Dan Jackson

26th November 2007

I've spent most of this week at Warwick Univeristy Business School (as part of the Post Graduate Diploma in Local Government Management). Warwick is a great place to share experiences with your fellow NMTs in seminars, dicussion groups and, of course, the bar! Cohort 8 were introduced to each other over a year ago now and we've built up a real esprit de corps in the group, while making lasting friendships. This support network has been strengthened through the regular contact we have with each other at Warwick, as well as the ngdp message board where we share work-based issues, and try and help each with solutions. Sure, balancing essay-writing and work can be a challenge (although you do get study leave on the ngdp), but the modules we've done so far have really helped me to understand the context in which local government operates, as well as the key challenges and policy areas it must repsond to.

Not surprising given its status as one the country's very best Business Schools the academic side of Warwick is excellent too. The teaching has been superb - in fact, a lecture on the History of Comprehensive Performance Assessment by Prof Steve Martin (although sounding dry as dust) was just about the best lecture I've ever been to, and I've been to a few ...

All this is supported through a range of blue chip external guest speakers who come to speak to us: this week we had Martin Narey, the Chief Executive of Barnardo's - who spoke passionately about Child Poverty and the frustrations of working in the public sector; and last time we had Matthew Taylor, the former strategy advisor to the Prime Minister, who spoke lucidly on challenges facing government and society.

And if this doesn't sound appealing enough, the food's lovely too!

I seem to appear on this website too!
www.careersincouncils.co.uk/testimonials/

26th October 2007

I recently moved placements - from the Chief Executives Office to the Children and Young People’s Directorate. I’d really enjoyed my time at the corporate centre but being on the ngdp means you get the chance to work in different parts of the council. Working in a service area like Children’s brings new challenges: managers on the frontline are naturally more occupied by the needs of the children in their care - whether they are in the looked after system, at school, or wherever - to have the time to engage with emerging policy issues or the demands of performance management.

The best advice I ever had about being a policy officer was to “try to come alongside” service managers - in other words, work hard to build relationships with frontline staff, so that policy and performance issues seem less of a burden imposed from above. Hopefully that’s working so far! Its also given me the opportunity to immerse myself in policy issues that I had no previous knowledge of. As an example, I've found the whole Looked After Children agenda fascinating (and not a little moving - stiff upper lip Dan …!)

I've also been asked to relaunch our 'Children's Trust' - of which more next week ...

17th October 2007 - Introduction

My name is Dan Jackson. I have degrees in History from Northumbria and Liverpool University (including a PhD). I've always had an interest in government and public affairs so I was very attracted to the ngdp as it seemed to combine real work in local government with the academic study of those issues at an excellent university like Warwick.

After the NGDP assessment centre and interviews at Middlesbrough and South Tyneside I joined South Tyneside Council nearly a year ago. I started in the Corporate Centre - in the Chief Executive's Office - and was thrown straight into a major project: leading the Council's preparations for CPA Corporate Assessment. Anyone working in the public sector will quickly learn how much assessment and inspection by central government goes on. Some see this as quite burdensome, but on the plus side it has driven up standards massively. South Tyneside is now judged to be one of the top ten councils in the country (out of over 400), because 'CPA' has recognised that we have a clear vision for the borough while delivering excellent services for its residents. This has really risen the profile and prestige of local government in general, and South Tyneside in particular - so we're now able to reverse the gaze and ask Whitehall why they haven't kept up!

This'll sound really corny, but working for South Tyneside is great (not least because I get to work amidst the fabulous Edwardian baroque of South Shields Town Hall) - its a high performing authority, but its small enough to get to know people, particularly the senior staff, and I'm lucky enough to get regular one on ones with our Chief Exec, Irene Lucas, who's been a great mentor. For anyone just coming into the sector, forging these sort of relationships is absolutely invaluable. And as the council deals with just about everything the work is extremely varied, and every day is different.

As part of the ngdp you have to move between placements so I've just moved into the Children and Young People's directorate - a whole new challenge which I look forward to blogging about ...