Hello PPMA members and colleagues
Anastasia Simpson is a long standing PPMA member and Assistant Director, Partnerships at Tendring District Council and she shares with us some of the excellent initiatives that she and her colleagues at Essex County Council are introducing, to support the Government’s Levelling Up plans and how HR is central to help deliver those.
“We have all heard of the Government’s plans for Levelling Up and the White Paper that was launched on 2 February 2022. To recap the paper includes 12 ambitions, which cover four key areas
- To boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards by growing the private sector
- Spread opportunities and improve public services
- Restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging
- Empower local leaders and communities
When you read these key areas, HR is in such an ideal place to transform and play a part in the delivery of these objectives. If we ensure that we have fair pay, positive family-friendly contracts and conditions and become disability leaders then as public sector organisations we are able to set a positive example to other organisations in our local areas. I particularly like the ethos of the disability leader process, whereby you support other organisations on their journeys to support people with disabilities to both gain employment and continue to develop.
Within Tendring (East of England), Essex County Council has made a number of Levelling Up launches which are all welcome, including literacy corners in all libraries, support for parents assisting their children to develop reading skills, increased adult learning opportunities, funding for new business units and funding for a new community hub to empower local leaders. The majority of the launches start at the beginning and provide additional support for children and their families, which in due course will be part of our talent pipeline. In all 94% of Tendring District Council’s workforce live in Tendring.
When you see Levelling Up as a vital pipeline for future talent, supporting residents to develop skills and local pride this is of great benefit for HR. In turn we should do all we can to lead the way in our local areas offering good jobs. Jobs in turn lead to improved living standards, improved health, a general reduction in crime and increased live expectancy. Who wouldn’t want all of this?
The majority of PPMA members work for larger Anchor organisations within our communities, so we should be ready to grasp this challenge. I am definitely going to be doing this in Tendring and hope that my colleagues in PPMA also get involved in any local Levelling Up agendas.”
Anastasia Simpson, PPMA member and Assistant Director, Partnerships, Tendring District Council
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