Paul Clarke started his career as a 16-year-old apprentice at Blackpool Council, spending a total of 14 years there. Paul was Deputy Section 151, leading on the insourcing of the Finance team in Barnet. Now at Islington, where he has been for the past four years, Paul is the Director of Finance. Paul’s passions lay in developing the finance workforce and strengthening financial management.

We sat down with Paul in January 2025 to discuss his career journey so far and where he believes the future of finance is heading.

Hi, Paul! Thanks for joining us today. Can you kick us off by describing your career journey to date? 

My career began as an apprentice at Blackpool Council, straight out of school, even before I had my GCSE results. My boss was so supportive that he drove me to school to get my results! During my time there, I completed my CIPFA qualification, having worked my way up through AAT. I spent 14 years at Blackpool Council, gaining invaluable skills, training and experience. This has made me a strong advocate for the apprentice route into a career. 

After a great stint, I moved to Oldham. This move was pivotal as it allowed me to build my network and meet some influential people. Oldham was aiming for Council of the Year and had made significant improvements with top talent in the organisation. This experience broadened my network and made me more aware of how I could strengthen my impact on an organisation through those connections. 

Next, I moved to London and joined Westminster in a finance role that covered workforce, projects, and continuous improvement. It was more of a change role, different from my previous positions as a Finance Business Partner. It provided me with valuable change management skills. 

My next role was at Barnet, where I really used these change management skills. This was my first corporate role, leading on budgets and managing the Capita contract until the service was insourced. My job involved building the finance service from scratch, which was a fantastic learning experience. I interviewed people up and down the structure and got a deep understanding of our core processes, which was the best education. 

Now I am at Islington with a broader remit. My role is Director of Finance, with some related functions such as Corporate Performance and Pensions Administration. Islington has a strong mission driven by fairness and social equality and everything we do has a direct impact on residents, which is what I enjoy most about the role. The team here has big ambitions, and there are continuous challenges that keep me motivated, such as replacing our finance system and incorporating AI. 

What are the current challenges in local government finance for you and your organisation? 

One of the biggest challenges we face is the rising cost of Temporary Accommodation (TA) with a £12-15m year-on-year increase. This issue could drive many local authorities to bankruptcy over a very short space of time. With so many London Boroughs seeking Exceptional Financial Support this year, TA will have been a primary cause for many. 

Social care remains a significant challenge, consuming 70% of the budget. The ageing population is not being fully replaced by working-age adults, creating an unsustainable economic situation. The long-term solution remains unclear.  

The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) as a self-financing model is also questionable now. Rent constraints and construction inflation have made it difficult to fully fund property maintenance over its full life cycle. There needs to be a national conversation about the consequences of not investing in that housing infrastructure and the very real impact it has on our resident’s lives. 

There needs to be a national conversation about the consequences of not investing in that housing infrastructure and the very real impact it has on our resident’s lives. 

Despite these challenges, I remain optimistic. Real change comes from policies and decisions. For example, the TA problem is a perfect storm of multiple policy impacts that have led the supply side to contract and demand to increase. Medium-term policy changes could start to shift this, improving the overall financial picture for local authorities significantly. 

Properly using technology could also be transformational. Local authorities generally use basic forms of assistive technology, but we could use tech to identify patterns and behaviours, automatically trigger referrals, or to make the care system more efficient. In local government, we just need the vision, and there will be someone out there who can deliver it! 

How do you see the role of the finance leader in local government today?

A finance leader must have a deep understanding of the needs of our residents and of the services we provide to them as well as a solid grip on the financial strategy. Focusing solely on the bottom line can make one risk-averse, more reactionary and less visionary. Bringing people along is vital – success is more easily achieved through interactions with people and influencing others than issuing the threat of our ‘statutory responsibilities’.  

Focusing solely on the bottom line can make one risk-averse, more reactionary and less visionary.

Upskilling our staff to understand our new risk environment is also essential. The job is completely different to when I entered the sector so learning how to lead change well is a prerequisite. 

And how well equipped for the future is your wider team?

Filling specific and technical roles, like putting together the accounts, is challenging. I have a good and resilient team in this area, but this is not always the case. A lack of sector-wide training programs and meaningful succession planning at all levels has led to a lack of resilience across local authorities. It’s important that we think system-wide to break the cycle of acting in competition for scarce resources in the jobs market. 

Finally, what advice would you give someone entering local government finance at the start of their career? 

Stick close to good managers, especially early in your career; those who are willing to experiment, give you challenging work, and invest in your development. There is nothing more important and impactful on your career than a good coach. If you don’t find that, move on, as the early years are crucial to shaping your attitude towards work. As you’re learning your trade, exposure and experience beats chasing pay rises, any day! 

Stick close to good managers, especially early in your career