'Normal' no more

摘要

It would be an understatement to suggest that we were probably all wearily relieved to see the back of 2020. As we know, 2021 brought us another lockdown but also hope in the form of a vaccination programme that, whatever views we have on it, has now passed the 10 million stage. Having said that it would be undignified not to take a moment to pay our respects to the now over 100,000 people who have lost their lives to this dreadful virus in the UK alone. I have said this before and will say it again. The way local government has stood up, made a difference and rushed headlong towards the frontline without pausing to get hung up on the financial repercussions has made me incredibly proud to serve this sector. It is an era we will talk to our children and our grandchildren about and it is a watershed moment for the sector. Out of an immense human tragedy has emerged opportunity. Not just in the sense of shining a brilliant light on what the sector can be relied on to do but also in terms of this becoming a catalyst for change. Many, probably all, have enabled a seismic shift in how workforces can deliver remotely and on a genuinely agile basis in a way that might otherwise have taken years to achieve.