The National Leadership Centre (NLC), the body set up to bring senior leaders together and improve public sector leadership, held its inaugural flagship event today. Hundreds of the sector’s leading figures came together for the first time, including Chief Constables, Fire Chiefs and CEOs of Hospital Trusts.

The event, hosted by Naga Munchetty, included keynote speakers from experts across the public and private sectors, including Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, Head of Amazon UK Dr. Doug Gurr and Mayor GT Bynum of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

At the event, Child Friendly Leeds City Centre Project became the first recipient of the new Public Services Award - winning for its innovative work to improve the lives of children across the city. The Award was created to celebrate and recognize the successes of leaders and organisations who have worked across public sector systems to tackle unique challenges.

 

NLC

 

Sir Mark Sedwill, Cabinet Secretary, and one of the key architects of the NLC said: “The NLC was created to deliver a flagship programme for our public service leaders, who perform vital and highly challenging work. Everyone involved in the NLC is committed to helping these leaders cultivate a network of peers with whom they can share vital experiences and lessons from the front- line. Increased collaboration and integration of public services is essential as we head into ever-more complex and challenging operating environments. Leeds City Council exemplified this with its child poverty work.”

Speaking on the importance of the NLC and bringing public sector leaders together Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Strong and capable leaders are essential in our drive to improve our public sector – the Centre’s mission to better support and bring together public leaders will be a key part of ensuring we have the best people driving improvement.”

Congratulating the first NLC Public Services Award winners, Kristina Murrin, CEO of the NLC, said: “Child Friendly Leeds City Centre Project was a great illustration of a large-scale project that reached children and families across the city and local area. They did so by involving multiple partners across the public sector, and a key mark of the project’s success has been the level of ongoing engagement displayed. The Council’s programme exemplifies the type of inclusive and collaborative work that is delivering for a new generation of citizens. It is exactly what we want and need.”

GT Bynum, the Mayor of Tulsa, was one of the keynote speakers and discussed cross- collaboration in public services in Oklahoma. Speaking after the Forum, he said: “I was honored to be able to speak today at the National Leadership Forum and share our story from Oklahoma about how we have been able to cross boundaries to work together in the public sector. Breaking these siloes down is crucial to effect change, so it is thrilling for me to see the work that the NLC is doing.” The NLC will be running smaller pop-up, action-led leadership sessions across the country for public sector leaders later in the year.