Weeknotes S5:Eps 1 Hello from the other side…
Hey, thanks for coming…
Hey, thanks for coming…
Been meaning to get back to these but 2022 has been a fairly big transition for me thus far. So having made the move from Local Gov to the awesomeness that is the TPXimpact movement…
I have promised a first 100 days blog due in July so more detail on how this has been since starting in April to follow, but safe to say very happy with my decision so far and maxing out on enjoyment in meeting super bright and switched on peeps with serious plans for the future of everything… Boom!
And no I have not been through the Levelling Up Bill properly yet so you’ll have to wait :-)
Right to #weeknotes then;
One
Into the week with a bang; a podcast recording with our regular partnership show with Local Government Chronicle or LGC — the Local Authority Pod. Trying at least to have something of my A game on for a Monday morning was a definite struggle.
This episode of the pod was on the cost of living crisis that is affecting all of us i the UK right now but more proportionately those who are less financially secure and are really feeling the increasing affects of the monster inflation numbers we are seeing in the UK economy right now.
I really want to talk about this issue more over the coming weeks and get some open conversation started, especially around what the role of local government could and should be in the short, medium an long term on the frontline of dealing with poverty and inequality. Too much to talk about in a weeknotes so watch this space for a suitable blogpost.
The pod panel was chaired by the kingpin of localgov affairs Nick Golding who is sadly leaving soon and will be super missed by all (hopefully he still be providing insight and commentary in his new role). The other panellists were Helen Barnard of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Mike Brewer from the Resolution Foundation — both super guests with huge insight to share. As soon as its published I’ll share here.
So much to pick from this week (it feels like every week atm) but really interested to begin getting involved in the work we are doing around the Towns Fund work (more details here) of which we (TPXimpact) are a partner.
In short its a really exciting initiative from DLUHC aimed at helping level up some of our incredibly diverse towns across the UK.
One of our team Lizzie Insall is leading this project and she gave me a bit of a download last week. We met with colleagues from other partner organisations including Arup, Grant Thornton and Nicholls to discuss how best to provide support for boards and chairs in thinking through the implications of the changing economic context these programmes will have to navigate, especially in the wake of Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.
There are some really important aspects of uncertainty that will need to be baked in to big programmes, especially regeneration based projects on the back of supply chain issues and skills shortages in many sectors (most crucially construction). Another key issue will be raw material resources and demand/availability risks need to be baked into business planning.
Three
Awesome TPX lunch and learn on Wednesday. This was all around reporting back on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) report.
Its incredible to have come to somewhere that takes this so seriously and i really think this is what will set us apart from others as we progress our journey. No doubt there are areas to move positively in and those we need to concentrate more fully on but areas really close to my heart like neurodiversity are really progressing positively and its rare to see this given prominence (even coming from local gov which are pretty good in this space).
There is a super network around this and Bryony who is our Purpose Director gave an insightful overview whilst bringing in all the leads from our Employee Support Groups (ERGs) for many specific areas of DEI from Origins, LGBTQI+ to through to Women and Neurodiversity to update on how we are ensuring feedback loops from these are being fed and iterated into our evolving strategy.
Great energy here but also real commitment from the whole organisation to make our mission to constantly work harder on all of these issues.. Whoop!
Other stuff
Too many books in my pile of reading atm although have been zinging my way through Multiplied by my colleague Ben Holliday whilst commuting into London twice a week. Its a super read and I’ve bookmarked nearly every page so far on things i need to revisit and embed in work stuff/personal stuff/everything stuff….
Pod wise
Outside of my usual geeky New Stateseman/Economist standard fare, I’ve been back into Adam Buxton for some chuckles and great chat.
Ogni modo… Grazie per avermi ascoltato :-) Ci vediamo la prossima settimana ..