How did the centre get started?
The Local Government Leadership Centre is the outcome of two years' work and discussion
between all the bodies with an interest in the way local government is run: the Office of
the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), the LGA, the Audit Commission, the Improvement and
Development Agency (IDeA), the Society of Local Government Chief Executives (SOLACE), the
Employers Organisation (EO), the Society of Personnel Officers (SOCPO), the Cabinet Office
(OPSR) and the Treasury.
A Leadership Development Commission was established by the partners above in 2002 to look
at the best way of improving leadership within local government, and after a great deal of
research among local government managers, members and others, a Leadership Centre
dedicated to the needs of local government was recommended.
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How is it funded?
The Leadership Centre is funded through the ODPM Capacity Building Fund initiative.
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Who is the centre for?
The Leadership Centre will provide a service for every council in England that wants to
improve the quality of leadership both among its political leaders and its managers. We
will work with councils, large or small, poor or excellent, to develop their leadership
capacity.
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Can individuals apply?
Subsidies will be made available to enable individuals to take part in programmes they may
not otherwise have access to. This year we have supported a number of local government
managers to take part in the cross-sector Leaders UK programme. Other programmes for
individuals will announced in 2006.
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Where is the centre based?
The centre's core operation is run from offices in central London. However, most of the
centre's work will be done locally with individual councils.
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Is the work of the centre aimed at a particular type of
authority ie just for poor and weak ones, or just for excellent ones?
All authorities, whatever their level of achievement, can benefit from the work of the
centre. Good leadership skills need to be constantly updated and reinforced, either
because the world has changed or because the leaders have. No authority can say they've
got leadership sorted, and it is a feature of most excellent authorities that they
recognise this. The Leadership Centre will research trends in leadership development in
local government, and improve or introduce programmes to keep up to date with the latest
thinking.
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Who will provide the training and development?
One of the Leadership Centre's main jobs will be to develop a thorough knowledge of
development programmes and other services offered by both private and public sector
organisations, and a view about their effectiveness and appropriateness. This will enable
us to advise on the most suitable development activities.
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How will authorities know what development they need?
Before the centre can advise an authority on what it needs to do to improve its leadership
capacities,there will be a preparatory exercise with the authority which will help scope
the authority's needs and potential sources of solutions to meet them.
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How will the preparatory phase work?
The Leadership Centre will focus initially on the development needs of the
leadership group (cabinet members and the executive team) and will work with them to
develop or refine the leadership development approach throught the authority ove a 2/3
year period.
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Where does the development take place?
That depends on what programme of development has been proposed. If
teams of managers or mixed teams of managers and elected members are targeted, programmes
will usually take place in-house, or at least locally to that authority.
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Are programmes and courses specifically created for local
government?
There are many good leadership development programmes in both the
public and private sector and the Leadership Centre will make use of good practice that is
already happening. However, we will make sure that where we use provision designed for
other sectors, these are properly tailored for a local government audience. The Leadership
Centre will also be working with providers to develop new and enhanced development
programmes to meet the changing needs of local government.
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How does what the Leadership Centre offers differ from other
local government agencies such as the IDeA?
The Leadership Centre has been set up to provide local government
with a single focus on leadership development. It will act as a gateway to the leadership
development programmes and services offered by a range of other existing providers of whom
the IDeA is the most well-known and most used within local government.
The IDeA will continue to fulfil many of the leadership development
needs of authorities through its existing programmes, and will work with the Leadership
Centre to develop new initiatives and refine existing services to meet the changing needs
of local government.
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