Radical Reformers podcast

In this new episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird chats to Graham Farrant, Chief Executive of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council. It’s a particularly relevant episode for those going through the current local government reorganisation (LGR) process. Back in 2018, Graham was the inaugural Chief Executive of the newly formed BCP Council and this episode is packed with lessons and...

This week, Andrew Laird is joined by Kate Josephs, Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council. Kate is a former Senior Civil Servant in Whitehall who has transitioned to local government in a City just around the corner from where she grew up. Sheffield is a city (with three-party political leadership) which has developed an ambitious set of City Goals through community collaboration, focusing on s...

We've extended our International Women’s Day celebrations here at MV. Inspired by our recent report and webinar, we have produced a special episode of the #RadicalReformers podcast. Since its launch, from the very first episode with Sophie Humphreys to the very latest episode with Louisa Mitchell, 60% of the guests on the podcast have been women. This is not a contrived thing, it is just where a l...

In this episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew Laird is joined by Louisa Mitchell MBE, Chief Executive of All Child, an organisation dedicated to supporting communities in underserved neighbourhoods across the UK to help children and young people flourish. All child has a crystal-clear purpose and methodology. They identify children who need support, they develop a trusted relationship with the chil...

In our latest episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by Kim Wright, Chief Executive of Brent Council. In London, 1 in 23 children are homeless… think about that for a moment…that’s one in every classroom. Tackling an issue like this requires a new, more radical way of getting public services to work together. The New Public Management approach of constantly assessing and passing vulnerable peop...

In this latest episode of Radical Reformers, Andrew talks to Kersten England, former Chief Executive of Bradford Council and current Chair of Bradford City of Culture 2025. Kersten highlights the importance of public services really getting to know local communities and understanding the context and contributing factors within people’s lives. It’s the only way to deliver meaningful support which w...

In the latest episode of Radical Reformers, I get into the detail of the English devolution White Paper with the local government expert Arianna Giovannini. We discuss: 💡The potential contradictions in the white paper with power being pushed down to strategic authorities but sucked up from local areas with the abolition of district councils. 💡The impetus the white paper presents for local places...

In the first Radical Reformers episode of 2025, I welcome Naomi Hulston, Chief Executive of Catch 22, a national charity delivering employment, education, justice, health, and social care services. Naomi shares her journey to becoming the Chief Executive of Catch 22. Her story is a powerful reminder that success often comes from doing what you love and making a positive impact on the community. Na...

Radical Reformers is live! Join me as we dive into an insightful conversation live from the Reform Think Tank’s "Reimagining the Local State" conference in Sheffield. In this episode, a range of guests explore the changing relationship between central and local government, the importance of collaboration among different local partners to tackle complex societal problems and the momentum behind dev...

Radical Reformers returns! In this latest episode, I talk to Emmanuel Akpan Inwang, Founder and Director of Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust. Emmanuel's career journey is truly inspiring. He began as a teacher in Birmingham where he witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by looked-after children. This experience ignited a passion for improving the lives of those children and ultimately to the establis...

In this episode of Radical Reformers, I speak to Martin P Griffiths, CBE, Trauma Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust and Clinical Director of Violence Reduction at NHS London and Chair of the Board of Trustees at SHiFT UK. This episode is different from previous episodes. It is about gun and knife violence, its impact and why we all need to pay attention. As well as having to operate (often repeated...

In this episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by Theresa Leavy, former Executive Director for Children (DCS) at Dorset Council and Interim Director of Children’s services at Cheshire East Council. In this wonderfully honest and open discussion, Theresa takes us through her career from an 18 year old in charge of a group of kids in residential care, all the way through to leading Dorset's impro...

In this latest episode of Radical Reformers, I am joined by Lucy Butler, Director of South East Regional Care Cooperative. Lucy shares how her early life experience led her to a career in public services, starting in adult social care and ultimately to various leadership positions in children's services. Most recently, Lucy was Director of Children’s Services at West Sussex. She discusses their im...

