Latest Conferences from Policy Review TV

Local Government and Devolution

Fri, 22 May 2015 00:00:00 BST

Stimulate your thinking and planning and review your assumptions about government policy. This programme can be listened to as a continuous streamed podcast.

Supported by:

Delivering Services and Facilities for Gypsies and Travellers

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 00:00:00 BST

This is a one day conference for local authority officers, public health officials, education and housing authorities and police and community groups working with and representing Gypsies and Travellers.

Now in its 11th year, this event is for all those working in Gypsy and Traveller services to explore emerging trends, hear the latest policy and share best practice.

This conference will examine how services and facilities for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma can evolve and respond to developments in the sector. Particularly it will discuss changes to benefits, employment law and education budgets; access to health services and a new public health agenda; plus the work of policing, enforcement and criminal justice services.

As the new planning needs assessments are built up for 2013 this online event will look at feedback from these and aim to help identify key dilemmas to tackle.

Local Accountability & Governance

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Get insider briefings, discover what works, get key strategic insights and view specialist sessions relevant to your work

Watch the conference online.

The Future of Local Government Audit

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, has announced plans to disband the Audit Commission. The intention is to have new arrangements in place for auditing England's local public bodies by 2012/13. What will this mean for councils and accountability? What will it mean for local government audit? How will the landscape change? Sector leaders and audit experts at this conference explored best practice and provided vital solutions to those working within local government finance and audit.

The Power of Local Government

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 BST

To achieve more with less, local authorities are now looking to identify new ways to make use of the power of general competence, freedom to innovate, and the ability to combine to create flexible financially-viable solutions for their localities.

Local government needs to adjust to the powers that localism gives them, learn how to mobilise new revenue streams, make the most of assets, use their procurement power more commercially, transfer risk over longer periods, recognise human capital and in some cases strategically reorganise. Lessons learned from previous recessions are also invaluable at this juncture, as are the models of best practice that are being employed by other local authorities and their partners.

This conference will challenge and inspire local authorities and partners by bringing together the most innovative leaders from the sector to share their unique approaches, and respond to the government’s new financial settlement.

The Work Programme

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 BST

The Work Programme, announced within the 2010 Spending Review, is set to replace the current Welfare to Work Agenda - emphasising the need for tailored support. The Work Programme contracts will be worth between £3-5bn over seven years and organisations will be paid using the benefit savings made from getting people into work.

It is hoped that these initiatives will support more than one million people back into work

The benefits of tackling worklessness are endless, including reducing poverty, supporting the most vulnerable and breaking the cycle of benefit dependency. That said, the implementation of drastic policy developments are likely to create as much doubt as excitement especially around equality of access, customer care, accessing contracts and effective partnership working.

This conference will provide you the opportunity to hear from sector leaders, government and academics who will provide analysis and best practice examples in implementing, accessing and overcoming the potential opportunities and hurdles of the Work Programme.

The MJ and Pitney Bowes Business Insight Roundtable

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 BST

Chaired by Michael Burton, editor of The MJ, this discussion provided the opportunity to discuss the different approaches local authorities are taking to cuts, and unique factors that drive these approaches.

Held at the 2011 SOLACE conference in Edinburgh, chief executive participants discussed:

How the financial year 2011/12 has developed
The prognosis for 2012/13
Early indications of how the 2013/14 year might turn out financially

Mike Burton said: "As we approach the budget-setting season, this discussion will be of highly topical interest to all chief executives and senior managers. Our panel of distinguished chief executives looked at the what has occurred to budgets in the current financial year and discussed the likely pattern of budgets from their perspective for 2012/13 and in particular 2013/14."

Implications of the riots for community organising

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 BST

This live broadcast roundtable event discussed the range of implications and connections between the recent riots and the Community Organiser programme.

Locality has identified that their response needs to be immediate, meanwhile and for the long term. The discussion includes questions about the role of community organisers in preventing further violence, in providing immediate succour to those affected, in supporting businesses and residents to utilise meanwhile resources and in the long-term rebuilding of communities and local economies.

The Locality Learning & Evaluation Adviser said:
"Leaving aside the ‘sheer criminal elements and opportunistic thieving’, insofar as this reflects or reveals pent-up frustration, a sense of hopelessness in the future and not being listened to or having a voice, the CO programme is crucial to finding a positive way forward – helping local communities analyse their situations and build local power to make change happen. The community clear-up responses, and the demonstrations of pride and concern in local neighbourhoods, demonstrate how much potential there is to tap into. In an odd way, the riots provide a huge incentive for people to engage with the CO process based on the need to listen and understand more deeply and to find solutions from within as well as from outside local communities."

