Practitioners’ Conference 2021 Agenda

The Importance of Mental Health Self Care
Ken Hancott, Motivation, Positivity Training, Coaching & Therapy

It’s obvious from the past few months that it’s so incredibly important to look after your own mental health in preparation for stressful or difficult life events. With so many people suffering with negative mental health issues at the moment, this has highlighted how it’s as important to consider your mental health in the same way you’d think about your physical health and fitness.

Ken’s session will take you through a range of mental practices that you can perform on your own to be able to remain psychologically fit, well and shielded from life’s tough situations.

Ken is a Psychologist and was a Psychotherapist for many years. He started Tarragon Training for the very specific purpose of teaching people how to maintain good mental health so that when difficult life events occur, people can be mentally fit to deal with them.

@TarragonKen

Looking to 2021 with an Eye on Responsible Investment
Mark Davies, CCLA Relationship Manager, Local Government & Kelly Watson, Kelly Watson, CCLA Relationship Manager

Mark and Kelly will take a look at how the economy is faring in the post-Covid world (hopefully!) and highlight how CCLA manages clients’ money in a responsible way.

Mark Davies, CCLA Relationship Manager, Local Government
Mark Davies is responsible for sales and relationship management of CCLA’s three triple A rated cash funds designed for charities, faith groups and the public sector and the promotion of CCLA’s long-term funds, including the Local Authorities’ Property Fund.
He joined CCLA in 2008 after a 20-year career at Unity Trust Bank where he was national charities manager. He is currently a director of HSF Health Plan, trading company of the Hospital Saturday Fund charity and a trustee of HSF charity. Previously he was the treasurer of King’s Cross Homelessness Project and NAVCA.

Kelly Watson, CCLA Relationship Manager
Kelly is responsible for managing relationships with our clients. Kelly joined CCLA in 2019 after 16 years finance and accountancy experience attained in both public and private sector. Kelly is a chartered accountant by background and her role prior to joining CCLA was Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer) of a District Council in Local Government. Kelly has held a number of senior roles within local government and private sector and has a wide range of experience, managing finance, procurement and property amongst other services. Kelly is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and is currently a member of the National CIPFA Council as well as involved with volunteer roles in her home base of the Midlands.

Parish & Town Councils Toolkit
Deborah Evans, LLG Chief Executive, John Austin, ADSO Chair & Paul Hoey, Co-Director Hoey Ainscough Associates Ltd

John Austin
John has over 45 years’ experience of local government. Prior to retirement in 2016, he was Assistant Director, Corporate Governance in the London Borough of Enfield. He was also the Council’s Monitoring Officer until 2014 and Deputy Returning Officer for local, national and European elections. John is also founder and current chair of the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and is a qualified advisor for its qualifications.

@ADSO_UK

Deborah Evans
Deborah was appointed in 2018 as the first Chief Executive of LLG. Having started her career in local government at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, she has since gone on to work in senior roles across the legal sector, including the in-house legal team of a major retailer; as a Practice Director of a law firm; in management at the Legal Aid Board; Chief Executive of the Legal Complaints Service, and most recently as Chief Executive of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. She has also been involved with digital claims resolution platforms such as Claims Portal and MedCo.

@LLGLegal

Medium Council Networking

Designed for councils with a precept between £50k – £100k

Northampton Town Council – The Story So Far
Richard Walden, Acting Town Clerk for Northampton Town Council

In the context of Northamptonshire’s 7 principal councils being replaced by two new unitary councils on 1st April 2021, Northampton Borough Council has created three new parish councils in the previously unparished part of its area. One of these, Northampton Town Council, serves a population of 130,000 making it the largest local council in England and Wales. Richard, the Acting Town Clerk, will share the challenges presented in creating the town council and how these are being overcome. The session will be of particular interest to those serving councils in areas where unitary status in under consideration and those seeking a high degree of service devolution.

Richard Walden has worked for parish councils of all sizes for over 50 years, including 22 as Town Clerk to Dunstable, one of the largest local councils with an annual budget of over £2M. He has been a member of SLCC for most of that time and was President in 2005. Since retirement in 2007 he been worked for SLCC in a number of capacities including two spells as interim Chief Executive and he edited The Clerk magazine for 9 years. For the past year he has worked for the Northants CALC supporting the creation of new parish councils. He and his wife, Carol, now spend most of their time watching the grapes grow near their home in the Loire valley in France.

