Tuesday 24 August 2010
Sir Michael Barber joins public administrators to talk tough times
Nottingham Business School will host the Public Administration Committee Conference
Former head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, Sir Michael Barber, is to join public administration academics and practitioners from across the globe at this year's Public Administration Committee (PAC) Conference, hosted by Nottingham Business School from 6-8 September 2010.
The conference is to explore themes relating to public administration in an era of austerity and Sir Michael will be providing the keynote Frank Stacey Memorial Lecture. As expert partner in McKinsey and Company's Global Public Sector Practice and head of its Global Education Practice, Sir Michael has been working on major challenges of performance, organisation and reform in government and the public services in the USA and other countries.
Prior to joining McKinsey in 2001, he was chief adviser on delivery to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and was responsible for overseeing implementation of the Prime Minister's priority programmes in health, education, transport, policing, the criminal justice system and asylum / immigration. He is also currently co-chair of the Pakistan Education Task Force.
In 2008, Sir Michael received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University from Nottingham Trent University, in recognition of his vital contribution to reforms in public management and services.
This year's conference will be held at the newly opened Nottingham Conference Centre, at Nottingham Trent University, and delegates will have the opportunity to listen to a wide variety of papers on all aspects of public service organisation and delivery.
The National School of Government and PMPA Practitioners Forum will also be running a forum on Developing Effective Policy in an Era of Austerity, designed for practitioners who are adapting to new financial, economic, social and demographic realities. Guest speakers will include Adam Sharples, director-general of the Employment Group, Department for Work and Pensions, and Tony Bovaird, Professor of Public Management and Policy, University of Birmingham.
Professor Joyce Liddle, academic leader for the conference and Professor of Public Sector Management at Nottingham Business School, said: "We're bringing together academics and practitioners from a broad range of disciplines including public policy, public administration, public management, social policy and politics to explore a huge variety of questions about the changing nature of public services.
"Coming almost immediately after the UK general election and during a time of acute financial constraints in the public sector, the key sub-themes of this year's PAC Conference will include the new political landscape, efficiency, innovation and service improvement."
Additional keynote speeches taking place at the conference include Systems Thinking in the Public Sector by Professor Brian Collins FREng., chief scientific adviser to Department for Transport and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; Comparing public and private management: does it make any difference? Methological challenges of comparative public management by Professor Jari Vuori, University of Eastern Finland; and Universal Woes for Universities? The Challenge for Higher Education by Professor Andrew Gray, editor of Public Money and Management.
The conference also includes an annual dinner and prize giving at Nottingham's Council House, with an after dinner speech by Denis Byrne, former assistant secretary general of the Department of Agriculture in Dublin.
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