Meet our speakers

Cllr Julie Simpson 

Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, co-vice chair of APSE’s Northern Region

Cllr Julie Simpson is co-vice chair of APSE’s northern region and a long-serving councillor on Gateshead council serving on the Care, Health & Wellbeing Overview Scrutiny Committee; the Communities Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and the Appeals Committee. Julie is passionate about local public services and is an experienced local government officer in addition to her role as a councillor. Julie has also held the role of Chair of APSE Facilities Management Advisory Group which works to primarily support the provision of school meals; a role which also sees APSE provide on-going secretariat support to the All-party Parliamentary Group on School Food.

Andy Mudd

Head of APSE Solutions

Andy Mudd is the Head of Solutions, the consultancy arm of APSE. The consultancy works with local government clients throughout the UK and across all service areas. APSE solutions also provides interim managers, drawing on a large pool of expertise. Andy joined APSE in 1999 as a Principal Advisor and before joining APSE, he played a role in the development of Best Value through leading Bradford's Best Value pilot and representing the pilot authorities on the then DETR's Best Value Steering Group. He holds a Master’s degree in social policy from the LSE and has worked in housing, social work, youth work and the voluntary sector. Contact Andy on [email protected].

Cllr Tracey Dixon 

South Tyneside Council, co-vice chair of APSE’s Northern Region

Cllr Dixon is the Lead member for Independence and Wellbeing on South Tyneside Council and is co-vice chair of APSE’sNorthern Region and an APSE Advisory Group chair.

Tracey is married with two children, and has had a career in hotel management before moving to support the development of a family restaurant business. Tracey has a keen interest in the needs of younger and older generations. She is also passionate about improving public services at a local level.

Anita Brown

Service Manager, Stockton-on-Tees Council

Anita has over 30 years’ service with Local Authority Direct Services and is currently Head of Catering & Building Cleaning at Stockton Borough Council, responsible for the provision of School Meals, Civic, Leisure Catering and Building Cleaning within the Authority. Anita began her career within Education in 1981 as a trainee School Cook. Having worked through the ranks in all areas she has been in her current post for 18 years. Her determination and experience have led the team to collect many accolades including the team being shortlisted for APSE Catering team of the year for the last 6 years, winning twice. Anita is responsible for around 500 employees, the biggest area being School Catering .

Derek McCallan

Chief Executive, NILGA

Derek McCallan has been Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association since April 2011.  Derek is responsible for advising / supporting the NILGA political leaders, Executive and 90 elected members, taking forward policy and legislation as the representative body of the 11 councils, this includes negotiations with central government departments and agencies. Derek represents NILGA within the Local Government Group as part of the UK/devolved assembly national body for councils and is contracted by various Departments fulfilling Strategic Migration, EU, Waste Management and other key services for the sector.

Derek is a graduate in Politics and English from Trinity College, Dublin, and enjoys walking, running, cycling, wine, cheese and Private Eye.

Professor Steven Griggs

Professor in Public Policy, De Montfort University 

Steven Griggs is Professor in Public Policy at De Montfort University where he is Director of the Local Governance Research Centre. Steven’s research investigates local democratic governance, the delivery of local services, and the mobilisation and evolution of community campaigns (with particular reference to the field of environmental politics). He has undertaken policy development work with a number of local authorities and public sector organisations, as well as undertaking national policy evaluations and contributing to senior management leadership programmes. He is currently participating in an ESRC comparative research study on the impact of austerity on cities and collaborative governance across eight countries. Steven was one of the founding editors of the international journal, Critical Policy Studies

Terry Collins

Chief Executive, Durham County Council

Terry Collins was appointed to the role of Chief Executive, Durham County Council in October 2015 having previously been Corporate Director with responsibility for Neighbourhood Services at the council. 

Terry is responsible for overseeing the management of the council, which has a gross expenditure budget of nearly £1.4b. Durham County Council is the largest council in the North East and the seventh largest in the UK. Terry is currently overseeing the economic development of County Durham, which has resulted in £3.8b of investment currently being delivered throughout the county. Terry has also been responsible for leading a transformation programme within the council, which has resulted in significant efficiency improvements. The council has delivered £250m of savings since 2010.

Despite austerity and rising demand for services the council continues to massively invest in culture and tourism with 2019 being designated as the council’s second year of culture. Events such as World Cup Cricket, Brass, Durham Book Festival, Kynren, Food festivals and Lumiere are being held which have attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to the county.

Bernie Pich

Assistant Director, Commercial Property, Wokingham Borough Council

Bernie joined Wokingham Borough Council in 2003, coming from the private sector, having spent some 25 years in the commercial construction industry, moving through the project management ranks to Operations Director level. He joined Wokingham as Head of Property managing wide ranging functions including assets, buildings and FM but has focused from 2009- 2018 solely on the Wokingham Town Regeneration programme, his town now for 25 years and one for which he passionately cares. Having invested so much time on this programme, with so many wonderful colleagues in Wokingham, it is fabulous to see the town being regenerated and fulfilling a key role within the community.

Bernie now has a wider role within Wokingham Borough Council which includes our recently adopted Property Investment Strategy together with management of all of the Council’s property  assets but maintains responsibility for the delivery of the town centre programme