Radical Reformers podcast

In this episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird speaks to Tracey Lee, Chief Executive of Plymouth City Council, about one of the most significant place-based opportunities in the UK. Plymouth is a city with defence, engineering and the Royal Navy in its DNA. With a 70-year investment in the city and thousands of new jobs linked to Babcock and the Ministry of Defence, Plymouth has a once-in-a-ge...

In the latest episode of the Radical Reformers podcast, Andrew Laird sits down with Joe Hill, Director of Strategy at Restate (and the winner of last year’s Think Tanker of the Year award!), for a timely and thought-provoking conversation about the importance of really bold public service reform ideas. From his journey through the civil service and Treasury to his work shaping some of the most inf...

In the latest episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird welcomes Nick Kimber, Director of Public Service Reform in Cabinet Office and the lead for the Test, Learn and Grow (TLG) Programme. We all know the huge pressures public services currently face - and in this conversation we’re reminded that fast experimentation and learning can be more powerful than writing the perfect business plan. Nick a...

In the latest episode of the #RadicalReformers Podcast, Andrew Laird is joined by Dr Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive of the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU). Jonathan and Andrew explore the importance of communities having trust in councils and other key local institutions and also why long-term thinking matters. They discuss how both councils and the communities they serve have essent...

In our latest episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird is joined by Andy Ferrier, Chief Executive of Test Valley Borough Council, for a thoughtful and practical conversation about how public service reform, neighbourhood working and democratic renewal can come together. At Mutual Ventures we talk about Radical Place Leadership - Andy is definitely a Radical place Leader! In this episode, they di...

This week Andrew Laird welcomes Dez Holmes, Director of Research in Practice and Strategic Director for Practice and Programmes at the National Children’s Bureau. They discuss the role public services can play in making growing up great again! and why so many of our systems struggle at the point young people turn 18. Dez challenges the myth of a neat shift from ‘child’ to ‘adult’ and notes that fo...

In the latest episode of the Radical Reformers podcast, Andrew Laird is joined by Zina Etheridge, recently appointed Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire Council, to explore to explore her relatively unique experience of leading in central government, in a council and in the NHS. Zina highlights that place matters more than ever, and the conversation centres on a powerful idea we truly believe in he...

In the latest episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird meets Becca Dove, Head of the Camden Centre for Relational Practice and Transformation and Simon Parker, Executive Director of Resources at Bath and North East Somerset for a rich, reflective conversation about making relational practice the norm in public services. They explore what it really takes to embed relational ways of working across...

In this week’s Radical Reformers, Andrew welcomes two exceptional local government finance leaders, Rob Powell, Executive Director for Resources, Warwickshire County Council and Nina Philippidis, Executive Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive, Gloucestershire County Council. Local government finance is facing pressures unlike anything we’ve seen before - but with the right leadership,...

All the buzz is about relational public services – and rightly so. In this week’s Radical Reformers, we welcome not one, but two experts in the subject, Professor Hannah Hesselgreaves and Professor Chris Fox from the Policy Evaluation Research Unit at Manchester Metropolitan University. They explore the role academia plays in the development of public service reform and public policy, and how it s...

Radical Reformers is back! Andrew Laird kicks off the new year in conversation with Jason Strelitz of the Health Foundation and formerly Director of Adults, Health & Communities at Newham Council. Jason brings a wealth of experience and insight having worked on the Marmot Review into health inequalities and also the Grenfell Recovery programme. He’s also the author of a great book – "Same Storm, D...

In the latest Radical Reformers episode, Andrew Laird welcomes Des Murray, Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire Council and Chair of Solace Scotland. Des shares his personal journey from growing up in Lanarkshire to leading the council in his hometown, highlighting the power of local roots and the value of a generalist perspective in leadership. He explains how North Lanarkshire’s “one plan” appro...

