Barry Quirk
Barry Quirk is chief executive of Lewisham LBC
Beware Godzilla economics
Councils are designed primarily to achieve ‘economies of scope’ not economies of scale – and bigger brings disadvantages as well as benefits, writes Barry Quirk.
Leadership and learning: more than just words
Gavin Jones, chief executive of Essex CC, discusses leadership, learning, and the right time and place for experimentation with Barry Quirk, chief executive of Kensington & Chelsea RLBC and former Lewisham LBC boss.
Barry Quirk: Why place matters
Barry Quirk as he assesses the importance of place for individuals, communities, cities, nations and the global world in his contribution to Localis' essay collection, Neo-localism: Rediscovering the nation.
Exploring the power of parity
Local government is struggling to achieve gender parity in top roles. Yet Lewisham LBC is bucking the trend, with women occupying 56% of senior management positions. Barry Quirk explains how this was achieved and how the sector must respond
Home truths
With the public rejecting the experts and emotion winning over reason, Barry Quirk explains the importance of honesty and why chief executives must adapt to this new age
Ethics: the personal and the public
Barry Quirk says the new code of ethics set out by SOLACE needs to be accepted by all in local government, and that this should be the start of a much wider debate on how to be an effective public sector figure
Follow the Golden Spiral
Barry Quirk applies the Fibonacci sequence to addressing the delicate balance between cost-cutting and maintaining council service levels
A fright at the opera
The ‘cost disease’, which afflicts social care and performing arts budgets, means top tier councils will not be able to deliver projected cost savings by the end of the decade, argues Barry Quirk
The Risky Business of Local Government
Barry Quirk explains why the public sector’s approach to risk management should be one focused on helping communities and wider society cope with life’s hazards.
Creative solutions require lots of perspectives
In the next four years, Lewisham LBC needs to find savings of £95m from our net budget.
Stepping up to success
There was a day when chief executives boasted of their council's well-crafted vision and value statements. Now, in addition to operating models, they must also add other components, as Barry Quirk explains.
Hard disciplines for design
Central government could do a great deal to raise the profile of design-led innovation and to promote it, writes Barry Quirk.
From grand designs to the better use of design
The challenges ahead are significant, but how can we use design to make councils more effective and efficient, asks Barry Quirk.