Seaside Towns Economic Partnership Roundtable

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 BST

	Part of a series of roundtable discussions hosted by Locality. This event on 22^nd August 2011 brought together the partners developing a Seaside Towns Economic Partnership (STEP) with a group of critical friends to debate the viability, scope and structure of a vehicle to generate investment in British seaside towns.
The STEP is a collaboration of seaside towns focused on investment and skillsharing to bring a new and unique offer that can realise social and economic gains for seaside towns.

The ‘leap of faith’ underpinning the STEP is that seaside towns have great value, yet to be unlocked. With the appropriate mechanisms, investment and re-investment will enable seaside towns to release and capture that latent value. A key feature is that the investment will be directed by those with knowledge of seaside towns, sharing profit with seaside towns for re-investment, while spreading skills and the capacity to capitalise on that investment, raising the profile both politically and across new visitor, resident and business markets.

Download Seaside Towns Economic Partnership (STEP) briefing
Download Coastal Towns’ CLG Committee 2006-7
Download Review of Issues & Evidence Fothergill 2007
Download Government Response to Coastal Towns Report May 2007
Download Update note on Coastal Towns’ CLG Committee 2010
Download An Asset and a Challenge’ English Heritage Oct 2007
Download Coastal Regeneration Handbook’ CCA 2010
Download England’s Smaller Seaside Towns: A Benchmarking Study’ March 2011
Download Seaside Resorts Action Plan

To find out more visit: www.seasidetowns.org

Localism promoting collaboration: Redefining LSPs from the ground up

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:00:00 BST

This conference was a must-attend for anyone involved in the delivery and implementation of effective local partnerships. Attendees had the opportunity to explore new legislation, best practice in partnership delivery and shared services.

The Future of Library Services in the Big Society

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 BST

This conference brought together senior-level library and information management professionals from local authorities and the wider cultural sector in order to discuss emerging policy issues and share best practice from across the country.

Commissioning in Social Enterprise: Breakfast Briefing

Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 BST

This breakfast seminar provided an opportunity to discuss and debate effective commissioning strategies in light of public sector reform. More specifically, the issues of payment by result, competition law and promoting equality in bids were addressed.

Employee Mutuals

Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 BST

This conference provided an opportunity to find out the determining issues for the successful formulation of employee mutuals either as a stand alone enterprise or part of a wider social enterprise.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Tue, 24 May 2011 00:00:00 BST

This conference brought together council leaders and directors of economic development, learning and social policy with leaders from local commerce and industry to discuss emerging national policy and local good practice around sub-regional working.

Social Enterprise, Mutuals and Spinning Out: A Guide in Finance

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:00 BST

Finance, procurement, and commissioning teams may already have experience of working with mutuals or social enterprise; many charities and professional organisations operate under this status so the typical finance director may be familiar with their structure and modus operandi.

Under the new environment there will be significant growth of new organisations with a social purpose, some of which may be formed by existing public servants forming a mutual with the aim of providing services in an innovative way. This is a recognised way of engaging staff in the ownership of change and innovation, and avoiding the polarisation and ‘value destruction’ that characterised reforms in the 80s.

Many newly formed organisations will have hybrid characteristics and Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, has cleared the way for private capital, commercial managers, assets and sales to feature in the formation of new delivery organisations. In many cases the parent public body will keep a strong interest, share or asset in the enterprise or mutual.

How do you establish such a structure, raise funds, and use assets, while also creating an organisation with genuine autonomy to innovate and deliver services but which protects the parent body from liabilities?

How do you define and negotiate failure regimes in the event that the enterprise is not sustainable but the commissioning organisation retains a statutory responsible for the provision of the service it was delivering? This conference and TV broadcast addressed these issues while showcasing best practice examples and models from throughout the UK.

New MONEY for COUNCILS

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This conference provided senior level local government officials the opportunity to hear new and innovative ideas from the most entrepreneurial councils who shared best practice in delivering new service models, managing assets and taking new revenue opportunities.

Delivering Services for Gypsies and Travellers

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

As some light is shed on the likely impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review new challenges and opportunities are exposed.

Amongst them, sector professionals need to look at the impact of the suspension of Gypsy and Traveller site grants, the New Homes Bonus, the Localism Bill, The National Planning Framework, the 2011 census and how the new welfare announcements will affect worklessness amongst Gypsy and Traveller Communities.

As well as looking at the impact of new legislation, delegates had the opportunity to hear best practice examples on working with victims of domestic violence, dealing with conflict and engaging with Gypsy and Traveller communities to deliver vital services. Now in its ninth year, this was the national conference for all those working in Gypsy and Traveller services to explore emerging trends, hear the latest policy and share best practice.

