Leighton Andrews, Minister for Public Services
This was published under the 2011 to 2016 administration of the Welsh Government
Public Services Leadership Panel
The Welsh Government has an ambitious public service reform agenda, set out in Devolution, Democracy and Delivery: Improving public services for people in Wales and the White Papers on Reforming Local Government. It is an agenda based on sustaining and refocusing local government; streamlining partnerships and aligning collaborations; integrating services; strengthening governance; acting as ‘one public service’; improving the performance of public services and developing new models for public services.
To drive forward the commitment to One Public Service and build and retain trust and confidence in our public services we need to drive innovation and ensure real leadership, based on:
- A recognition that change has to happen with a rich level of community engagement;
- An openness about data and its potential to drive change; and
- A focus on the whole system, understanding what is being done well where, helping to identify where change can truly make a difference.
I am establishing a Public Services Leadership Panel to provide me with advice and support on the public service transformation agenda.
The panel will be a task and finish group made up of individuals who bring both specialised knowledge of their own service sector and a proven track record of working across organisational and sectoral boundaries.
I will be asking them to draw thinking together from across the evidence base of good practice; encourage and support innovative collaboration within and between service sectors, focusing specifically on creating more effective services; and accelerate the shift to digital public services. I also envisage them advising me on potential areas for piloting/testing new approaches to public service delivery.
The Panel will have access to work by the Public Policy Institute for Wales; the planned NESTA innovation lab; cross-public service groups such as the Effective Services for Vulnerable Groups progamme; the Ministerial Panel on Digital Public Services I have recently established with the Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology and best practice internationally. They may also wish to commission specific pieces of work to inform their work programme.
The Panel will sit as part of the broader governance structures I am putting in place for the public service reform agenda. The Partnership Council will continue to provide political accountability and leadership for the public service reform agenda.
The Public Service Leadership Group, which was established in 2011 to drive the pace of improvement in public services, will be drawn to a close.