The Rt Hon
Baroness Grey-Thompson has given a keynote address at the Joint University
Council’s Public Administration Committee (PAC) Annual Conference held recently
at Northumbria University.
This year’s
conference, ‘Public Administration and Social Work at the Margins’ showcased
the latest research in public policy and public management including
collaborative governance and addressing issues around marginalisation. Organised
by Dr Ian C. Elliott, Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership and Management at
Northumbria’s Newcastle Business School, the conference was attended by leading
academics from across the UK and overseas.
As Chancellor of Northumbria
University, Baroness Grey-Thompson was invited to deliver this year’s Frank
Stacey Memorial Lecture, and she spoke on issues of marginalisation. Reflecting
on her childhood, her Olympic sporting achievements and, most recently, her
time in the House of Lords, Baroness Grey-Thompson spoke in depth about
discrimination against disabled people, the role of sport in society and the
impact of recent welfare reforms.
This year’s conference covered some of society’s most significant challenges
and sought to explore how public policy and public management can address these
by informing better policy, public service design and delivery. A keynote
academic lecture was also delivered by Professor Barbara Crosby, from the
Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, on “Integrative
Leadership in Tumultuous Times: Claiming the Center”
Commenting on the success of the
conference Dr Elliott explained: “The annual PAC conference is an eagerly anticipated
event for those involved as educators, researchers or practitioners in public
policy and administration, and we were delighted Baroness Grey-Thompson was
able to join us this year. Her thoughts and insights were both deeply moving
and highly informative. Her call to ‘have the nerve to keep challenging’ was
greatly appreciated by the delegates. Professor Crosby’s lecture was another
highlight of the conference, and well received by her audience.
“Spread over three days with lively
and engaging debates and excellent speakers, we discussed new approaches to
public service design and delivery including the role of complexity approaches,
strategic leadership and coproduction. We also had a number of well-attended
academic-practitioner roundtable discussions on issues including Brexit. The JUC Public Administration Committee
also launched their new position statements on the REF Post-2021 and the QAA
Subject Benchmark Statements for Business and Management”
Newcastle Business School is a leader in public policy and
pubic management research and teaching and works in partnership with numerous organisations to
offer training and other collaborative support. It has recently launched a new MSc Strategic
Leadership for Public Services course as a bespoke Senior Leaders Master’s Degree
Apprenticeship designed to support public service employers within the
North-East and across the UK.