@Northampton_TC

ILCA & CiLCA
Lesley Swinbank FSLCC, SLCC Professional Development Officer & Yvonne Colverson FSLCC, Senior Advisor & Induction Support Officer

SLCC offer a range of qualifications tailored to meet the needs of local council officers and others working with local councils in England and Wales. Study for a qualification and:

• Expand your skillset
• Broaden your career opportunities & progression
• Feel empowered

The qualifications are designed to support you wherever you are in your career journey, starting at the essential knowledge course, Introduction to Local Council Administration (ILCA) (Level 2) and progressing through to Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA) (Level 3).

“You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know”
Johnathan Bourne BA(Hons) PGCAP FHEA FSLCC, Module Tutor, Community Governance

The dilemma facing many clerks is that they do not always recognise the skills they already hold whilst always seeking to improve their knowledge. This can breed a crushing lack of confidence.

The aim of this session will be to instil confidence and help clerks to give themselves credit for what they already do.

Johnathan Bourne is an honours graduate in Public Administration, has 36 years’ experience working in the local council sector, recently retiring from the position of Town Clerk in Royal Wootton Bassett. A member of the SLCC, he represented Wiltshire clerks for 15 years, spending 4 years as chairman, where he represented the SLCC both nationally and internationally. Now widely regarded as one of the sectors leading practitioners, he shares his experience playing an active role as a tutor in Community Governance.

#SLCCCommGov

Managing Burial Ground Memorials
Alan Fairchild MBE FSLCC, SLCC Honorary Vice-President

This session will cover the legal and administrative powers of local councils in England and Wales to approve and manage the installation of grave memorials in civil cemeteries.

Alan has over 40 years’ experience operating civil cemeteries and has been a National Advisor to the SLCC and regular contributor to The Clerk magazine. Alan is a member of Ministry of Justice Burial and Cremation Advisory Group and formally the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons.

Mindfulness Taster Session
Annie Knapman, Yoga, Mindfulness & Relaxation Teacher

Always wanted to give mindfulness a go? Experience this powerful wellbeing practice for yourself with a 30 minute Mindfulness Taster Session. No experience or equipment required. All you need is somewhere to sit comfortably. We’ll be exploring two short practices during the session with time for questions at the end.

After falling in love with yoga in a dusty community centre, Annie soon discovered that the benefits go far beyond the physical improvements in flexibility, balance and strength that yoga is widely known for. Yoga is about making time to connect with yourself. It’s an opportunity to build our resilience, learn to be kinder to ourselves and to nurture both our physical and mental wellbeing. Annie completed her teacher training in 2015 (Yoga Alliance Certified) and has since completed further training in Restorative Yoga (TriYoga, 2016) and a Diploma in Relaxation, Meditation and Mindfulness (Smart Foundations, 2017).

@annieknapman

Values & Purpose at Work
Suki K Bassi, Chief Happiness Officer, HappyMaven

An uplifting session exploring the importance of putting VALUES & PURPOSE at the heart of what we, as individuals, do.

Just how important are personal values to our contribution at work? To our sense of professional achievement, human connectedness and overall happiness?

To find out, join Suki Bassi, Chief Happiness Officer (yes, you read that right) as she shares her own journey – from working with genocide survivors to community conflict resolution to FTSE500 Board rooms to discover her own true purpose.

To help you identify your own purpose, Suki will be sharing the Japanese concept of ‘Ikigai’, roughly translated as ‘our reason for being’. A philosophy of insight, balance and finding joy and fulfilment in the daily routine of life.

Using the Ikigai as a tool to understand your strengths and passions you can also tap into your purpose to maximise your happiness – at home and at work.

Click here to view the HappyMaven ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’

@happymaven

Ramblers, don’t lose your way
Jack Cornish, Programme Manager, Don’t Lose Your Way at the Ramblers – Britain’s Walking Charity

There are 140,000 miles of rights of way across England and Wales. But there are also thousands of miles of rights of way which are not on the map and if they aren’t recorded by the 1st January 2026 they could be lost forever.

