Background
Ralph is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years consulting experience, of which latterly most has been in the public sector. He has
advised a wide range of clients at a strategic level across a broad spectrum of management
issues including strategy development, financial management, organisational structures, management
development, information and communications technology strategy, and systems and process change. He has advised on a number of government funding schemes. His expertise, grounded in competent
financial understanding, extends to the use of IT-based systems and solutions.
Ralph has an in-depth understanding of the UK public sector and the changing environment in
which it operates. He has particularly strong knowledge of the education sector having served
on the Court of a University for eight years. He is a director of Riverside Inverclyde urban
regeneration company. He also has experience of the arts sector having served on the Board of
Scottish Youth Theatre for a number of years.
Both as a senior consultant with KPMG Management Consulting, where he qualified as a Certified Management Consultant,
and as an independent, Ralph has been involved in many strategic planning assignments involving public/private
sector and joint interests. He has considerable experience of conducting benchmarking and value for money
reviews. He has also carried out policy reviews, feasibility studies and company doctoring assignments,
encompassing the re-structuring of organisations and the management of change.
People
Training & Development
Victim Support Scotland
Managing change agenda at Victim Support Scotland, a charity charged with delivering a high
profile aspect of the Government’s justice policy in Scotland and which provides central shared
services for 32 local delivery charities. Following a quinquennial review by the Justice Department,
assisting the management team to plan and implement change proposals for staff and volunteers
across Scotland.
West of Scotland Loan Fund
Member of a team that developed and delivered a continuing
professional development programme for business advisers of the West of Scotland Loan Fund, a
collaborative venture between 12 local authorities in the West of Scotland.
IT/E-business
Strategy and Solutions
Scottish Executive (OGC SACS)
Project evaluation review of the Communities Scotland IT Convergence project. This project,
which was managed under Prince 2, involved extension of the Scottish Executive SCOTS network
and desktop to users in the Communities Scotland Executive Agency.
Project evaluation review of
the SCOTS 3 Technology Refresh project. This project, which was managed under Prince 2, involved
upgrading the software on over 8,000 SCOTS workstations and upgrading or replacing over 90
infrastructure servers across the Scottish Executive.
Scottish Police Information Strategy Group
Advised on the implications of SPIS plans for central and force IT functions.
UK Clearing Bank
For a UK clearing bank, business process re-engineering of its end-to end
desktop IT service, encompassing in-house and outsourced service elements.
Scottish Clearing Bank
Conducting a review against internal quality procedures of a runaway systems project within
the IT Services function of a Scottish clearing bank.
Public Sector
Strategy and Solutions
Lothian & Borders Criminal Justice Board
Evaluation of the Edinburgh Criminal Justice Project, which has taken a systems thinking
approach to the improvement of summary justice processes and procedures.
Scotland’s Colleges
Advised on the constitution and structure of the Chairs’ Forum within the new, merged
further education sector agency.
Fife Constabulary/Scottish Courts Service
Investigation of options for the provision of new joint custody facilities and Court complex,
including the possibility of partnership provision with other key stakeholders.
Violence Reduction Unit
Assisting this police organisation, which works on long term solutions for reducing violent
crime in Scotland in collaboration with other professionals, including social workers, health
experts, educationalists and academics, to implement the ValueMapping® performance management
approach and system to enable outcome rather than output based reporting of performance.
Borders College / Heriot-Watt University
Provision of independent advice and assistance in developing plans for shared
support services for the proposed co-location on the Netherdale campus as part
of a new inter-institutional model for delivery of Further and Higher Education
in the Scottish Borders.
Scottish Government
Member of a team (with DTZ Consulting & Research) carrying out research into
Accountability and Governance in Scottish FE colleges as part of the Review of
Scotland’s Colleges.
Inverclyde Council
Analysis of Building Services to assess readiness for transfer to a new RSL,
together with an appraisal of three principal options for the Council in
relation to the non-TUPE element of BS. Included assessment of how to
source support services post transfer. Production of an action plan and
subsequent provision of change project management resulting in the successful
delivery of performance improvement targets.
Scottish Executive
Leading a team reviewing the basis of allocation of Police GAE (funding) from
the Scottish Executive to the eight police forces in Scotland, which includes an
Activity Analysis project to determine the allocation of police time to various
workload categories across Scotland.
ACPOS
Review of the structure and operations of the Fingerprint Bureau and of the
organisation of fingerprint services in Scotland.
Appraised options for the rationalisation of forensic science provision in
the Scottish Police Service.
Home Office
Conducted a strategic review of forensic pathology services in England &
Wales. Facilitated consultation meetings involving practitioners and other
stakeholders in the police, coronial and criminal justice systems, and in higher
education. Investigated international comparators. Recommended a new
management structure for the service, a revised training framework and the
development of shared regional centres of excellence for service delivery.
Key recommendations were accepted in a ministerial statement made to the House
of Commons.
UK Higher Education Joint Costing & Pricing Steering Group
For the UK Higher Education Joint Costing & Pricing Steering Group, working
(with J M Consulting) on the research costing aspect of the Transparency and
Accountability Review to produce a system for HEIs to report the costs of
research activities.
NHS Trust and PFI/PPP Contractor
Facilitated a “Partnering Workshop” between a NHS Trust and its outsourced
‘hotel’ services contractor in a PFI/PPP unit in Inverness shortly after
commissioning to identify those aspects of the project that had worked well and
those where there was room for improvement, and to clarify risks.
Contact Ralph Leishman at Ralph.Leishman@4-consulting.com
