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Launch Event:   ONLINE, Thursday, 14th October, 2021  ~ 15:00-16:30 BST/UTC+1


​At the launch,   six leading heretics answer this question:

"You bump into Michael Gove in a nightclub. After posing for a selfie he offers to buy you a drink. You tell him what you do and he asks if you have any policy ideas. What is your pitch?"
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​

Join the authors and editors on 14th October for the launch of Kittens are Evil II and hear from six heretics who have contributed chapters to the Kittens are Evil books.

Six Speakers:
  • Kathy Evans, CEO of Children England  ~ Catherine Needham, Prof. of Public Policy & Public Management, Univ. of Birmingham
  • Simon Guilfoyle, police inspector & systems thinker  ~  Cathy Hobbs, devotee of local government & critical systems thinker
  •  Toby Lowe, Professor in Public Management, Centre for Public Impact  ~ Peter Wright, Convenor, NE Public Health Skunkworks
Two Convenors: Rob Wilson and Charlotte Pell (editors, see details below):
One event: Join the event and explore alternative ways of designing public services and public policy with these leading thinkers.
​                                   The event is free but preregistration is essential ~ REGISTER HERE
Picture
Imprint: Triarchy Press
Published: June 2020
List Price: £15.00
Format: Paperback
Extent: 100pp.
Size: 15.2 x 22.9 cm
ISBN: 978-1-911193-77-7
Tags: Public Sector, Public Services

Kittens are Evil II: Little Heresies in Public Policy
Charlotte Pell, Rob Wilson, Toby Lowe & Jan Myers
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pdf version: bookmarked pdf
pdf ISBN: 978-1-911193-79-1
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ePub ISBN: 978-1-911193-78-4
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Readership

Government policy designers, public sector workers and managers, research academics and practitioners and, of course, kittens.


​The heretics in this second 'Kittens Are Evil' volume echo many themes from the first, including the critique of performance management that Cathy Hobbs describes as a long-term ‘distraction’ for those working in public services who lost the focus on the bigger picture. She prescribes slowing down and focussing on learning for improvement.
Richard Davis continues on this thread using examples from his career in consultancy of how managers consistently measure the wrong things. Challenges to the current system structures come from Catherine Needham and Steve Lock who call out professionals and organisations as barriers for change.
The thought-provoking chapter from Vince Richardson and Alan Peyton suggests that the government needs to take direct control of the money in the economy.
Another heretic in this vein is Jake Hayman who explains how charitable giving is broken as a result of the connection between mission and service delivery being lost in the race to evidence impact.
Also, on this theme, the chapter from Peter Wright uses the recent history of government public health policies around alcohol to claim that evidence isn’t enough to make policy, due to the dark interests in stopping us doing the right thing.
Finally, Mark Smith's dual heresy is the apparent paradox that standardisation of services is more costly than personalisation and that bespoke provision (not ‘one-stop shops’) is the way ahead if we are to reduce failure demand.

Reviews - read reviews of the first volume here


The Contributors

Anton Hemerijck is Professor of Political Science: European University Institute, Florence
Centennial Professor of Social Policy: LSE
Mark Smith is Director of Public Service Reform, Gateshead Council
Catherine Needham is Professor of Public Policy and Public Management, University of Birmingham 
Jake Hayman is CEO, Ten Years’ Time
Stephen Lock is Head of Business Intelligence, National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network
Peter Wright is Convenor, North East Public Health SkunkWorks
Vincent Richardson and Alan Peyton are Supporters of Positive Money
Catherine Hobbs has completed her doctoral research at the University of Hull on learning for systemic leadership in local governance networks.
​Richard Davis works for Vanguard Consulting.

The editors

Charlotte Pell is 'chief heretic' and founder of the Little Heresy series. She is a visiting fellow at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. She edited 'Delivering Public Services that Work: Volume 2' and Kittens Are Evil and has written for many blogs and other publications on public services.

Rob Wilson is professor at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University with research interests in measurement and performance in public management, co-creation and collaboration of services, data and information sharing in public services and public service reform.
​
Toby Lowe is Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership and Management at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. His aim is to help improve the funding, commissioning and performance management of social interventions across the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Jan Myers is Associate Professor in the Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University. Her research covers organisational behaviour and HR, and leadership, individual and organisational development. 

Related Titles

Kittens Are Evil (Vol 1)
The Whitehall Effect

Systems Thinking in the Public Sector
Intelligent Policing
Delivering Public Services: 
Case Studies - Volume 1 
Case Studies - Volume 2