We offer free webinars on a range of topics to give you a chance to join our expert Workshop Directors and speakers in discussing current governance, policy and public sector management issues.   The webinars usually last 60 to 90 minutes and, in addition to presentations by speakers with wide international experience, you can ask questions, take part in online discussions and polls and chat with other participants from across the world.    We look forward to welcoming you and your colleagues to one of our webinars soon.

Our Workshop Directors, consultants and speakers are keen to share their insights into developments in public administration and international development in areas such as the Rule of Law and Democracy, Leadership and Resilience during the Global Pandemic and Integrity in the Public Sector.

To view these recorded webinars please kindly complete the form below and we will email you a link to the webinar video.

Below you will also see articles written by some of our Workshops Directors.  If you have any comments or if you would like to contribute an article, please get in touch with us at pai@public-admin.co.uk. We would be delighted to hear from you.

Upcoming webinars 

Please click the upcoming webinars link above for new webinars.

Webinars

The Role of Parliaments in Times of Crisis:                                                    Front line players, referees – or just noisy spectators

The global pandemic has had massively disruptive and worrying consequences for us all. It has impacted hugely upon the people and governments of nearly every country and region, worldwide. Moreover, in many countries the impact of COVID-19 has been compounded by and has sometimes exacerbated other, pre-existing, critical economic, social and political challenges – not least, in the United Kingdom, where the COVID-19 crisis has unfolded alongside the long-running saga of Brexit. This webinar will consider the constitutional and procedural impact on parliaments of major crises, using the UK’s recent experiences both of the COVID-19 crisis and of Brexit for purposes of illustration.

We will consider:

• The constitutional and representative role of parliaments in the 21st century
• The constitutional impacts of the COVID crisis and Brexit on the role and status of UK parliaments
• Recent procedural developments in response to recent major crises – and their longer-term implication

Better regulation

Regulating society effectively has never been more important, given the pressures of the COVID-19 crisis. But what is the best way to regulate? Governments worldwide have tried to find satisfactory solutions to this question. In recent years there has been growing interest in the “better regulation” agenda, including alternatives to legislation.

Our free webinar taking place on 5 November at 1.30 p.m. will discuss:

• Principles of good regulation, including best UK and international practice
• Persuasion rather than compulsion – the power of behavioural science (“nudge”) at a time of crisis
• The regulatory landscape including political and technical levels
• Regulatory governance and accountability

This session will be led by Matthew Cox, a former senior civil servant, with over 24 years’ experience in the UK civil service. Between 2007 and 2008 he worked in the Government’s Better Regulation Executive on relations between local and national regulators.

Leading yourself and others through challenging times

Never has there been a more important time for leaders to be self-aware about their own impact and well-being and to lead their people to meet the challenges of the pandemic and the shift to a ‘new normal ‘. Leadership remains a key capability for transformational leaders. However, those who ‘stand out’ are adapting their styles, remaining calm and optimistic and getting the best out of their people as they lead their organizations through change and challenging working conditions. Leaders lead their people as individuals and teams to build and create additional levels of skills and performance to be able to deal with setbacks and maintain a positive approach to new ways of working.

The webinar looks at four key aspects of leadership:

• The challenges of leading in current challenging times
• Approaches that make a difference to success
• The leadership behaviours to focus on
• Personal leadership challenges and steps to increase effectiveness
  

Why is monitoring and evaluation so important using data in the fight against COVID-19

It is well recognised that sound and timely monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes are vital to the delivery of successful outcomes in both the business and international development worlds. In fact there has rarely been so much interest in the use of M&E techniques - particularly the use of data and analytics – to keep control of interventions and to use the results to inform policy decisions and practical actions.

During the webinar and questions and answer session we will use examples from the Coronavirus pandemic and examples from business/development programmes and discuss the difficulties encountered and options for improvement in getting the right results.

Supply chain management

Traditionally, procuring organisations tended to focus their attention on the immediate suppliers or service providers. However, in more recent times, it has become more prevalent for procurement teams and their organisations to realise the importance of understanding the whole supply chain concept. In the time available, the webinar can only give a flavour of the process but we will examine the following areas:

• Identifying the supply chain and its component parts;
• Relationships within the chain and the organisation;
• The impact on the ultimate deliverables;
• How to overcome ‘breakages’ within the chain;
• Managing the process in a crisis such as the current pandemic;
• Understanding the whole risk theory.

Justice and the COVID crisis viral threats to the rule of law

The rule of law is internationally recognised as a fundamental constitutional principal that underpins democratic governance and respect for human rights. However, national and international responses to the current COVID-19 pandemic have revealed some of its weaknesses. In many countries, emergency measures have severely restricted citizens’ freedoms. Tough-talking political leaders, already resistant to challenges in the courts, have sometimes used the crisis to justify fresh attacks on judicial independence. The huge economic consequences of the pandemic have resulted in major financial cuts to legal services which have impacted seriously on citizens’ rights of fair and equal access to justice.

This webinar will discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rule of law:

• International definitions of the rule of law
• What does the rule of law really mean in practice?
• Judicial independence – myth or reality?
• Challenges to fair and equal access to justice

A Single Version of the Truth: Rebuilding confidence in institutions through better information

In the aftermath of the disputed US election, ex-President Barack Obama has been talking about the need for all of us to be able to find and agree what he describes as a ‘common set of facts’ as the basis on which to debate policies and explore futures. This theme was explored in our article by Workshop Director, Neil McCallum, on ‘a single version of the truth,’ earlier this year. Perhaps never before have we so needed the effective collection, collation, categorisation and management of information to identify our way forward, whether it is in combating a pandemic, rebuilding our economies or healing a fractured nation.

This free webinar, led by Neil, will consider what this means in reality, in particular in respect of public sector information. It will touch on the underlying principles of effective information management, where this is taking us today and offer you an opportunity to be part of this critically important debate.

Articles 

Leadership in the time of Coronavirus

Philip Champness, PAI Workshop Director   In January Chinese scientists reported a deadly new virus - coronavirus or COVID-19 - that spread from person to person and caused an acute respiratory disease. Of the first 99 cases 17% needed critical care and 11 people died read more...

In search of a single version of the truth

Written by Neil McCallum, Workshop Director, PAI professional development workshop on Effective Records and Information Management: Practical approaches.

We have until very recently been living in an age which has witnessed the progressive dismissal of the role of facts, the value of statistics and the concept of expertise in favour of confident, increasingly combative assertions of certainty read more...

Your latest challenge is ………. how to maintain supplies?

Written by Dave Wells, PAI Workshop Director for our Procurement programmes

The global Covid-19 pandemic and the different impacts on Government services and the private sector alike have brought a new focus for professionals from all disciplines. One of the foremost areas affected has been that of procurement read more...

Reasons to be cheerful:                        An accountant looks beyond Coronavirus

Written by Ken MacNeill, PAI Workshop Director for our Finance and Corporate Governance programmes

Most managers and finance staff will have worked hard to prepare budgets for this or the upcoming financial year. These carefully crafted financial plans are now often ruined because of Coronavirus. Income has often fallen, possibly read more...