Remembering Tom Hinds - architect of local management of schools

Tom Hinds was singular, however you may choose to define it. 

An imposing physical presence; an incisive intellect; creatively meticulous; having a prodigiously effective work capacity; boundary pushing; bar-raising; expecting commitment; self-analytical in practice; modelling reflective practice to enable effective collaboration; encouraging considered risk; analytical when outcomes went awry. 

In the mid-eighties when I encountered him as the senior leader in Cambridgeshire Local Authority (LA), responsible for orientation of new employees, he was everything that was unstereotypical of people’s understanding of a local government officer. 

In fact my encounter prior to making the move from the London Borough of Ealing to Cambridgeshire set the tone for our continuing relationship. During a Society of Education Officers meeting, hosted by Ealing, my then line manager suggested to Tom that as a valued member of his team, Cambridgeshire should look after me. Tom clearly and directly responded that I was responsible for myself and should be creating and managing my own path. 

Tom modelled that formidable expectation of being personally accountable, which I learned as he later became my direct line manager, matched with extraordinary levels of enabling to promote properly evaluated risk. Tom was after all the creative, enabling architect of Local Financial Management of Schools, the ground-breaking relationship-changer between schools and LAs which after 1988 Education Reform Act, became Local Management of Schools, entrusting all aspects of leadership and management of school purpose and function to schools and their governing bodies, away from the centralised determination of the LA. 

This was a profound culture change from government to the classroom, requiring large imagination and meticulous planning to introduce. His ability to question relationships, structures, roles and responsibilities and to creatively enquire, what if around all that been held sacrosanct led him into innovation which coloured national practice – everything we now take for granted around leadership and governance principles. 

What I found so refreshing about Tom’s practice was his understanding that messy play was an inherent part of unpicking the status quo in order to find different ways to work and problem-solve. As a primary trained teacher early in my professional heritage this struck a chord and as we collaborated on creating entirely new models to update the education workforce through in-service training, we were in tune with a concept of modelling the process as equally important as identifying the outcomes for the future. 

All I learned from him in this concentrated period, set me up for a career of innovative leadership within children’s services, in LAs or the charitable sector. His impact for me has been lifelong. Tom moved into leadership of London Borough of Hillingdon Local Education Authority following a period within the chief executive’s team in Cambridgeshire. After concluding his work with Hillingdon, his enquiring mind, seeking development and improvement wherever it alighted focused on Samaritans, local churches, The Windsor Homeless Project and, I have no doubt many other programmes of which I am not personally aware. His capacity for spiritual enquiry led our paths to cross again purposefully, beyond friendship, through his study of The Enneagram. At our last meeting, his curiosity and enquiry about my next life plans leave me with questions that will never cease to fuel my own reflection; I have been blessed by his professionalism, leadership, care and friendship. Unique Tom.

Tom Hinds is survived by his wife Susan; four children by his first marriage (Jane, Diana, Frank and Sarah) and eight grandchildren.

Vikki Lant is a friend and colleague of Tom Hinds who has previously worked across education and care services for Cambridgeshire County Council, Together for Children and Barnardo's.