Across the UK, adult social care is in crisis. This episode of the #RadicalReformers podcast brings you a rare social care success story. Rachel Law and Gemma Murphy are two of the all-female leadership team at PossAbilities CIC, an adult social care social enterprise based in the Northwest of England. With a team of 800 operating across multiple council areas, PossAbilities is bucking the trend....

This week on Radical Reformers, Andrew talked to Adrian Brown, Chief Executive of the Windfall Trust, to explore how artificial intelligence will continue to reshape public services. Adrian provides us with a grounding in AI and how it will inevitably touch every aspect of our lives. Most of the discussion is focused on the awesome opportunities and worrying risks that AI poses for public services...

In the latest episode of #RadicalReformers, Andrew Laird talks to Helen Bailey, Chief Executive of Sutton Council. Helen brings the rare experience of senior roles in both central government and local government and her perspective on the ‘bridge’ between central policy and local delivery is invaluable. It’s an extremely timely discussion with the renewed interest in the concept of ‘Total Place’,...

This week’s Radical Reformers guest is relational working pioneer, Helen Sanderson, known to us as a leading thinker, researcher and doer on person-centred working. Helen talks about her work setting up Wellbeing Teams in places like Wigan and Thurrock and discusses her ongoing work with the Changing Futures Northumbria team, playing a pivotal role spreading the learning from the great work being...

Radical Reformers is back! Listen in to Andrew Laird’s insightful conversation with relational working legend Gary Wallace, a public health specialist from Plymouth City Council. In this episode, Gary comprehensively debunks New Public Management, highlighting its weaknesses and championing relational working. He shares his expertise on systems thinking, human learning systems, and the importance...

In the latest episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by renowned public service innovator and author, Hilary Cottam. Hilary has just published her hotly anticipated follow up to Radical Help, entitled “The Work We Need”. It is an inspiring read and I get the opportunity to delve into the main themes with Hilary. Hilary highlights the increasing challenge of economic inactivity and unfulfilling...

This is Episode #100 of the #RadicalReformers podcast! We wanted to take the opportunity to thank all the guests who have taken the time to contribute their time and knowledge and the listeners who have given up their own time and continued to support the podcast since the first episode back in 2020. We have had guests from central government, local government, the third sector, Mayoral Combined A...

The next two episodes of the #RadicalReformers podcast will be a bit different (and hopefully a treat for the public service reform nerds out there!). They will focus on “Relational practice” and “Place working”. A couple of weeks ago, Andrew spent time with the leading relational practice experts from the UK and further afield at the PERU “Towards Relational Public services” conference in Manches...

In this latest episode of Radical Reformers, Bas Sadiq, the Chief Executive of the Homerton Healthcare Foundation Trust and the place-based leader for City and Hackney, joins Andrew Laird and shares her incredible journey from an outpatient receptionist to leading one of the most iconic hospitals in London. Bas discusses the unique role of The Homerton as a community anchor and gives us an insight...

In this week’s episode Radical Reformers, we welcome back a duo we’ve had on the podcast before - Scott Darraugh from Social Adventures and Sophie Clarke from We Are Juno. It’s a rich conversation that touches on topics we’ve been thinking about a lot here at Mutual Ventures, specifically around the challenges in children’s residential care: - The difficulty of finding suitable local placements so...

In this new episode of #RadicalReformers, I chat with Kath O'Dwyer, former Chief Executive of St Helens Council and Chair of SOLACE. During her tenure at St Helens, Kath led the council through significant challenges, including a poor corporate culture, the COVID-19 pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, and a ransomware cyber attack. Despite these hurdles, she successfully transformed the organisatio...

In this latest episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird is joined by Caroline Simpson, Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Transport for Greater Manchester and the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. Greater Manchester became the first new Mayoral Combined authorities in 2014 and in this conversation, Caroline has a refreshing approach to leadership and share...

In the new episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird welcomes Graeme Duncan, Chief Executive of Right to Succeed, a charity that supports communities in areas of high deprivation to work collectively and give children and young people the best start in life. In this discussion, Graeme and Andrew discuss the transformative power of building community agency. Graeme notes that the biggest challenge...