French future local government chiefs visit Teesside

A group of French future senior civil servants spent time with local authorities across the Tees Valley as part of a European research project on performance management.

Teesside University Business School Professor Joyce Liddle was involved in organising the visits to local authorities in Darlington, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland for the group of six students from National Institute of Territorial Studies (INET), a French public administration school which trains senior civil servants for local and regional government.

The students involved in the trip had previously spent time working at senior levels in local government and were involved in the visit to look at how performance is driven in local governments in the United Kingdom.

Professor Liddle said: 'I was really pleased to be involved in what was a really excellent initiative to bring this group of future French local government CEOs to the UK.

'They had a brilliant time in Redcar, Hartlepool and Darlington. I spoke to them as they carried out their research work and also to their supervisors, who concluded that they had an excellent time, with the trainees really able to benefit from their visit. The senior personnel in each local authority made excellent provision, setting up relevant meetings with key staff and facilitating data collection.'

Nicolas Beauchef, of INET, said: 'The students had a wonderful time in England. The research they carried out has been proved extremely valuable to their projects.

'What really made a difference to them was preparation put in place ahead of their visit and the welcome they got within the councils. We are very grateful.'

During their visit the French trainees met with local government officials and department managers as part of their research to compare performance measurement in the UK with France. Final reports will be completed by the trainees and shared with the UK local authorities visited.

---