The first meeting of the new Leadership Practitioner Forum took place on 31st October, led by Margo Williamson, Chief Executive of Angus Council, and Sarah Gadsden of the Improvement Service with an additional contribution from Maggie Sandison of Shetland Islands Council.
The Leadership Practitioner Forum is an integral part of the current transformation work being undertaken by the Improvement Service and Solace Scotland, looking at proposals for a future operating model for councils and options for the future delivery of council services.
There were 45 attendees from 22 different local authorities in attendance and following an introduction to the wider transformation programme and the aims of the Leadership Practitioner Forum, the group split into breakout rooms for further discussion.
These discussions generated a number of key points which will shape the development of the Leadership Practitioner Forum:
- The need for a reflective space for those involved in delivering transformation, to give and receive peer support and be honest about tensions and difficulties
- Importance of building a trusting environment to share practice and learning; we need to make brave decisions so need a safe space to have challenging conversations
- Share practice and learning from examples of local work that aligns with the workstreams
- We need to spread the word and encourage more colleagues to get involved,
- The importance of demonstrating what the projects achieve. Demonstrating outcomes and benefits will help keep momentum
- Stakeholder engagement will be critical
The next meeting of the Leadership Practitioner Forum will take place on Wednesday 29th November and anyone who wants to attend or find out more about the work of the Forum should contact Amanda.spark@improvementservice.org.uk
We are also continuing to recruit volunteers to work on the three projects which make up the wider transformation programme:
- leading a whole-system dialogue on public service reform
- participating in transformation projects over the next 12-18 months
- ensuring that there is capacity in local government to lead and deliver this transformation work
You can sign up here if you would like to be involved in any of these projects.