The National Graduate Development Programme for Local Government is under threat. The scheme, now almost a decade old, recruits graduates nationally and places them in local authorities around the country for two years, combining work with training and postgraduate study. Its future now hangs in the balance as funding is cut.
Both my business partner and I got our first break through the scheme. Even though we've moved on from public sector employment, our experiences on the scheme continue to inform our work.
When we joined, local government was in the midst of a Gershon efficiency frenzy, but just as we've moved on so too has the sector. Councils are facing a deeper financial crisis than Gershon ever imagined and web technology has made a mockery of hierarchical structures of government.
While there's a baby in desperate need of some bathwater here, the scheme as it stands is no longer fit for purpose. What local government needs now is not more managers but radical thinkers, designers, networked people and those with the temerity to question the rules. But NGDP has not moved with the times – it is still recruiting safe hands from safe universities in a safe way.
While many of the people on the scheme challenge the status quo, they nonetheless do so within boundaries.
At FutureGov, we're asking what we'd do differently. How would a networked, open, innovative, tech-enabled, social recruitment scheme for government work?
For a start, we need to ask if a graduate scheme is the right thing for local government. Undoubtedly new talent is needed – connectors who bring in the outside, open to new angles on old problems, web-savvy and keen to work with service users to co-produce solution - but can you have those skills without a BA from a redbrick university? Of course you can.
And we don't necessarily need young people, we need young attitudes. A 60-year-old with the right attitude who is committed to staying in the sector for the next five years is more valuable to local government than a 22-year-old who is afraid of innovation but may stick around for twice as long.
Then there are the recruitment processes; basing these in real-world problems and bringing in mentors from start-up companies would help. Working across sectors and boundaries to solve problems, and taking up short placements outside of local government would bring energy to the scheme. Placements in the private sector may prove to be a new source of funding. Instilling design thinking and integrating web technology will ensure the scheme is relevant, and make it fully transparent.
The business model undoubtedly needs work but given the value to local authorities that a scheme like this could bring it would be worth a little more investment. Creativity is a must.
The need for fresh talent in local government has not diminished - it is more crucial now than ever before - but the scheme needs to look to the future. If you're reading this and you agree then get in touch and let's make it happen.
Carrie Bishop is a consultant at FutureGov.
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