Mutual Ventures’ Post

📺 Watch On Demand 📺 👉 Could a return of 2009’s Total Place policy help address 2024’s challenges in public services? John Copps was joined by Fenella Beckman, Director of Housing Strategy for Lewisham Council, and former Total Place Programme Manager in Lewisham, Nuala O'Rourke, Former Programme Manager for Total Place in Greater Manchester and Warrington and Elizabeth Roe, Consultant at Mutual Ventures on our recent webinar to to unpack lessons learned from the programme and why enhanced collaboration among local public services is likely the most sustainable approach to managing local public service finances. Catch up on this insightful discussion here: https://lnkd.in/emWKdB9b #PublicServiceReform #PublicService #LocalAuthority #PublicSector #LocalGov #LocalGovernment #LocalAuthority #Partnership

My latest blog post is a deeper dive into the New England Town Meeting- and why citizens should take a more active role in local decision-making.

🔶 “We are keen to proceed with change as soon as possible, so we have decided to go ahead with our plans” Post Office 8/3/24 Written as the Post Office shifts & shuts some of its rural services in Suffolk Coastal constituency without any pre-consultation. 🔴 A broken brand such as the Post Office announces it will push on regardless - what does that say? 🔴 What does it reflect about the Post Office senior management’s culture of responsibility? 🔴 What does it say about the assumed ‘power’ of a Government owned businesses? 🔴 What does it say about the dismissed value of ordinary customers requiring service? 🔴 What does it say about its commitment to supporting the environment expecting thousands of residents to drive to the nearest counter? 🔴 What does it say about understanding customer service given the Post Office is taking over from the banks? 🔴 Just exactly - what does ‘we have decided to go ahead with our plans’ really mean - when a provider ignores statutory consultations that embrace an equality impact assessment & its regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, Consumer Duty Act (2023)? If you’d like to talk to me about this outrageous situation, get in touch, because I’m in the business of stopping this kangaroo court of management of our rural service provision that impacts significantly our rural community. Julia Ewart Tel 07770666604 🔶 Prospective Parliamentary Candidate - Suffolk Coastal LibDems https://lnkd.in/eM_d223i

Check out these helpful resources from the National League of Cities on innovative policies, practices and tools that municipal leaders can use to empower small/diverse businesses in their communities. https://lnkd.in/eWZMKHGB

Urban Institute's Government Procurement from Small Businesses: Advancing Racial Equity and Removing Barriers to Participation I was honored to participate on the panel for this important conversation about the impact of the recent challenges to contracting diversity programs and how agencies can move forward to ensure full and fair opportunities to compete for government contracts. You can watch it here: https://lnkd.in/g7KAxHXi

💡 Want to know how public services can be designed around people, not just needs? Dive into our latest blog and explore how Clackmannanshire Council is redefining what it means to serve communities. 🔖 A must-read for anyone passionate about public sector transformation! https://hubs.ly/Q02X4yp70 #PublicServiceTransformation #PublicSectorReform

Dublin Chamber’s latest Q3 Business Outlook Survey reveals key insights into the priorities and challenges of Dublin’s business community ahead of the General Election. From housing and infrastructure delivery to traffic congestion and staff productivity, discover the issues shaping Dublin’s business landscape today 📊   Read our press release here 👉 bit.ly/3NKVaVF Read the full report here 👉 lnkd.in/eMGYW2yS   #VoiceofDublinBusiness

I've come away from the New Local #StrongerThings conference on Tuesday thinking about #trust. Trust in communities, colleagues, councillors, creativity and collaboration. Building community power is also about building trust, and it presents an exciting challenge for local governments. How do we develop trust in communities? Local residents hold the experience, insights and initiative to unpick the challenges in their communities - can councils trust communities enough to transfer power in the form of access to decision-making, resources or assets? How can local government trust their employees to deliver the changes we need? Many of our colleagues will have worked with communities for a long time, and will understand the opportunities and challenges intimately. Senior leaders in local government need to trust in their staff to re-design services using the knowledge, empathy and relationships they have built with local communities. How can we put more trust in councillors? We are always looking for more community insight and community connectors - who better to support this effort than councillors who are out speaking to residents every day? They know their patch well, and councils would do well to trust councillors' ability to reflect the needs of their constituents. How can we trust in creativity? There is huge power in the potential of our collective imaginations to re-design the future we want to see for #futuregenerations. Creativity does not sit comfortably with the bureaucracy of local government, so we need to trust in each other to thrive in when the structure of current processes are removed. And finally we need to trust in collaboration. A lot of the talks yesterday were about transferring power and getting out of the way. A leap of faith? Perhaps. But we aren't leaping far if we have built the networks of trust that will pave the way to new ways of working.

This past weekend, I helped to deliver a conference on public administration, sat across engaging conversations, and presented and moderated a session relevant to ⭐ Building a Flexible Public Service through Innovation and Collaboration ⭐. Reflecting on this, I’m reminded of the resolve it takes to pursue the good, hard work of public service, especially as we confront the fraying edges of democracy. In times like these, when the foundations of our governance seem tenuous, the role of public servants, of scholars, and of those in between, becomes more crucial. Even when democracy is held in shaky hands, it’s up to us to carry forward a public service built on resilience, flexibility, and unwavering commitment to the public good. Our work isn’t simply a profession; it’s an innate calling to maintain and strengthen the very systems that hold communities together 💜 . Even in challenging times, we gather, we reflect, and we push forward because the stakes are too high for anything less. These times are a powerful reminder of our shared mission to innovate, to adapt, and to champion the principles of public service and democracy. The work is ours to continue. #publicadministration #publicservice #publicservicemotivation

Want to know more about what we do? Our “Three Things” series is now available on our website! Full of accessible reads into all things #socialvalue and #impactmeasurement - Check it out!👇