Inner Circle Consulting

The Government’s devolution aims have been summed up so far in headlines focusing on mayoral powers and the consolidation of councils. But this week’s white paper in fact reveals an urgent demand for reform and renewal. Specifically, it demands reform to deliver growth and housing, reform to focus on prevention and reform to restore trust in politics and institutions. Those demands insist we move beyond the narrow ambition – a focus on ‘safe and legal’ and an over-reliance on off-the-shelf business cases - of previous re-organisations. For this moment to yield a smaller number of organisations working as before would be a dismal failure for all involved. Instead, we will be supporting clients to plot a response that can establish local public services fit for the big challenges of the next 50 years. Read our view on the English devolution white paper here: https://lnkd.in/e92QCPjs #LocalGovernment #EnglishDevolution #MHCLG #UK #LocalGovernmentReform

Safe, warm, and secure housing is a fundamental human right. However, decades of underfunding, underinvestment, and rising demand has put the housing system in crisis. At Inner Circle we focus on whole-system housing solutions that help our public sector partners solve the biggest housing problems by bringing an end to end understanding of housing and what is required to make a difference to residents, homes, and housing services. In the below post, Inner Circle Managing Director Evie John sets out her thoughts around recent government announcements of house-building targets and the need to take a systemic view to solve complex housing problems. #Housing #UKHousing #HousingSystem

Good to see this thoughtful analysis of the #newtowns opportunity coming through from Centre for Cities. It is clear on the opportunity, IF the right decisions are made. What it clearly demonstrates is that, for new towns to be a reality in this government, it is going to require bold decisions and strong leadership, coordination and intervention from the centre, as well as a level of creativity in the identification of the solutions for delivery. Importantly, this report is based on the premise of locating new towns close to existing cities with provision of transport and social infrastructure to ensure that they are not simply drab car-led housing estates built on the edge of cities, but carefully curated neighbourhoods integrated with the existing social and economic fabric, ensuring their sustainability into the longer-term. New towns are proposed to solve a national crisis and so will require a national response with adequate scale and pace but, critically, this central leadership must be wrapped around by thoughtful design and local stewardship to be sensitive to local identity, culture and community. https://lnkd.in/ezeMqWFn #infrastructure #ukhousing #community #stewardship

For missions to really have an impact, they need to be backed up by clear, measurable targets. So it's good to see Keir Starmer start to put real meat on the bones of Labour’s missions and go beyond just signalling political intent.    It's particularly promising to see specificity on the Economic Growth Mission. Growth for growth’s sake isn’t something to aim for. Growth has to be inclusive, green, and actually change the opportunities available to people. Focusing on raising living standards (measured through household disposable income) is a good way to make sure that people are really feeling the impact of the mission while still keeping the focus on driving an overhaul of the UK economy.   I joined INNER CIRCLE CONSULTING to help more places in the UK to re-think their approach to growth and place-shaping with a focus on creating truly inclusive local economies. I’m excited to bring over some of the big ideas from my time at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) around how a mission-oriented approach can produce public value. Today is a step in the right direction towards actually putting a mission-oriented national framework in place and I hope we can start to implement more of these frameworks at the local level. Evie John Lucy Webb Roland Karthaus

We recently had the pleasure of hosting a round-table event with a group of Directors from both Adult and Children’s Social Care; reflecting on the Budget, its consequences and what has to come next, these are my takeaways 👇 #localgov #prevention #reform #socialcare https://lnkd.in/e-T5zXmu

Only effective relationships between Health and Social Care can improve outcomes. Effective partnerships between councils and the NHS are vital as the financial pressures on both sectors increase. And those partnerships depend on strong relationships and a shared commitment to improve outcomes for the people they jointly serve. Now more than ever these relationships are crucial with large parts of England’s adult social care market facing collapse as a result of tax and wage rises announced in the budget, with devastating consequences for vulnerable and older people who rely on care services, the Nuffield Trust has warned. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eQEDCFbJ

Labour's Social Care reforms must go beyond a crisis response - I've written a piece to respond to the announcements made earlier this week on Social Care. 'The announcement on the government website starts promisingly - ‘The government will today embark on major reform to end years of neglect of the children’s social care support system – breaking the cycle of late intervention and helping keep families together wherever possible so every child has the opportunity to thrive.’ – but this will be an uphill battle if the main reforms only centre on children’s social care placements.' https://lnkd.in/erzTXfak INNER CIRCLE CONSULTING

It’s no news that we are facing a deep and complex housing crisis in London and in many parts of the world. At INNER CIRCLE CONSULTING, my colleagues and I work closely with our clients every day to tackle this crisis and address the challenges that inadequate and insufficient housing creates for cities, communities and people’s lives.   This is why we are proud to be working alongside Westminster City Council to develop the Westminster Housing Compact – a partnership between the council and 11 housing associations in the borough. This Compact represents a shared commitment to work collaboratively, bringing all partners' resources and unique strengths together to address this crisis.   We’re glad to have helped build this partnership, bringing together partners to identify the key issues that residents and communities face in Westminster, and designing a new approach to place-based partnership working based on open collaboration and mutual support. This Compact, which was officially launched last week, is a recognition that by working together we can tackle challenges that are too big to handle alone. We know that the challenges facing Westminster are not unique to the borough. That’s why we’re confident that this new partnership will set a template for how councils and housing associations in London and beyond can work together to tackle housing challenges on a wider scale.    I’m really looking forward to the exciting new opportunities this partnership will bring!   Evie John James Masini Katerina Sfyra Westminster City Council   #WestsminsterHousingCompact #Housing #Partnership

Responding to (a lack of) professional curiosity has been a constant in my career. From working at a national domestic abuse charity, to my current role at INNER CIRCLE CONSULTING - and it is an issue which has serious consequences. I've met victims of serious violence that had experienced being in A&E holding their breath for the moment that someone scratched beneath the surface and safely enquired about the injuries they were presenting with, only to be treated and released back to their abuser with no questions asked. I've also worked with a principle social worker, with her head in her hands as she conducts case audits and sees that the way that children are being described by their social workers that are far from strengths based and include only a surface level description of the actions of the child rather than a holistic assessment of their progress and experiences to date. As I say in this article 'True professional curiosity is asking questions when it seems that there are no questions to be answered. It’s having pride in what you do. And it is about holding your practice to a high standard.’ But simply, it is what the recipients of our public services deserve. If you are interested in developing a curious workforce, a culture and a service that can improve outcomes for children and families, please get in touch. https://lnkd.in/ePMuCy5n

Our team is going to #NCASC24 in Liverpool! At this year's National Children and Adult Services Conference, our team will be engaging with the social care community and discussing the important challenges facing the public sector today. Reach out if you want to meet us there -> Samantha Jury-Dada, Olly Swann, Amy Long, Colin Morrison, Chris Naylor #SocialCare #PublicSector #LocalGovernment #LocalGov