The first group of students have graduated from a course designed to bring a new style of management into the public sector.
Forty three trainees completed the Warwick Postgraduate Diploma in Local Government Management, which links the theory of management and the practice of management in the public sector.
Some 2,500 graduates applied for the 50 places on the first intake in September 2002.
The diploma is part of the national graduate development programme, designed by the Employers’ Organisation for local government. The course lasts two years and equates to a trainee graduate position in a local authority.
David Clark, director general of the Society of Local Government Chief Executives, said the diploma was one of the most important initiatives ever undertaken in local government.
“We have got the best young people for this programme. It will provide us with the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.