This episode is with Mark Sims, the Chief Executive of the P3 Group. He describes P3 as an organisation that supports people who are having a "tough time" and he doesn't like putting labels on people. This really gives you an idea of the sort of leader Mark is and the sort of organisation P3 is. P3 are particularly active in supporting people who don't have a place to live and Mark sets out housin...

This episode is with Simon Beeton, the Chief Executive of Navigo Health and Social Care CIC, a mental health and wellbeing provider in Northeast Lincolnshire. Navigo have been named in the Sunday Times top 100 not-for-profit organisations to work five years in a row! So there will be lessons to learn for everyone.   Simon has been on quite a journey. We talk about his transition from long standing...

This episode is all about the changing role of the council Chief Executive - and it certainly is changing! The financial pressures on councils are more intense than they have ever been. The responsibility that sits on a council Chief Executive to act as a place leader, engaging with the health and care system through the Integrated Care System arrangements, and also engaging with a Mayoral Combine...

This episode is a bit special. It's the first time we have had two guests on at the same time. They are Charlie Pickles from the Reform Think Tank and Jack Shaw from Labour Together. You might recognise those names. Both Charlie and Jack have been on the podcast in their own right and had their own episode. Given that we've just had an election with a change of government, we wanted to get these t...

This episode is with Tom Riordan. Tom is a legend in public service circles. He's been the Chief Executive of Leeds Council for 14 years, having previously led the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward. Tom has achieved a huge amount in his time at Leeds, including substantial economic investment and regeneration, as well as being the Chief Executive that oversaw the turnaround of Leeds C...

This episode is with Lesley Dixon. Lesley is the chief executive of PSS, a Liverpool based charity delivering adult social care services and wider support to vulnerable people in Liverpool and across the country. Lesley is an inspiring leader who has been at the helm of PSS for nearly 15 years, which is a very long tenure in today’s age of chopping and changing jobs. We talk about how you can find...

This episode is with Rob Whiteman, the Chief Executive of CIPFA. Rob is a very thoughtful and influential commentator on local government and public service reform. He has had a hugely interesting and varied career including stints as Chief Executive at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and at the UK Border Agency (UKBA). Rob was at Barking and Dagenham when the BNP won an unprecedented n...

This episode is with Dr. Linda Harris, the Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer of Spectrum Community Health a Wakefield based social enterprise, which delivers services covering a wide range of areas including prison health, sexual health and substance misuse. Linda describes Spectrum’s services and their incredible growth journey from an organisation of just 100 people to more than 800. We...

This episode is with Sarah Thomas, the Chief Executive of the Fostering Network, the UK’s leading fostering charity and membership organisation. The network provides training, support and advice to everyone involved in the fostering journey. This episode is part of Mutual Ventures' 2024 #PrioritisingPublicServices campaign. Sarah has an incredible and very relevant backstory, which involved going...

This episode is with Rob Walsh, the long standing Chief Executive of Northeast Lincolnshire Council. Rob has been Chief Exec of Northeast Lincolnshire for 10 years now which, in an era of quite high turnover for top local government jobs, is quite some achievement! Rob tells the story of how Northeast Lincolnshire is an area which has seen decline in the fishing industry - but is now embracing a n...

This episode is with Sam Allen, the Chief Executive of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System. This system covers a huge geography with 3.6m people living in both urban and rural settings in 14(!) different council areas. As you can imagine, getting this up and running was a real challenge and Sam explains how she has led that work and engaged with partners across the region. Sam...

This episode is with Sam Plum, the inaugural Chief Executive of the new Westmorland and Furness Council. This council was created when Cumbria County Council split into two – so Westmorland and Furness has half the old County Council and the three districts, which used to sit in that geographical footprint. This #RadicalReformers episode is part of the February "Place Leadership" theme of our #Pri...