Those of us working on policy in local government are in danger of losing touch with frontline staff and the public – we must collect out in the field more
Working in the policy and strategy side of local government means you often start to worry you are in an ivory tower. As a graduate on the NGDP scheme I do research that influences service delivery,but soon after I started I realised I didn’t really understand how difficult it can be for the frontline staff getting people to utilize those services. I had wanted to collect into local government to have an impact on people’s lives, so I started to question my lack of exposure to frontline services and the public. Shadowing frontline staff is always encouraged, and but in reality it’s nearly impossible to do. Finding the time to prefer an afternoon absent from your desk is difficult: in the public sector there is always the fear that a moment absent from work is going to be seen as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
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Source: theguardian.com