Beyond the Spending Review: Local Leadership Challenges

Policy announcements in the major areas of public service since the conclusion of the Spending Review signal the Coalition’s broad intent: reform to empower freer, nimbler organisations to lead system-wide changes, developing services more responsive to the needs of their communities and delivering them through increasingly complex contractual relationships. The Spending Review laid bare the extent of the financial challenge; subsequent policy-making has thrown down the gauntlet of marketisation. This Board Paper sketches the likely impact in key parts of the public sector. It further suggests how the various constituent elements of a changing institutional landscape – from existing public sector organisations, through education providers to new spin-outs – should, through strengthened leadership and capability in key, strategic areas, adapt to seize the opportunities that reform will present.

View or download the full Board Paper