Public Sector Executive Podcast Public Sector Executive

Digitalisation is a big part of the future of the public sector, however organisations need to make sure that their digital ambitions don’t leave communities lagging behind, or unable to access the services they need.
Discussing how organisations across the sector can transform digitally, bring communities with them, and his career in digital inclusion, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Will Plant joined host Dan Benn on the latest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast.

Decision making is a crucial part of leading in any industry, never mind the public sector. With decisions being made that can have life changing consequences for entire communities it is vital that leaders are accountable, able to make decisions under pressure, and able to foresee the challenges that they might face in the future.
To talk about making decisions under pressure, the journey that the organisation has been on, and his personal career, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service’s Mark Smyth joined host Dan Benn on the latest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast.
Talking about some of the challenges that the fire and rescue service faces over the course of the next year, Mark said: “There’s many major threats when you start to look at the national risk registers and you look at dealing with climate change. We’re getting more flooding, we’re getting longer periods of wetness. You’re starting to see the large wildfires and gorse fires that hit the Southeast of England last year.”
Challenges don’t stop with climate change, however, as Mark expanded: “There’s challenges in and around the operational side of our culture and changing, that’s major for us. You’ll know that financially and under budget restraints that we have in the world we’re in now, there’s really big challenges around that, and providing the service that the public want with the limited financial resources we have.”
To learn more about the type of training that is available for councillors, why it is so important, and the role that central government can play, listen to the newest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast.

Ensuring that councillors are equipped with the proper skills is essential to making sure that council services run smoothly, and communities benefit from the best value for money. Whilst this may seem like a simple concept, some councils don’t train their councillors take councillor training as serious as they perhaps should.
To explore more about the kinds of skills that councillors should be developing, why some councils don’t offer the right training, and how this impacts councils themselves, Cllr Liz Green joined host Dan Benn on the latest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast.
Speaking about the kind of training that councillors require, Liz said:
“Being a counsellor is very different to anything anybody’s ever done before in their life. So, even if you’ve been highly successful in business, you’re still going to need to learn some new skills; things like negotiating and conflict resolution…
“Councils can’t do anything by themselves because they need to work with the public sector, the private sector, and with the voluntary sector and you need to be able to influence those in a different way because you are not the direct boss – you can’t tell them what to do.”
Liz also touched on the issue of productivity within the public sector, and how this relates to skills and funding. She said:
“I was a counsellor before we started austerity in 2010 – it never felt like we had a lot of money to start with so I think we did some improvements in councils. We looked more at our budgets and we scrutinised them more…
“We also did more transformation, which is a buzzword at the moment, but improving services, looking at how we used it, how we used our resources of people and assets and builds etc. So I think there was some really good work that went on.
“It’s gone way too far now. We just simply cannot afford as councils to keep operating.”
To learn more about the type of training that is available for councillors, why it is so important, and the role that central government can play, listen to the newest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast.

21st century problems require 21st century solutions, and nowhere proves this as effectively as the public sector. Whether its using the latest technology to guide policy decisions, or simply making the sector more environmentally friendly, digital and data offer the answers to many of the questions being asked of public sector organisations.
Martin Dolce and Dan Westley, from Oracle UK, joined host Dan Benn to talk about the work that Oracle are doing to support cloud, data, and digitisation progress across government. Martin is the Sales Director for Public Sector; Central Government and Defence, whilst also being UK Regional Director for the North West, whilst Dan is Cloud Engineering Director at Oracle.
Offering a wealth of knowledge, Martin and Dan were on hand to talk about how Oracle Cloud can support the ambitions of organisations across central government, including by helping them through major projects. Touching on one of the projects that Oracle embarked on with a major government department, Martin said:
“We engaged with the Department for Work and Pensions about 18 months ago. They had a stated objective around their journey to cloud; they had about 30% of the business in the cloud and 70% on prem(ises) and they wanted to flip that around.
“But they recognised that a lot of their real core applications, that touch us all today… were still on Oracle legacy software and they had deferred upgrading that platform because they were challenged on budget, and so that rolled on and on and they were in a position where there wasn’t a natural migration path…”
By approaching Oracle, the Department was able to embark on a journey of transformation that ended up with a successful migration, whilst also building confidence within the department.
To hear all about how Oracle has supported organisations ranging from central government organisations, to one of the world's most successful Formula One teams, listen to the latest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast.

Devolution is offering regions the opportunity to control more of the decisions that are being made locally, with communities reaping the benefits of every combined authority that pops up around the country. Established in March 2017, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is one of the most recently established combined authorities and it follows in the footsteps of areas such as Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and the Liverpool City Region.
For the 53rd episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Dr Nik Johnson, spoke to host Dan Benn about some of the most important issues facing his region, as well as what drives him as a leader.
Touching on the impact that pride in a region can play in economic growth, Dr Johnson said:
“If you can build up a framework of a sense of pride, identity, then business comes. There are a lot of examples where the culture – and the culture is of many things, it goes across the digital industry, across the arts – drives the economy…”
Another topic of discussion was the emphasis that the mayor places on combating climate change, with his role as a paediatrician influencing this:
“I have done my role as a doctor easily over 30 years and in the last 20 years, when I’ve been a consultant, I’ve been able to diagnose and treat children with respiratory conditions and can given them the best medicines in the world. The real sin here is that it doesn’t matter that I can give them the best medicine, it doesn’t matter that I can diagnose it, I know that if they live next to busy roads or if they live in poor housing – all of these things, in recent times have been shown through tragic situations of child deaths… are not acceptable…
“(I work) day in day out to make sure that all the officers at the combined authority realise the importance of putting public health, as well as the importance of air quality, the environment, at the heart of all policy development.”
To hear more about the role that Dr Nik Johnson plays as a medical professional and a local government leader, listen to the latest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast.

The state of council finances is one of the most pressing issues across the public sector right now.
As councils face bankruptcy, cut funding and reduced services, and the demands for those services from communities pile on the pressure, the government is set to announce its budget for the next financial year.
In the 52nd episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast Cllr Pete Marland joins host Dan Benn to discuss the challenges that councils face.  Pete is Chair of the LGA’s Economy and Resources Board and Leader of Milton Keynes Council  
Touching on the increase in demand for social care services, Pete said:
“More or less for every ten pounds they (councils) collect, they now spend eight pounds on children’s social care and adult social care. Obviously what that means is that there’s only two pounds left for everything else that councils do.”
Pete and Dan also explored the point of local government if councils aren’t given power to make local decisions, with Pete saying:
“Ultimately, I think there becomes a fundamental question about what the point of local government is if you end up just delivering statutory services set from the middle and not having any local flavour to it.
“What’s the point in local elections if all a local leader has to do every morning is get up and deliver statutory children’s care and not concentrate on what’s right for Manchester, or Lincolnshire, or wherever it may be.”
To hear from a leading voice within local government, listen to the latest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast.