How can technology support place-based public services? We'll be kicking off our next #Lab25 event in Clyde Room, Arena Floor at 12:00 – join us to hear from John Denham, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, @pwc-uk.bsky.social @jesstud.bsky.social zurl.co/CbUyF

How can technology support place-based public services? Another IfG fringe event at the Labour Party Conference, with Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe @pwc-uk.bsky.social @jesstud.bsky.social @wearenewlocal.bsky.social @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/ifg-la...

www.linkedin.com/company/publ... been meaning to cross post this on here. First PSR newsletter! Please share @pollymackenzie.bsky.social @simonparker.bsky.social @jesstud.bsky.social @jamestplunkett.bsky.social

Here we go… @jesstud.bsky.social & @vibrantkatiekelly.bsky.social open #StrongerThings 2025 🌟 “We gather at a time when the outlines of change have been drawn, but now it’s time for us all to bring some colour to the canvas.”

“There is one policy option open to the Government which would lay the groundwork for a deep shift in how public investment secures better outcomes”. @jydenham.bsky.social‬ & @jesstud.bsky.social‬ set out 5 reasons the Government should launch Total Place 2.0.

Great summary of the case for Total Place. As the article says, there's a wide coaltion of organisations who support this. This was @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's contribution from earlier this month: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

It’s a very big day for me – @wearenewlocal.bsky.social launches Where People Meet: Where People Meet: How We Celebrate, Sustain and Reimagine Community Centres. www.newlocal.org.uk/publications...

Returning from unintended mini bluesky hiatus to make the niche but relevant point that the mayors of North Tyneside and Doncaster are *not the same* as the other mayors up for election on Thursday.

This looks v. interesting. This isn’t rocket science but far too few neighbourhoods do it well: “The humble bench – improved with armrests, numbered to aid in a medical emergency, or placed strategically for wellbeing and intergenerational conversation – can be transformative…”

"Those in leadership positions are required to work in ways which don’t have a clear rulebook." @jesstud.bsky.social writes about a new leadership model emerging in the public sector.

"The problems councils face are deeply interconnected. Traditional hierarchical structures don’t work well for solving these complex issues" @benunsworth.co.uk @tpximpact.com on the revolution in local gov leadership (+ design thinking & digital transformation).

Q: What can England learn from the approaches in devolved nations? @jesstud.bsky.social: lots to learn in England e.g. Welsh future generations act and Scottish empowerment of communities act. The scale creates better system working. Would like to see more of this at sub-regional level in England.

Good to hear @jesstud.bsky.social bang the drum again for Total Place 2.0. www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/tot... #BennettInst

Q&A - @jesstud.bsky.social funding local govt properly leads to investment in things that matter to people – the fabric of community life - @rodriguez-pose.bsky.social economic success stories do not always come from biggest cities - T. Walker: need an environment that incentivises long-termism

@jesstud.bsky.social says that there is an opportunity with the devolution agenda to shift to a different way of governing. At the moment hasn't been holistic enough. It needs to be about community-led policymaking, not just a repatriation of a function to a different level. #BennettInst

"National policy has a bias towards structural reform as a tool for change. Radical leadership cannot be legislated for, but the culture change it reflects no less impactful." @jesstud.bsky.social writes about a new leadership model emerging in the public sector.

Fascinating discussions at #dcnconf2025- reorganisation top of agenda- but questions re purpose & outcomes at heart. @jimmcmahon.co.uk was clear about challenges but stressed importance of imagining the future & public service reform that combines benefits of scale w/ being rooted in communities.

Fed up with what’s going on in the world but still wanna change it? Come and work with us…

Good to be at the launch of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods interim report launch with Alex Norris MP. The report urges recognition of “mission-critical neighbourhoods”- most deprived areas that do worst on outcomes associated w/ Govt’s missions on growth, health, opportunity & safety.

Really looking forward to hosting this event in Manchester with @carnegieuk.bsky.social to discuss their latest Life in the UK report and the role of collective wellbeing, with @andywestwood.bsky.social responding…

Great paper by @jesstud.bsky.social, Shaheen Warren, @annarandle.bsky.social. Four shifts in local govt leadership: 1 Community as well as organisation 2 Mobilisation as well as management 3 Compassion as well as decisiveness 4 Resilience as well as efficiency www.newlocal.org.uk/publications...

New Public Management is not fit for purpose (though it is alive and well in many parts of Whitehall). We need New Public *Mobilisation* if mission-led government is to have impact. My latest MJ column… www.themj.co.uk/public-mobil...

