Editorial Editor
Adam Hewitt
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Assistant Editor Kate Ashley
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But that doesn’t mean we’re ignoring the human factor. Have a look at our cover story, the interview with Althea Loderick, director of human resources and transformation (…and IT) at Waltham Forest Council. Loderick, recently voted among the most influential people in HR in the whole country, speaks candidly about the pressures of the job at a time of austerity, but also the way that service transformations done initially out of budgetary necessity can actually improve what’s delivered.
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On a similar theme, Gerry McGivern, professor of organisational analysis at Warwick Business School, makes a persuasive argument in favour of ‘managed networks’ in public service delivery. While he focuses on compassionate leadership in the NHS, the lessons are broader, and show what can happen when
Out with the old Old
ICT is a bit of a theme in this edition
of PSE; from the Information Commissioner’s Office’s Simon Rice discussing the best ways of disposing of legacy IT to avoid data protection breaches, to the huge reliance of the Metropolitan Police on servicing ‘ancient’ technology when it should be facing the future.
We also feature the report from the NAO on the perils for the public sector of relying on legacy IT and a view from Tata Consultancy Services on the same issue.
great leadership meets a drive for collaboration and partnership.
We carry coverage from the main party conferences, both the speeches and the fringes, throughout the magazine, although the main reports are on pages 26 to 29. There were some particularly good fringe events in Manchester outside the main conference hall secure zone, meaning anyone could attend if they wished – the quality of debate and speakers was consistently high.
Public sector procurement is an issue that exercises many of our readers, and there’s plenty to get your teeth into.
Have a look at what Francis Maude had to say on the issue on page 29, but our main focus is on pages 56-61. Joe Penny from the new economics foundation (nef) argues that ‘big is not best’ when it comes to public
service commissioning, and calls for more community involvement in such decisions.
Calling for co-operation over competition is hardly new, but Penny marshals some impressive evidence and examples in making his case.
Elsewhere, this edition also includes advice on improving your authority’s council tax collection rate if you work in local government, the useful green business directory from the Carbon Trust, evidence- based policy and its pitfalls, and how the intelligent use of geographic data can cut accidents and improve cycling safety.
Enjoy this issue of Public Sector Executive.
Adam Hewitt Editor
30 Prove it Why is it so hard to ensure policy is evidence-based?
37 Taxing times
How to get council tax collection to its maximum level
42 Hard drives Avoiding data protection breaches when getting rid of old IT
56 Bigger’s not better
Commissioning public services as if people mattered
public sector executive Sep/Oct 13 | 1
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