Autumn Budget: Six Ways Leaders can Thrive in the New Fiscal Environment
Next week will see the new Government’s first major political set piece (if you leave aside the PM’s recent International Investment Summit.) When Chancellor Rachel Reeves announces the full details of the Budget, we’ll get a much clearer sense of Labour’s plan for government and, crucially, the financial outlook for public services in the Parliament ahead. We already know what the core tension in this Budget […]
A New Era of Police Efficiency: Savings Beyond the Salami Slicer
In a recent Leapwise blog, we talked about the local pathways to delivering sustainable savings within policing. We called on forces to avoid the tempting simplicity of ‘salami slicing’ or simply applying across–the–board budget cuts to achieve savings. Instead, they need to make well-targeted changes that deliver value for money, and build the muscles needed to deliver more productive, transformed services. Local policing doesn’t work in a vacuum, of course. Forces draw on national functions and services, such as the […]
Police Superintendents Conference: The Future of Policing
At the 2024 Police Superintendents Association (PSA) (1) Annual Conference, our Managing Director, Tom Gash, was asked to speak on an esteemed panel of policing leaders and experts, alongside NPCC Chair CC Gavin Stephens QPM, CEO of the College of Policing Sir Andy Marsh QPM, and Police Foundation Director Dr. Rick Muir. At Leapwise, we work with forces across the UK to help future-proof their organisations in the face of a rapidly changing societal and policing context. The PSA conference offered […]
3 Steps for a Successful Away Day
Most away days arise out of a simple ‘feeling’ that one would be helpful – but that feeling usuallyreflects a larger organisational need. There could be a significant reset moment on the horizon, a newinitiative, role changes, or a big decision that needs input from a large number of people. At their best, away days can bring people together, align them on a set of facts, generate ideas, or move towards decisions in an inclusive way. They emphasise active participation, usually last up to a full day, and are held outside […]
HM Prison and Probation Services: Enhancing Programme Performance – A Leapwise Case Study
Introduction The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has the second largest number of projects and programmes in the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP), with 27 projects and programmes at a whole-life cost of £85.2billion. The March 2023 Delivery Confidence assessment rated 19 of these as ‘amber’, and one as ‘red’ with one of the cited risks […]
Supporting London Borough of Islington in Developing a 2-year Delivery Plan and a new Change Framework – A Leapwise Case Study
Introduction Islington Council is a high performing and stable authority, with ambitious leadership and a recently appointed Chief Executive, Victoria Lawson. The council faces a number of immediate challenges, however, including: the need to deliver on significant political commitments before the 2026 council elections; the need to find and deliver significant savings while maintaining top […]
Home Office: Developing a Blueprint for Professionalising Support for Police and Crime Panels – A Leapwise Case study
Policing in England and Wales is highly decentralised, with each of its 43 constituent forces operating with much more independence than in many other comparable countries. The same is true for police scrutiny functions. Police chiefs are held to account by their local Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) who, in turn, will be scrutinised by […]
A New Era of Police Efficiency: Savings Beyond the Salami Slicer
Back in March 2024, Leapwise warned about Austerity 2.0. We set out how tight public finances would mean stagnant budgets for many Whitehall departments, even as service demands continue to increase. For policing, there would be no financial uplift to accompany the restoration of 20,000 officers across England and Wales. Unfortunately, even with a new government, our assessment hasn’t changed. At the […]
Leapwise’s VICTORY Framework for Major Change
Making big changes in the public sector is hard. One only has to look at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA) assessment of the biggest government projects to spot this. According to their latest annual report (2022-2023), only 10% of projects are ‘green’ (meaning “Successful delivery of the project on time, budget and quality appears […]
Local Government – Looking Forward to New Opportunities
Local government has a key role to play in rebuilding Britain. Yet, the sector has been among the worst-affected by austerity, with 8 councils having declared effective bankruptcy since 2018, and one in five reporting they may follow suit without intervention from central government. The pressing challenges faced by local authorities have received recognition from the newly formed government, […]