In the current economic climate, public sector bodies are increasingly looking for solutions to cut costs and streamline operations and it is widely recognised that local authorities need to be able to respond flexibly to changing circumstances.

Successfully and correctly resourcing key departments like estates and property is more challenging than ever; departments may be less likely to want to be locked into long-term contracts with external providers or they may be holding back on making any strategic in-house appointments until there is more certainty about the economy.

Secondment can play a key role here – and it is for the long term, not just for the recession. It can provide a range of flexible resourcing solutions to cover any level or scope of operational need. As property adviser to over 70 public sector bodies and local authorities, Bruton Knowles has consistently championed the option of secondment to our wide public sector client base. Our three decades’ experience and understanding of the sector allows us to ease into any secondment role without a steep learning curve, bringing a mix of local authority expertise and private sector know-how. 

We have long been highlighting the benefits that secondment can bring, such as bringing in new perspectives and a fresh pair of eyes, expanding networks and helping with examples of best practice.  We believe secondment enables our public sector clients to benchmark their practices against that of a wide range of other authorities, learning best practice and innovations from us and from others.

We argue that secondments can help support and strengthen local authority/private sector partnership relationships for the future; they can be used as a tool to transfer expertise or specialist knowledge between both parties; and sharing resources through strategic business partnerships can also lead to more efficiencies and best practice.

And it works both ways. The public sector has a lead role in driving initiatives and innovations, such as sustainability, and private sector partners can pick up those pioneering tools and knowledge and help disseminate them even further across private and public sector organisations.

The secondment solution can provide cover for all levels of personnel and roles, from senior strategic appointments such as heads of property or asset management, to specialist surveyor positions and more junior resources to provide day-to-day support and administration. 

I have recently completed a post as Interim Estates Manager for Suffolk County Council where I held responsibility for day-to-day management of the estates department. During my tenure, one of my remits was to help integrate a new financial management system across the team. For this, I was able to leverage my wider management and financial experience  built up from working across a range of private and public sector departments for over two decades. 

I am currently seconded to the role of Interim Head of Strategic Asset Management for the City of Stoke-on-Trent with overall responsibility for in excess of 300 staff. The post is responsible for undertaking strategic reviews, developing asset management plans, overseeing statutory compliance, managing the City’s property data, and facilities management for the authority’s property assets. I will also be working with the authority to assist in finding a permanent candidate to appoint to this role.
 
A range of professionals from Bruton Knowles have been seconded to a raft of local authority roles, from covering specific periods of cover like maternity and paternity leave and filling in for long-term sick leave to assisting at a time when a department is assessing its resourcing needs. We have also offered a range of graduate placements to help with day-to-day workloads to ease peaks and troughs of service demand, and mentored local authority staff seeking a professional qualification.

Secondment not only enables local authorities to take on very flexible cover as and when they need it, but it also lets them tap into a readily available experience and knowledge – providing a quick, familiar and effective resource solution. Ian Mercer, partner at Bruton Knowles’ Wolverhampton office, was recently seconded to cover maternity leave in the property department at Wolverhampton City Council.

He has a good degree of understanding of how the local authority client team works and intrinsically knows what the needs of the estate are, what regeneration projects are under way or being driven, what wider development programme is being undertaken and what asset management objectives the council may have or need to adhere to. He is therefore able to provide quick and informed support rather than having a longer learning curve to go through.

As well as the professional experience that secondees can gain, it also feels like quite a privilege to be asked to join a team that you have worked with as an external consultant and to be able to support them more directly as their resourcing needs change.

To learn more about the secondment option, Angus Mylles can be contacted at Bruton Knowles on 01452 880109, via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.brutonknowles.co.uk