Radical Reformers Revisited: All in for Greater Manchester, with Caroline Simpson, Deputy Chief of Staff to the UK Prime Minister
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In this revisited episode, I’m returning to a conversation with Caroline Simpson. Caroline is currently Deputy Chief of Staff to the UK Prime Minister, with a particular responsibility in Number 10 North. At the time of recording Caroline was the Group Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Transport for Greater Manchester and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
This episode is worth hearing again because it gets beneath the structures of devolution and explores what it really takes to make it work.
Caroline talks about the relationship between economic growth and public service reform, and why progress must ultimately be felt in people’s lives, not just seen in new buildings or stronger economic stats. She also makes a compelling case for moving investment towards prevention and designing services around the whole person, rather than expecting people to navigate a collection of disconnected systems. All themes we are familiar with here at MV.
But at the heart of the conversation is leadership. Caroline explains how Greater Manchester’s progress has been built on trust, strong relationships and a willingness to have constructive disagreements. These are themes which were strongly supported in my subsequent Manchesterism conversations with Eve holt, Thomas Johnson and Warren Heppolette.
There is a lot here for anyone leading change in a complex system. Above all, Caroline brings remarkable energy, humility and determination and a leadership philosophy that can be summed up in two words: “all in”.
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