Goodbye from the conference

Goodbye from conference - it's been a facinating, thought provoking and challenging day.

I am looking forward to the next instalment of the Leadership of Place story in the East - and across the Country.

Watch this space.

The NHS perspective

Last - but by no means least - given the importance of the NHS to the Total Place agenda speaker was Sir Neil McKay, Chief Executive of the East of England Strategic Health Authority.

He outlined the NHS's strategy, built arounf a series of pledges, and told the story of the reality check the NHS received when the recession hit home.

"The cash we get will not reduce, but it will not increase," he said, which in real terms means a productivity gain of between £1.6 and £2 billion in the region - in other words, the NHS will have to do a lot more for the same amount of money.

Sir Neil outlined how the NHS was seeking those productivity gains from changes to the back office, procurement, asset management and estates, but that the main opportunity lay in improving the quality of clinical care by looking at services through the eyes of patients and their families.

And on Total Place - "The penny is dropping," he said.

Tough act to follow

Thank you Mark, and here's the final post or 2.

Stephen Haig from Taylor Haig, former Chief Executive of the Leadership Centre for Local Government, reminded everyone that if people in public services feel frustrated by the system, then its the system that needs changing.

His experience in Birmingham with their Total Place project has led him to a range of answers to the challenges facing public services:

* Look further ahead
* Prevention not cure
* Address the 'whole person', not the issue
* Break the cycle of the few people who consume a lot of money
* Expect citizens to do more for themselves than they do
* Stop dropping the ball at junctions - for example when people leave care
* Strip out partner overhead costs
* Sort out the buildings
* Stop doing things
* Budget outcomes for places

Switching bloggers

Sadly I now have to leave what has been a first class event in order to attend a dinner tonight in London - hopefully to see one of my colleagues from Cambridgeshire CC be named as Personnel Today's HR Director of the year.

With a couple of sessions to go, my colleague Andy Allsopp will publish any finally updates.

Very well done to Cecilia and the team at Improvement East for pulling together a really good day's programme.

Postscript - Before leaving, I did hear a rumour of a strange long-running rivalry between Bedfordshire and Dorset about the growing of the best chili peppers! I kid you not. And to add to the weirdness, reliable sources tell me that Michael O'Higgins, Chairman of the Audit Commission (and a chili lover apparently), has offered himself up as judge!

Goodbye from me.

Question Time

Before afternoon coffee, Michael Burton, the Editor of the Municipal Journal, chaired a panel of distinguished individuals from across the East of England and a representative of the event's sponsors, PWC. The full panel was:

• Cllr Jill Tuck, Cambridgeshire County Council


• Cllr Richard Stay, Central Bedfordshire Council


• Joanna Killian, Essex County Council


• Andrea Hill, Suffolk County Council


• Trevor Holden, Breckland District Council


• Andrew Ford, PWC
  

The first debate was about how to secure some short-term gains from the Total Place-type work going on across the region.

Secondly, the panel turned their attention to whether it will be possible to engage the whole of central government with locality-led initiatives like Total Place.

Next up was a discussion about the need for workforce development to change to reflect the increased need to work across organisational boundaries. There was a suggestion that the "improvement bodies" for different parts of the public sector (like Improvement East) need to work better together. One speaker suggested that current skill levels are not fit for purpose for the challenges we face.

In response to audience questions panelists talked about the need to invest in staff development and to use "bright sparks" to help drive change. The importance of politicians providing strategic leadership was emphasised, as was the role of the voluntary and community sector. Supporting more risk-taking and being supportive when it goes wrong was stressed.

The risk of councils holding back Total Place by talking of "getting control" was highlighted. The debate should be about "collective influence" over resources and services.

A good session. Well done to the panel.

The lives we lead, the leaders we need

The Leaders of Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Coastal Council, Cllrs Jeremy Pembroke and Ray Herring respectively, took to the stage next to talk about work in Suffolk to build trust and new strategic direction in the County.



They started by playing a video of voxpops with staff from across the different agencies talking about the difference the project is making. There was a particularly poignant moment as the video featured the recently deceased and much respected James Hehir.



Cllr Pembroke spoke of the importance of political buy-in to move projects of these type forward.



Cllr Herring emphasised the importance of effective leadership. Being a farmer as well as a Council Leader, he used a wonderful picture of a farmer and his herd of cows to beautifully illustrate the challenges of leadership.



In summary, Cllrs Pembroke and Herring talked about the financial challenges, increased demand for services and changes to service delivery leading to:

• Greater collaboration across public services
  
• Shared services and resources within local government
  
• Increased efficiency
  
• Change service standards
  
• "Doing it differently"

Lessons from across the pond

After a lovely lunch of locally sourced food we had a video link with Canada to hear from Maryantonett Flumian from the Canadian Institute on Governance about the 10 year long story of the creation of Service Canada.

She spoke of how citizens and businesses found government complex, fragmented and frustrating; service delivery has not been managed on a government-wide basis; and, the government's regional and community presence was at risk.

• These concerns led to Service Canada with five service transformation goals:


• Deliver seamless citizen-centred service


• Enhance the integrity of programmes


• Work as a collaborative networked government


• Demonstrate accountable and responsive government


• Build a culture of service excellence
  

Focus was not on fighting amongst different parts of government about how to reorganise but how to ensure a more coordinated and coherent government. Service based on "call, click, visit" - call 1 800 0-Canada, click www.servicecanada.gc.ca, visit Service Canada Centres. Supported by 110 processing centre and 4 technology sites.

Service Canada serves 32 million Canadians and is responsible for 50% of the Government of Canada budget in benefits to Canadians.

They set out their Service Commitment in:

• A Service Charter


• Setting up an Office of Client Satisfaction


• Setting Service Standards


• Publishing a Performance Scorecard
  

Maryantonett explained that Service Canada was bigger than e-Government - it was about transforming government to deliver better service, improved outcomes and lower costs.

Maryantonett's presentation was clear and helpful - particularly as at least one of our political parties is looking closely at the Canadian lessons.