Initiating Mutuals & Social Enterprises

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This conference and TV programme was put together with the leading organisations working in the field and is the first in a series which gives delegates the opportunity to hear from sector leaders, academics and government who will explore best practice in leadership, finance, service models, governance and legal proprieties.

This was a ‘must attend’ event for councils considering commissioning or venturing into social enterprise either through mutuals, cooperatives, spin-outs or employee owned business models. The presentations contribute to an expert resource bank for use across public services.

Community Based Budgeting

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Strategically timed for just before the inception of the 16 community budget pilots, this conference built on experience of what works - and what doesn’t - while setting out the future of community based budgeting. Delegates had the opportunity to hear from sector leaders, academics and the Government who informed on best practice and future policy developments.

Local Government Behaviour Change

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This conference brought together sector leaders to explore the future role of behaviour change to increase productivity, deal with budget cuts, facilitate partnership working and, most importantly, look to new measures to communicate both internally and externally to ensure we all achieve the ‘Big Society’.

The Future of Transparency in Local Government

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We would like to thank the sponsor of today's broadcast:

This conference, strategically timed for just before the January 2011 deadline, looked to the future of transparency in local government to assess the opportunities and barriers. Delegates had the opportunity to hear from sector leaders, academics and the Government who will inform on best practice and future policy developments.

Breakthrough services in Local Government

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This conference shed light on how local public service organisations are redesigning services and offered practical advice for senior managers who are leading change.

Public Services Summit

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This summit discussed the political and economic landscape post spending review and assessed the opportunities for re-fashioning public services along the lines proposed by the 2020 Public Services Commission.

Tackling Worklessness through Local Partnerships

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 BST

This conference brought together local authorities and key partners to discuss the shifting policy landscape and share good practice around raising skills, boosting ambition and overcoming barriers to work for communities.

Local and Regional Enterprise Partnerships

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:00:00 BST

Social Enterprise and Public Service Reform

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 00:00:00 BST

This national conference looked at the opportunities and implications of the “right to request” and the “right to bid” out different business and delivery models being adapted and implemented by local authorities and health service providers.

Reform: Can Cannock Cope?

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:00:00 BST

The Coalition Government has committed to the biggest cost-cutting programme in living memory in order to eliminate the structural deficit within the term of this Parliament. How will local regions respond to national spending cuts? This event provided an opportunity to have a say about the future of Cannock Chase and how to get more in a time of less.

Speakers:

Philip Atkins, Leader, Staffordshire County Council
Nick Bosanquet, Professor of Public Policy, Imperial College London and Consultant Director, Reform
Aidan Burley MP, Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase
Sheila Brown OBE, Founder, Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children
Stephen Brown, CEO, Cannock Chase District Council
Mark Ellse, Principal, Chase Academy
Dr Lynne Hulme, Cannock Chase Consortium Commission
John McTernan, former Political Secretary to Tony Blair
Douglas Paxton, Deputy Chief Constable, Staffordshire Police
Stuart Poynor, CEO, South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust Charles
Fred Pritchard, Director, Pritchard & Associates Ltd

Autumn of Decision - Local Government

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:00:00 BST

An evening reception and live broadcast discussion on the outlook for the local government sector including the 20th October announcements, legislation and reform.

Discussions were led by the following distinguished panel of leading local government policy makers and commentators:

John Atkinson, Managing Director, Local Government Leadership
Steve Freer, Chief Executive, CIPFA
Nita Clarke, Director, IPA

Local Strategic Partnerships

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:00:00 BST

This event provided one of the first opportunities post-election to discuss, debate and benchmark the evolving roles of Local Strategic Partnerships.

Re-modelling Library Services

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 BST

The Future for Local Government

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 BST

As the first major post-election overview of local government, this conference provided vital information and insider perspectives on the financial challenges and opportunities ahead.

Community Consultation

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 BST

This conference examined the implications of “Total Place” and the new movements of localism for consultations, outlining how separate public bodies can consult together.

Delivering Services for Gypsies and Travellers

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This conference, developed in partnership with the National Association of Gypsy and Traveller Officers, attempted to answer some challenging questions and assist local authorities and partners having to make tough decisions about where to allocate sparse resources.

Welfare to Work

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This conference advised local authorities, jobcentres, social enterprises and public bodies on the likely direction of government policy in this area and shared best practice around the contracting and delivery of welfare to work.

TOTAL PLACE

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The second in the series, this conference, held in association with The MJ, Leadership Centre for Local Government and Communities and Local Government looked at the latest developments in total place agenda.

