Change is the only constant facing directors of place, as they grapple with political earthquakes, local government reorganisation (LGR) and budget challenges. Taking over as president of the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT) this week, Katie Stewart is determined to do what she can to support its membership through tumultuous times for local government.
The incoming president tells The MJ that place directors, with responsibilities for vital local authority services including highways, waste, recycling and planning, have one of the widest senior roles within the sector in terms of the diversity of the services they look after. ‘I think it's becoming increasingly broader and more challenging, and we're being asked to stretch ourselves even more.'
Speaking to her on the day of the local elections, she highlights the sheer level of political change the sector is already dealing with. More lies ahead in the aftermath of the polls.
Stewart, who is executive director, environment, at the City of London Corporation and who joined from Surrey CC, where she was executive director for environment, infrastructure and growth, also points to the scale of organisational change involved in LGR. But she sees the place director as a steadying influence. ‘Within this, the role of the place director is a constant. We have seen some real talent across the UK developed and now in place to provide strong officer leadership.
‘So, I think we do see, particularly across the ADEPT network, some real capacity to navigate what is a challenging environment. And I think that has stood the place agenda for a lot of our local authorities in very good stead, despite some of those headwinds.'
At the time of writing, with Reform UK on the cusp of huge council gains and the Greens and Liberal Democrats also on track to make significant advances, Stewart says one of the biggest changes currently is not necessarily the political colour of a local authority, it is an issue of ‘how are you equipped to engage, educate and collaborate with new members'.
She believes political changes offer chances, not just challenges. ‘There's an opportunity with that churn to revisit policies that perhaps previous administrations that have been around and in power for 10 to 20 years have shelved.
‘You have a chance to bring new things and say, well, actually, let's look at this afresh. That's not to paper over that there have been some tricky settling in moments in terms of new members coming in and not quite understanding how to work with officers and how to behave.'
Writing in The MJ this week, chief executive of New Forest DC Kate Ryan called for further targeted funding from government for councils facing the ‘additional complex work' involved in district disaggregation. Stewart backs the view that additional financial support is needed to manage the changes required by LGR effectively.
She says: ‘Without a doubt, I think that in the authorities already facing financial pressures [and] having to provide the service required to implement big change programmes like the ones needed for LGR, for devolution, and to do those well, additional resources are critical.
‘These are fundamental changes… I think in many respects, you do need more specialist change management. You need people who can work alongside the experts within those councils to then help design a new organisation, which is part of the increasing skillset of a place director, but we're not experts in that. We do need that capacity.'
On the overall direction of devolution policy, Stewart worries about the programme being ‘very inconsistent'. She adds: ‘There is a promise of devolution. But I think that with political change likely at a national level in the next couple of years, a lot of people are very hesitant to put too much stead in what is currently being said about where we might be in five to 10 years.'
One of the new president's priorities involve a focus on identifying, developing and supporting the next generation of place directors, with an emphasis on capability, diversity and creating clear pathways into the role.
She highlights the importance of attracting young talent through creative recruitment campaigns and the necessity of upskilling professionals to work across multiple sectors.
She says one of the good things about place directors is that they are ‘incredibly adaptable', and flexibility is ‘kind of the name of the game because the pace of change, whether it's technology, political or geopolitical, has never been greater'.
One of the key skills required of place directors will be change management, she emphasises. It will be a case of ‘constantly having to balance risk in how we continue to deliver services and to deliver those standards, and an ability to recognise we're not always going to be able to deliver things in a way that we know everything, and being comfortable with being uncomfortable'.
The most successful place directors, in her view, are those who are able to deliver maximum impact for each pound spent, and ‘look at every moment where they're investing either in a service or a project or an initiative, and deliver multiple outcomes'.
Delivering the ‘business as usual' is made much more difficult due to the level of change in an uncertain environment.
‘There's a lot going on. We've got to keep focused and provide that calm leadership through the storm and say: "This is the direction of travel". Through all of this we still have to continue to deliver for our communities, for our businesses.'
