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2025 Cohort - session three – Leading Place Through Political and Investment Change 

Emma Gee, Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services at Reading Borough Council, reflects on session three of ADEPT’s PACE programme for Directors of Place and what it revealed about political change, partnership and the evolving demands of place leadership.

By the time we arrived at session three of the PACE programme, I was already feeling the benefit of having genuine space and time to think. The first two sessions had encouraged me to lift my head from the day to day and take a wider view of the patterns and changes shaping our places. Demographic shifts, new trends and behaviours, all playing out against a rapidly changing political backdrop.

That political context is perhaps the most challenging of all. There is the sense of a loss of trust in public institutions and, as local government leaders, we owe it to the residents and businesses we serve to listen carefully, learn constantly and respond to evolving expectations. The early sessions helped me to reflect not just on what is changing, but on our responsibility to lead through that change with integrity.

That learning has already influenced how I work. I have become much more intentional about creating time for reflection and focusing on outcomes rather than just activity. It has also reminded me to model being a little kinder to ourselves in this complex professional role. We do the best we can with the resources we have, alongside some of the most committed and motivated people in the public sector. The common thread across the PACE cohort is a deep commitment to putting residents and businesses first.

Session three expectations

Going into session three, my hope was to gain a better understanding of what our political and private sector partners really need from us as councils. I was also keen to explore how we can collectively shape a vision for place that people genuinely buy into, rather than one that simply looks good on paper.

One theme from the session was political change and, for me, it was the most powerful learning point of the entire programme. Our role in guiding, influencing and supporting first time administrations is absolutely critical. Some councils represented in the room are now operating in uncharted waters, particularly where there has been a shift to parties with little or no previous experience of local government.

Historically, when administrations changed, new leaders often had experience of opposition and at least some understanding of how councils work, how budgets are constructed and the breadth of services we deliver. That may no longer be the case. In this environment, strong leadership becomes essential, not just to support our staff and members, but to maintain service delivery for residents and businesses during periods of uncertainty and change.

Investment and application

Another key focus was inward investment, and a simple but important truth emerged, that investors buy into people as much as they buy into places. Contracts and legal frameworks matter, but it is trust and relationships that sustain partnerships over the ten to fifteen years of a regeneration scheme. When times get tough, it is those relationships that provide the ‘credit in the bank’.

The PACE programme has helped me reframe how I see my role and my team. Operational delivery will always be vital, but if we as Directors of Place do not also look ahead, innovate and learn from best practice, our ability to deliver resilient services will be diminished. The programme has given me permission to zoom back out and focus on the strategic needs of the role during politically tumultuous and financially challenging times.

Throughout the PACE 2025 programme, the locations we visited added texture and, at times, humour to the learning. The second session in Cardiff will live long in the memory, not least because almost all of us managed to get lost trying to find the arena entrance hidden in a car park. For all its scale and presence, that felt like a salient lesson in place shaping and urban design!

On the other hand, standing in a conference room at the top of The Gherkin in London reminded me what visionary design can achieve, and Cambridge, with its ancient courtyards and calm facades, could never disappoint.

Applying the learning from PACE

Looking ahead, I intend to take my learning from the PACE programme forward through coaching and working with key teams to anticipate trends rather than simply react to them. I also want to continue reframing how we work with investors and developers, seeing them as partners in place rather than purely extractive forces to be controlled.

For anyone considering embarking on the PACE programme, my advice is simple, do it. It is vital time out with peers, a chance to discuss the big issues honestly and to feel supported. I have met people I will continue to learn from and support throughout my career. 

ADEPT and Amey have real pull in bringing in genuinely interesting and heavyweight speakers. PACE is not just about learning, it is about perspective, connection and confidence in our collective ability to lead our people and places through whatever comes next.

Further information

• This joint venture between ADEPT and Amey is designed to provide thought leaders with the space to find strategic solutions that are Pioneering, Action-orientated, Creative and Entrepreneurial (PACE). Designed exclusively for place directors and senior leadership, two of the fundamental principles behind PACE is to influence the future of place-focused strategies and support place leaders in driving change.
• Session summaries are available from the main PACE page on the ADEPT website.
• Session 3 film

Other resources 

• PACE - The Place Leaders Programme: www.adeptnet.org.uk/pace
• Amey: www.amey.co.uk
• You can find summaries from previous cohorts of the PACE programme here

Author

Emma Gee is Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services for Reading Borough Council.