Read: 'The lessons so far from the Total Place pilots'

Comprehensive Area Assessments

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This conference helped local authorities and partners to integrate citizen-backed evidencing of CAA outcomes into their daily operations in order to improve performance and reduce unnecessary inspection.

Tackling Worklessness through Local Partnerships

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This conference brought together local authorities and key partners to share strategy and best practice in driving forward the Government’s worklessness agenda at the local level.

Local Better Regulation Office

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This conference brought together local authorities and regulators to discuss the future of regulation.

Transforming Public Services

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This conference brought together representatives from the public, private and third sectors to discuss the Government's latest strategies on modernising public services through transformational change.

Creating Social Enterprises

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 BST

An important and timely one day conference for local government and health leaders charged with developing and working with social enterprise relationships to deliver public service outcomes.

Local Area Agreements

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 BST

Delegates heard from best practice and learned how to demonstrate that their Local Area Agreements are effective.

Re-Skilling for Recovery in your Region

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 BST

This conference brought together representatives from across the learning and skills, local authority and regional development sectors to set out how regional partnerships must work together to lift the UK’s regions out of recession.

Total Place

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 BST

Public services must accelerate how well they are working together. Public spending melt down and increased expectations from citizens are combining to change the way public services are delivered. This change must happen at a local level. This conference, in partnership with The MJ, brought together the senior managers from across local areas that are tasked with making this happen.

Promoting Local Democracy

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:00:00 BST

This conference brought together central government, local government and partners to learn how to involve communities in local decision making, and reconnect them with the democratic process.

Local Strategic Partnerships

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 BST

This seminal conference addressed critical issues such as how LSPs can have their say at the regional level, LAA delivery across two tiers, place shaping, performance management and private/transport sector involvement. The event provided local authorities and their partners with valuable policy insights.

Delivering Services for Gypsies and Travellers

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 BST

This event examined the pressing issues facing those responsible for developing services for Gypsies and Travellers. Delegates were brought up to speed on policy and the responsibilities of the new Homes and Communities Agency, as well as the latest thinking around conflict resolution, capacity building and site design good practice.

A new approach to local regeneration and economic development

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 BST

Bringing together chief executives and senior regeneration managers from local authorities, regional development agencies, the private sector and other stakeholders, this conference provided an update on the direction of the Government’s regeneration and local economic development policy and allowed delegates to share their experiences of regeneration in a recession. Keynote speaker: Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government and Mike Ward, Chief Executive, British Urban Regeneration Association. Links:

Community Consultation 2009

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This event enabled delegates from across local authorities, health, police and associated stakeholders to come together to discuss and understand the latest developments around engaging with local communites. Over half of local authorities have selected ‘Community Engagements’ as a priority within their Local Area Agreement. Feedback from the Comprehensive Area Assessment consultation indicates that priorities will be assessed by how well they are underpinned by the communities’ wants and needs, in the area assessment from November 2009. This will not solely be looking at local authorities, but how well all public agencies in an area consult. As involving, informing and consulting with our communities moves higher up the agenda, resources are becoming ever more constrained. This conference not only examined how to best consult, but how to do so effectively and efficiently with best practice case studies demonstrating where this is already happening.

Using Local Powers to Drive Local Economies

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pioneering local authorities have refused to be downtrodden by the impacts of the current economic downturn. Several have adopted forms of economic activism and municipal innovation and the Government is promising to extend further powers to support this initiative. Necessity and a growing political consensus for more local devolution and accountability are combining to throw up new ideas for driving economic recovery, increasing choice, improving efficiency and not just surviving but thriving in a new era. This conference examined how to use the existing Well Being Powers and exploit the new powers of local decision making set out in the pre-budget report and the new Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill. Delegates heard from leading strategists and municipal innovators how to provide value for money and choice for citizens whilst streamlining services and driving economic recovery. The conference looked at groundbreaking approaches to using the Well Being Power, municipal banks, privatisation, shared services, reorganisation, procurement and sub-regional working.

The New Comprehensive Area Assessment

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Audit Commission published the new Framework for the CAA in February 2009, ready to be put in to practice in April. Held by The MJ, with support from the Improvement and Development Agency, this national conference brought together key players across local government to discuss progress, opportunities and challenges in the lead up to the implementation of the CAA, whilst providing a forum for delegates to begin to understand their relationship with the new assessment framework. Delegates were able to discuss the CAA framework and presentations from senior politicians, experienced practitioners and leading commentators examined how the CAA will fulfil its promises to be more relevant to local people, to develop a shared view about the challenges facing an area and to create a more joined up and proportionate approach to public service regulation.