In the session you will learn how to identify potential lost rights of way in your area, how you can apply for a right of way to be added to the map, an overview of the evidence to claim rights of way and what support is available.

@RamblersGB

Creating Dementia Friendly Communities
Helen Donald, Dementia Friendly Development Officer, Alzheimer’s Society

This presentation with give an overview of the work Alzheimer’s Society is doing to support those affected by dementia. It will focus on what the picture looks like now for people affected by dementia and why it’s important to create Dementia Friendly Communities. It will go on to look at how Dementia Friendly Communities can be set up and why engagement with people affected by dementia is vital in driving this forward. It will look at inspiring examples of what Dementia Friendly Communities have achieved and will give attendees the opportunity to think about how they can shape their own Dementia Friendly Communities and take action to create lasting change.

@alzheimerssoc

Creating Positive Content For Social Media and Managing Negativity
Sam Flynn, Managing Director, Sam Flynn Social Media

Sam Flynn has been training businesses in the use of social media for over 9 years. She has a background in business psychology and uses this in her training to help businesses understand how to build relationships with their online audience. Sam speaks regularly at events worldwide about achieving success on social media and has written a book – Social Media Super Success.

In this session, you’ll discover:
How to have a more positive social media presence
What content to share beyond council news
How to encourage people to engage with that content
How to manage any negativity in the comments
How to avoid negativity going forward
@SamFlynnSM

Unleashing Community Power
Paul Morgan, Devon and Cornwall Police / Trustee, C2 Communities

This session will cover an overview of C2 Connecting Communities from a police & partnership perspective and what can be done in your community. We will then focus on ‘Community Power’ and the variety of strategies including ‘resilient communities’ and discuss ways in which your council can enable such approaches. Underpinning all of this will be the health & wellbeing impact of such an approach on the community.

@C2exeter

Climate Emergency: Easy wins and practical actions for local councils
Rachel Coxcoon, Programme Director, Climate Emergency Support

This session will cover the reasons your council should act on the climate emergency, as well as an overview of ‘quick wins’ using examples of councils who have already implemented the strategies. This will be followed by a breakout session to brainstorm actions around particular themes such as transport, retrofit, dietary changes etc.

Rachel has 15 years of experience in sustainable energy, and played a pivotal role in developing CSE’s work on community energy and low carbon planning. She has particular skills and understanding regarding the planning system, sustainable energy in heritage settings, and the central role of community consultation and consent as a foundation of successful local projects.

Rachel is also experienced in working with central government departments (e.g. BEIS, MHCLG and Defra) as an advisor and project manager. A skilled public speaker and trainer representing CSE in the media and at events, with a critical eye for the development of high-quality resources (including CSE’s multi award-winning PlanLoCaL pack).

@RachelCoxcoon
@cse_communities

Diversity, not so Black and White
Becky Walsh, Communications Officer, Weston-super-Mare Town Council

Becky’s session will cover ‘What is diversity?’

• How bias gets into our subconscious and how to become free.
• Square peg in a round hole? Why shaving your sides to fit in is not the answer.
• Why a diverse organisation is a strong organisation.
• Why racists don’t know they are being racist.

@beckywalshcom

Small Council Networking
Katie Walding PSLCC, Sway Parish Council

Designed for councils with a precept under £50k

@ClerkSway

Join Kelly, Jamie and Mark for a gossip about current events over a much-needed cuppa
Mark Davies, CCLA Relationship Manager, Local Government, Kelly Watson, CCLA Relationship Manager & Jamie Charters, Sales Support & Administration Manager

Mark Davies, CCLA Relationship Manager, Local Government
Mark Davies is responsible for sales and relationship management of CCLA’s three triple A rated cash funds designed for charities, faith groups and the public sector and the promotion of CCLA’s long-term funds, including the Local Authorities’ Property Fund.
He joined CCLA in 2008 after a 20-year career at Unity Trust Bank where he was national charities manager. He is currently a director of HSF Health Plan, trading company of the Hospital Saturday Fund charity and a trustee of HSF charity. Previously he was the treasurer of King’s Cross Homelessness Project and NAVCA.