The pressures facing #localgov are real and complex- different forms of leadership are required to not just survive, but thrive in this context. Our new report Radical Leadership: Power, Possibility and Public Service sets out the shifts we are seeing…

This month’s Prospect has a pullout on skills which covers lots of things I’ve been blogging about of late, plus interviews with @jesstud.bsky.social and MP for St Neots & Mid-Cambs @iansollom.bsky.social

"I wasn’t interested in a talking shop" Cllr Egan leads one of the country's most ambitious conversations about health&social care, chairing Essex County Council's commission aiming to find practical fixes to a system under intolerable pressure. We speak to her🔗 www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/soc...

Been trying to fill the void in my life created by the end of #TraitorsUK by racing through #TraitorsAus and #TraitorsUS. I can happily report that it is more than filled, with a few seasons still to go…

Saturday night, so naturally I’m reading about public service reform 🤓 Re-reading @publicdigital.bsky.social epic The Radical How & screaming YES to its analysis & urgency. This section on the policy-delivery gap in our governance hierarchy is 👌🏻10/10 no notes. public.digital/the-radical-...

Am fascinated by generational communication styles. As a Xennial I struggle with both Gen Z voice notes and Boomer phone calls. Much prefer my paragraph text messages…

Power, prevention & place: 3 pillars of the ‘new local’ being forged by public servants & communities working together in new ways. My new thinkpiece sets out how this should inform the national reform agenda, which in turn must enable it to deepen & grow. www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/wha...

This is a typically excellent piece by @jesstud.bsky.social on the emergence of a 'new local', in which innovation and best practice is coming through from the bottom up at the same time as the new govt is seeking to make changes top-down from the centre. www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/wha...

Great piece. The successes in the North End of Birkenhead and elsewhere prove that hyper localised, problem specific solutions, where the community and charities have input into both policy and delivery can have far more impact than more scalable models.

Power. Prevention. Place. These are the pillars of an emerging 'new local', writes Jessica Studdert in a new think piece. www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/wha... Because the system isn't unfixable - it's being mended from the ground up, alongside communities - & it's time national players took note.

Power, prevention & place: 3 pillars of the ‘new local’ being forged by public servants & communities working together in new ways. My new thinkpiece sets out how this should inform the national reform agenda, which in turn must enable it to deepen & grow. www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/wha...

If ever there was such a thing as a popular tax, a tourist tax must surely be it. - Locals don’t pay but will benefit. - So, minimal political hit for introducing. - Standard practice in most of our peer counties (so we pay when we travel!) Should be a no-brainer as part of English devo.

How Haringey transformed from being the 'worst planning authority in the country' to an award winner www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1903...

Sometimes these days, in these times, I think I can’t be shocked any more. And then…

Just finished series 3 of Industry. Wow. Like a dark, modern day This Life for vulture capitalism. It’s quite brilliant.

Welcome Cormac to @bsky.app ☺️ look forward to your inspiration here…

On the “war on waste” (reported in the Sunday Telegraph today) Why is expertise on public sector effectiveness is deemed only to come from the private sector? Why not frontline workers living the challenges daily? Service user/community groups who fall between the silos? @telegraphnews.bsky.social

Oh this is good to see: welcome to the LGA!

My top Traitors hack as a Faithful would be to tot up everyone who comes in the last group for breakfast- they are never traitors as they have always been up for murder/the episode cliffhanger. After a few days: whoever’s left are your traitors.

Hang on so private schools have been raising fees for parents above inflation themselves for years and we are supposed to bring out the violins for them now contributing towards the public purse?

Taking mental health support out of hospital & into communities is an approach developed in low income countries- though even wealthy countries are resource poor when it comes to mental health. Lots to learn from community champion model which has proven results. www.ft.com/content/a187...

Up and down the country Hard working families Working people Embrace Leverage Unleash

I appear to be part of the 9% - no idea I was so out of step with my fellow countryfolk. Bread sauce on the other hand… 100% completely acceptable.

This is really important context to English devo discussion today. Making sure funding is rewired to flow effectively to and across places for tangible impact for communities a key opportunity & test for reform. Great stuff @jacktshaw.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Big day for devo & localism: the English Devo White Paper starts important discussion about practical routes to meaningfully redistribute power & rewire public services & ££ across places. We need to focus on scale for impact regions-local-community. Full @wearenewlocal.bsky.social response here:

80% of innovations come from the frontline. And this basically means that the centralised UK state is upside down. How can we get citizens, administrators and representatives to modernise the state in the face of overwhelming complexity? This week's Substack. open.substack.com/pub/anthonyp...

Great to hear @jesstud.bsky.social reflecting on how mission driven government will require a change in relationships between Whitehall and local areas. Key takeaways for me: