Governance, leadership and a personal reflection: a journey towards a safer, stronger and more resilient community

This context statement forms part of the Doctor of Professional Studies (by Public Works) programme and within it I will critically reflect on my public works. There are three elements to my public works, each of which relates to the emergency planning and resilience activities across London’s local government. The first public work is an assurance review that recommended a framework for the assurance of resilience activities. The second public work is the consultation report that explored the views of multiple stakeholders through interviews, workshops and surveys. The third public work is a suite of resilience standards for London’s local government published in response to the consultation report.

I focus on four specific areas related to my public works. I explore the subject of validation from a very personal perspective and how my life’s experiences and events have shaped my views in developing my public works including the learning I have embraced from those experiences. I explore the role of leadership in the context of emergency planning and resilience and look at the role of a leader from an ethical, collaborative and challenging standpoint. This analysis is further developed to focus on the role of a political leader, including scrutiny and challenge and learning the lessons from past emergency events. The role of a community in preparing for, responding to and recovering from a major emergency event is discussed including the relationship between the local council and the citizens who live or work in that council area.

The summary findings of this critical analysis have resulted in answering personal questions about the need for validation as well as the production of a community development model and an organisational resilience and assurance model to support councils in developing and improving their resilience arrangements.