Robin Latchem
London
Robin Latchem is web editior of LGCplus, the website for the Local Government Chronicle
Recent activity
Blog Posts (33)
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Class of 2010 - by text
It’s five past midnight and your phone bleeps to announce a new text. Irritated? Not if it means your child has got that hard-to-get school place.
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Digital diabetes drive
It’s good to see a digital technology initiative managing to: tackle diabetes, improve English language skills and boost IT confidence.
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Councils under BBC scrutiny
Exclusive: The BBC is working on a month-long coverage of the impact of spending cuts by local government
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Apple of their eye
Should councillors be given iPads to carry out their committee work - and fight climate change - or is it pandering to the latest digital ‘toy’?
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Wearside wonders
Sunderland does it again - leading the way in digital local government to tackle social exclusion
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Comments (1)
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Comment on: ‘Suicidal' cuts to training scheme raise future leadership concerns
Response in LGC from Rob Whiteman, managing director, Local Government Improvement & Development: I write with regard to your article “‘Suicidal’ cuts to training scheme raise future leadership concerns” (12 May, LGCplus.com/5029642.article), which made predictions about the future of the National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP). The LG Group is proud of the scheme and wants it to continue, but in a way that better reflects the financial environment in public services. The principal change under current plans is that the scheme will no longer include an accredited post-graduate diploma. Graduates tell us that they come to the scheme primarily to gain high-quality experience in local government. Of course, they also value the national networking and tailored development that the post-graduate course gives them, but this can be achieved at a lower cost using expertise from within the local government sector. This includes the sort of learning approaches suggested in your article by Futuregov’s Dominic Campbell. I appreciate Professor Benington’s concerns but we have a lower number of placements this year because fewer councils are taking on graduates. We’re confident, however, that the scheme can survive public spending cuts and will benefit from being streamlined and more sustainable. All parts of the public sector are rightly looking at new ways of working and at more cost-effective methods for delivering outcomes. Why should NGDP be any different?
