Steve Beet

Next up was Steve Beet, senior partner from PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Steve described the "perfect storm" coming towards public services including:

• Pressure from local funding and income generation


• Impact of the downturn on citizens and businesses


• Pressure on capital reserves


• Pressure on central funding


• Demographic and policy issues (eg ageing population)


• Timing issues (eg pension fund pressures)


• Pressure on partner organisations (eg fewer volunteers)
  

The traditional response is to find quick wins. Eg sell of some assets. The scale of the challenge facing us needs radical thinking and "pan-public sector transformation".

Look at issues like early intervention for example. The silo based budgets means it costs one organisation money to save money for another. Needs a Treasury level response.

We must use the crisis to leap forward - transformation is needed rather than an incremental approach.

We need leadership of a place and the reshaping and restructuring of local public bodies including:

• new delivery vehicles


• Changes in funding flows


• Meaningful budgetary pooling


• New governance arrangements


• Workforce reform


• Regulatory change


• Common processes and IT


• Shared commercial models

Resulting in major and concurrent changes that will be deeply felt.

• Steve's view of the Total Place journey is:


• Place analysis


• Understand the Wicked Issues


• Local answers


• New models
  

The challenge for leaders is:

• Acceptance of the enormity of what lies ahead


• Relish for the leadership and management challenge it raises


• Managing the "double hit" of the public sector downturn and the complexity of mergers.

Clear foresight and planning is essential. Building a coalition of support among staff for change will be needed to manage through tough times.

Right, now time for some coffee and reflection on what we've heard from Sir Michael and Steve.