National Conference 2021 Agenda

From 18.45, please join us in the London Suite where the exhibitors opening takes place. A chance to grab a drink and network with fellow colleagues and our commercial partners, who are glad to be back supporting our in-person events. 

Join Linda Larter MBE FSLCC who invites you to wear something pink in support of her two charities – Breast Cancer Now and Mencap. Our annual Charity Raffle will also be drawn this evening, our team will be available selling raffle tickets for these extremely worthwhile charities. Dinner will be served in the Paris Suite at 19.30.

Keynote Session
The Rt Hon. The Lord Blunkett

Hear David’s incredible life story at National Conference 2021.

Growing up in poverty, David’s circumstances were made even tougher when at the age of twelve he lost his father in a work accident. Rejecting the dismissal of many, and with the help of evening classes and day release from work, he entered the University of Sheffield and went on to become the youngest ever councillor in the city.

Lord Blunkett has served in public life for over 40 years. From leader of England’s fourth largest city, to Home Secretary at the time of 9/11, he has taken on some of the most challenging roles in politics. Few senior politicians have experienced quite so many ups and downs, and none have achieved high office having been blind since birth.

One-to-One Advice

Book a face-to-face appointment with our expert advisory team to discuss your professional queries.

Helping Parish & Town Councils Access Apprenticeships
Jamie Saddler, Senior Adviser (Workforce) & Apprenticeships Adviser, Local Government Association (LGA)

Join LGA Apprenticeships Adviser, Jamie Saddler, to discover how apprenticeships can help your council fill skill gaps and bring new resource into your workforce.

The session will cover:

What is the apprenticeship levy?
Brief overview of the Government’s reforms
What apprenticeships might work best in parish and town councils
How to access funding – from co-investment with Government to receiving levy transfers from other employers

Jamie is the LGA’s Apprenticeships Adviser and a Senior Adviser in the Workforce Team. In this role, Jamie leads on the delivery of the LGA’s National Apprenticeship Programme, providing advice, guidance and practical support to help councils deliver more apprenticeship starts year on year, meet their challenges and deliver on their apprenticeship priorities. Jamie joined the LGA from London Councils where he was a Principal Policy Officer leading on skills and apprenticeships. Prior to that he worked in Parliament for eight years in a number of roles including as Political Adviser to Local Government Minister, Andrew Stunell, and as Head of the Parliamentary Support Team.

@jamiesaddler

@LGAWorkforce

It’s Not Me, It’s You!
Becky Walsh, Personal Power Specialist, Beckywalsh.com

Becky Walsh is a one-woman radical reinventor of personal development. This talk on mental and emotional health resilience is being performed in the style of stand-up comedy. Come to learn new skills and laugh whilst doing so.

Becky Walsh has worked in theatre for fifteen of years, she is a speaker and comedian herself and she works with the globally renowned TEDx conferences helping speakers create dynamic talk scripts. She also works as a Communications Officer for Weston-super-Mare Town Council.

@beckywalshcom

One-to-One Advice

Book a face-to-face appointment with our expert advisory team to discuss your professional queries.

Career Guidance – NEW for 2021

Discuss your career goals with Karen Hawkes FSLCC, Clerk to South Woodham Ferrers Town Council, who will help you identify the knowledge, information, skills, and experience necessary to succeed. Suitable for officers at any stage of their career.

Connecting Communities
Deana Wildgoose, THINK FC

How might you connect in your community ? What do people most love about their area? Who might you play Community Asset Bingo with, and why might you want to play it? If you are interested in exploring the answers to these questions you’ll enjoy this presentation.

Deana Wildgoose from THINK FC will share the story of Coalville C.A.N. (Communities and Neighbours). An insight into why, how, what has happened so far and what the future plans are for working collaboratively in Coalville, bringing people together to create positive action and to create community wealth through local ownership of significant assets.

This interactive session will provide you with the tools to use in your community.

@DeanaWildgoose

@THINKFCCIC

Lighting to Fulfil your Climate Emergency Goals
Katherine Owen & Garry Brown, Blachere Illumination

Join the National Conference sponsor, Blachere Illumination, as they introduce the NEW range of eco-friendly lighting options and a Summer range designed specifically from feedback received from local council clerks across the country. The tailor-made designs will help your council tackle the Climate Emergency by providing recyclable and biodegradable solutions. Join the largest supplier of festive lighting in the UK for this informative session to ensure your council are doing their part to protect our planet and safeguard the future for everyone.

One-to-One Advice

Book a face-to-face appointment with our expert advisory team to discuss your professional queries.

Career Guidance – NEW for 2021

Discuss your career goals with Karen Hawkes FSLCC, Clerk to South Woodham Ferrers Town Council, who will help you identify the knowledge, information, skills, and experience necessary to succeed. Suitable for officers at any stage of their career.

