Ready to break free from traditional employment and embrace a dynamic portfolio career?
Today’s business landscape demands agility and specialised expertise. Discover how to leverage your skills across diverse, high-impact projects, gaining unprecedented flexibility and autonomy. Forget “holding the fort”, modern interims are strategic leaders, driving change and delivering results in times of transformation.
In this free one-hour masterclass, Victoria McLean, award-winning careers expert and CEO of City CV, and Louise Beales, Interim Consultant at Starfish Search provide a blueprint for transitioning into the high-demand world of interim management, consultancy, and non-executive advisory roles. Both Victoria and Louise have helped thousands of executives and professionals successfully navigate the interim career market.
In this session, you will learn how to create a concrete roadmap to transform your professional profile, focusing on:
Join us and take the first step towards a rewarding portfolio career.
Sunita Patel outlines how the need for community cohesion has presented an important challenge for today’s local leaders, and is affecting the way we recruit, support and retain them.
Don’t wait to be invited. Position yourself to be appointed.
Whether you’re launching a portfolio career, seeking a strategic challenge, or planning a phased transition from executive life – this is your moment.
Non-Executive Director roles offer more than prestige. They give you influence, purpose, and the chance to shape the future of organisations. But getting shortlisted for a NED/Trustee role is tough – and your CV is the gatekeeper.
In this free, live, online, one-hour, power-packed masterclass, you’ll learn how to position yourself as the board’s next strategic asset. Led by Victoria McLean, award-winning Board CV Writer, Executive Coach, and CEO of City CV, and Elisha Savidge, Consultant, Board Practice at Starfish Search, this session will show you exactly how to stand out.
What You’ll Learn:
Why This Masterclass Is a Must-Attend:
Led by a Board Insider: Victoria sits on numerous boards and helps professionals land board roles.
Live Q&A: Get direct answers to your questions.
Immediate Takeaways: Walk away with actionable strategies to launch your NED career.
Perfect For:
We wrote to 400 leaders to ask them for a reaction to last week’s Budget. Here’s what they said.
Councils in England are under systemic strain. The Bennett School of Public Policy estimates a collective funding gap of £9.3 billion over the next few years, with most authorities forecast to operate in deficit. Meanwhile, Grant Thornton warns that up to 40% of councils could face financial failure within five years without new income or deeper cuts.
In this climate, leadership becomes existential – not optional. The search now is for leaders who are not just steady in calm, but resilient in crisis.
Beneath the surface of the crisis
Financial pressure on local government isn’t new, but its force has sharpened. Rising demand for social care, special educational needs and housing collides with flat or falling real-terms funding. Councils that once balanced on the edge now find themselves perilously close to breaking point.
As these headwinds intensify, statutory officers and senior executives are navigating a complex battleground – at the intersection of politics and professionalism. They must remain independent yet aligned; bold yet cautious.
The Public Accounts Committee has warned that government oversight is failing to detect emerging financial risks, while several authorities have publicly stated that default is no longer a distant possibility. At the same time, local leaders are sounding alarms over latent SEND deficits, which could soon reappear on balance sheets as accounting exemptions expire.
Redefining financial leadership
To carry authority through turbulence, leaders must shift gear – from administrators to architects of resilience. That means cultivating new instincts and disciplines:
Rebuilding the support system
But leadership alone cannot hold back systemic tides. Institutions themselves must evolve to share the load. That means:
The next test for public leadership
The future of local government will be defined not by those who cling to past models, but by those who build the muscle to steer through disruption. In the face of funding crises, leaders will not be remembered simply for balanced budgets or maintained services, but for how they guided; with integrity, foresight and courage.
This is the test for the next generation of public sector leadership – and it’s happening now.
Tom Ripley, Principal Consultant
Statutory officers have always been central to the integrity and stability of local government. Today, their roles are under unprecedented strain. Political volatility, heightened scrutiny, constrained resources, and rising public expectations have created a more complex and demanding environment than ever before.
The statutory duties of Heads of Paid Service, Section 151 Officers and Monitoring Officers have remained largely unchanged for over thirty years, yet the context in which they operate has transformed dramatically. Leadership for these roles now demands resilience, sharp political antennae, and a capacity to balance independence and responsiveness, all while safeguarding the council’s reputation and integrity.
Statutory officers now face:
Multi-agency delivery, shared services, and outsourcing increase legal, financial, and reputational exposure. Section 151 Officers contend with audit backlogs, rising fees, and stricter regulatory requirements, while Monitoring Officers and Chief Executives must ensure governance frameworks remain robust in increasingly complex delivery models.
Frequent shifts in political control and leadership styles heighten uncertainty. This is compounded by the influx of new councillors, many still learning the expectations of public office and standards of behaviour. Statutory officers often provide intensive guidance and training to maintain ethical governance and prevent reputational risk.
Financial pressures and reduced staffing make it harder to meet growing demands for oversight, compliance, and strategic leadership.
Transparency requirements and social media amplify reputational risk. Governance failure, or even perceived failures, can escalate rapidly, placing statutory officers under intense public gaze.
Cybersecurity threats, workforce shortages, and the personal liability of statutory roles add new layers of complexity and stress.
Success in statutory roles requires more than technical expertise. It calls for five critical capabilities:
Resilience under pressure – Political turbulence and high-stakes decisions demand composure and the ability to safeguard governance under stress.
Political judgement and emotional intelligence – Understanding political dynamics and stakeholder expectations enables statutory officers to influence effectively, not just advise.
Integrity and independence – The credibility of these roles depends on impartiality and the courage to uphold legal, financial, and ethical standards, even under pressure.
Strategic risk management – Anticipating emerging threats and aligning governance with organisational strategy is essential for long-term stability.
Collaborative communication and trust-building – Strong relationships with leaders, members, and partners underpin effective decision-making and conflict resolution.
Statutory officers must balance two imperatives:
Lean too far toward political priorities, and independence is compromised. Stand too far apart, and influence is lost. The most effective statutory leaders set clear boundaries, communicate proactively, and frame difficult advice with context and care.
The pressures facing statutory officers are unlikely to ease. Councils and sector bodies need to consider:
Statutory provisions designed in the late 20th century must evolve to reflect today’s realities which includes digital risk, partnership complexity, and heightened accountability.
Political literacy, negotiation, and resilience training should be core to statutory officer development, supported by strong peer networks.
Preparing for political transitions, financial shocks, and cyber incidents will help councils maintain continuity and confidence.
With personal risk and stress levels rising, councils must ensure statutory officers have access to legal backing, mentoring, and wellbeing resources.
Statutory officers are more than technical specialists; they are custodians of trust and stability in local government. In an era of uncertainty, their leadership must combine independence with influence, resilience with adaptability, and integrity with strategic foresight. Future-proofing these roles is not optional – it is essential for the health of local democracy.