite some powerful works of research from Michael Marmot and others, this isn't trending in the right direction. The question of devolved powers is key here. And finally, Government can't and shouldn't be responsible for all aspects of public health so we discuss the role of business and civil society in ensuring communities are as healthy, happy and productive as they can be.

This episode is with Prof. Kate Ardern, the former Director of Public Health at Wigan. We talk about the challenging journey Wigan has been on and how the “Wigan Deal” culture has shaped her approach to public health. By the time Kate left Wigan last year, it had become a national beacon of good public health practice. Kate was also the lead for Health Protection and Emergency Planning & Response across Greater Manchester – so we discuss what it was like being "Manchester's answer to Chris Witty" over the pandemic. Kate is an honorary professor at the University of Salford and in true educational form she treats us to an amazing and entertaining history lesson on public health from the original “fab four” in Liverpool (no not The Beatles!) through to an anecdote about the late Baroness Thatcher getting to grips with the finer details of sexual health. Finally, we touch on end-of-life care, a difficult subject which is often neglected but one which Kate cares about a lot.