Councils at the Heart of Future Communities
Sue Baxter, Chairman, National Association of Local Councils (NALC)

In this conference session, Cllr Sue Baxter will reflect on her four years as the first ever female chair of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and set out what still needs to be done to ensure local councils are relevant to the future of communities.

Cllr Baxter was elected as NALC’s first female chairman in December 2016. Sue is Chairman of Wythall Parish Council and a member of neighbouring Alvechurch Parish Council, both in Worcestershire. Sue is also an independent member of Bromsgrove District Council. She believes that local people understand the needs of their area best and by making decisions about the services they value, they can build stronger and thriving communities.

@suejbaxter

@NALC

One-to-One Advice

Book a face-to-face appointment with our expert advisory team to discuss your professional queries.

Our drinks reception will take place in the Rotunda at 19.00, and the dress code is Black Tie & Posh Frocks! (Lounge suits acceptable). Dinner will be served in the Paris Suite at 19.30.

Freedom of Information Requests – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Jonathan Goolden, Partner & Emma Hastings-Bray, Regulatory Solicitor for Wilkin Chapman LLP

Join this session to discover:

• An explanation of freedom of information requests and the regulatory framework
• A review of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 – what is and isn’t covered and timescales for responding to a request
• How you should approach a request – the different types of requests such as vexatious requests and exemptions contained within the Act
• Practical steps for handling requests

Jonathan is a highly experienced regulatory and public sector lawyer and former senior manager. Together with his team of experienced former police and local government officers, he has investigated and led a large number of reviews of complex and politically high profile cases of alleged misconduct in the public sector. Jonathan advises a range of commercial and public sector bodies on information governance, including data protection and information security and is a member of the Humber Business Resilience Forum.

Emma is a solicitor advising on regulatory law, and has particular focus on data protection. She regularly advises a range of clients from organisations, businesses to multi academy trusts on a wide range of data protection issues ranging from information requests such as FOI to advising on policies and procedures.

@WCllpSolicitors

Engaging with Principal Authorities to Facilitate Devolution
Philip Clifford, Senior Advisor, Local Government Association (LGA)

In the context of the Government’s commitment to Level Up communities across the country this session provides a practical overview of the steps town and parish councils can take to work more closely and effectively with principal authorities to strengthen their role in service delivery and place-shaping.

Philip Clifford is a Senior Adviser at the Local Government Association (LGA) and leads on devolution, place-based growth and international policy. For much of his professional career Philip has worked on issues of place-based leadership and economic development: as part of the Government’s London Thames Gateway Initiative and with partners across London Local Government on a range of issues including housing investment, migration, welfare reform and devolution. Recently, his work at the LGA has focused on economic recovery, sustainable development, local governance reform and international trade. Philip has an academic background in global political economy and lives in north east London.

@LGAWorkforce

One-to-One Advice

Book a face-to-face appointment with our expert advisory team to discuss your professional queries.

The Big Jubilee Lunch
Tracey Robbins, Head of UK Delivery for the Eden Project Communities

As we start thinking about coming together again and regaining some sense of normality to our daily lives, what better way to celebrate and connect than with The Big Lunch.  Next year with The Big Jubilee Lunch there has never been a better time for communities to come together for friendship, fun and food. We can all bring people together to create happier and healthier communities where people know one another and neighbourhoods thrive.

Tracey and a Big Lunch organiser will share their learning and experience to ensure putting on a Big Jubilee Lunch is a ‘Piece of Cake’!

@edencommunities

Tracey is Head of UK Delivery for the Eden Project Communities team, based in Carlise and travelling the length and breadth of the UK ensuring UK wide reach and delivery of initiatives that encourage public engagement and participation including initiatives such as The Big Lunch and our community networks all of which facilitate positive action and create real social capital on a mass scale. Tracey leads the project management and delivery of Eden Project Communities large geographically dispersed team, who are based across the UK, working with communities and enabling powerfully ordinary people to create positive change where they live.

Prior to joining, Tracey led Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s programme ‘Neighbourhood approaches to loneliness’, a place based action research programme working with local people to explore what causes and reduces loneliness. She is passionate about the issue of loneliness and represented Eden Project Communities partnership on the cross political party Commission for loneliness.

Tracey’s career has focussed on asset based community development approaches, health wellbeing and social care within the voluntary and community sector for 20 years. Using action research and participatory technics to work directly with individuals and groups to bring about change, develop opportunities and redress imbalances.

@TraceyJRobbins

One-to-One Advice

Book a face-to-face appointment with our expert advisory team to discuss your professional queries.

Self-Care for Changemakers
Anj Handa, Founder of Inspiring Women Changemakers

Join Anj for a session focussed on:

• Putting your own oxygen mask on first – why self-care is essential, not a ‘nice to have’ if you are to show up as your most effective and engaged
• The impact of change on our physical and mental wellbeing – introducing the concept of a double change curve using the pandemic as context
• Build your resilience toolkit – tools and techniques to help you navigate change (e.g. Eisenhower Matrix)

@AnjHanda

@WmnChangemakers