Kelly Watson, CCLA Relationship Manager
Kelly is responsible for managing relationships with our clients. Kelly joined CCLA in 2019 after 16 years finance and accountancy experience attained in both public and private sector. Kelly is a chartered accountant by background and her role prior to joining CCLA was Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer) of a District Council in Local Government. Kelly has held a number of senior roles within local government and private sector and has a wide range of experience, managing finance, procurement and property amongst other services. Kelly is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and is currently a member of the National CIPFA Council as well as involved with volunteer roles in her home base of the Midlands.

Jamie Charters, Sales Support and Administration Manager
Jamie supports our Client Investment Directors and Client Relationship Managers.
He joined CCLA in 2001 and has a wealth of experience in client facing roles. He brings special expertise in exchanging securities for holdings in CCLA managed funds and is the link between CCLA’s administration and clients, often being the first port of call for quarterly reporting clients in need of support.

Use & Abuse of Information Rights

This session will cover the use and abuse of information rights ranging from General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Freedom of Information (FOI) to councillors’ need to know, armchair auditors & keyboard warriors.

Jonathan Goolden, Wilkin Chapman LLP

Jonathan is a solicitor, and a regulatory and public sector partner at Wilkin Chapman LLP, a 45 partner, 420 staff law firm in Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire. He has worked in, or for, local government for the last 20 years and was a Monitoring Officer for 6 years.

Jonathan was a member of the internal inquiry team at Doncaster Borough Council examining the “Donnygate” corruption scandal. He has investigated approximately 300 cases of the alleged misconduct of local government councillors, including many of the most complex and politically high profile. Jonathan’s investigation of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London and Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority in relation to the arrest of Damian Green MP was cited as best practice of a high pressure, politically sensitive investigation in a national study by Hull Business School. Jonathan was also a member of the core drafting team for the modular constitution for English councils and undertakes a range of public, administrative and regulatory law advice for local authorities, NHS bodies, charities and the private sector throughout England.

He has been the independent person for councillor conduct in two unitary local authorities, and is a Deputy Monitoring Officer in two district councils. He has supervised elections in Bosnia and trained Serbian local standards committees on ethics and members of the Supreme Court in Kosovo on human rights.

Together with Wilkin Chapman colleagues, he was the investigator of self referred allegations by Councillor Liz Harvey of Ledbury Town Council.

@JonathanGoolden @WCllpSolicitors

How to taste Prosecco & Sparkling Wine…like a Pro!
Lesley Swinbank FSLCC, Wine Connoisseur since 1970 and Linda Larter MBE FSLCC & Wine Superfan
An interactive session on how to evaluate and better understand the ‘fizz’ in your glass and impress your friends with your knowledge!

Make sure you are ready to pour a glass of your favourite sparkling wine.

@SLCCPresident

Attracting New Councillors
Chris Borg, Policy Manager and Claire Goldfinch, Project Officer, National Association of Local Councils (NALC), Sarah Mason, County Executive Officer, Cornwall Association of Local Councils (CALC)

Community, parish and town councillors are the backbone of local democracy. Over 100,000 people give up their time to hold public office as a councillor because they care about where they live and want to make a change in their communities for the better. But while 92% of councillors would recommend being a councillor, in 2019 a third of councillors were elected without an election taking place.

Are uncontested elections and lack of diversity the Achilles heel of our most local councils? And how can we attract more people to get involved in their communities and stand for election? This session will cover the role and image of councillors; NALC’s Make A Change campaign; how to tap into the community effort and power of volunteers seen during the coronavirus pandemic; and, the crucial role clerks can play to help strengthen local democracy.

“Do you have grave concerns?” – An overview on cemetery management and compliance
Sofia Allana, Technical Services and Journal Officer, Institute of Cemetery & Crematorium Management (ICCM)

This session will cover some of the main compliance requirements covered in legislation and some of the common issues faced by those working in cemeteries.

Sofia joined Golders Green Crematorium, part of the London Cremation Company, in 2002. It didn’t take her long to realise that she had a real passion for the bereavement sector and within a short period of time became manager. After 5 years at Golders Green learning about the industry she joined Islington & Camden Cemetery Service, one of the largest cemeteries in London covering 192 acres, as the Deputy Cemetery Operations Manager. During her 12-year career she learnt many different aspects of the service, and progressed to become Head of Service.
Sofia represented the ICCM as their President in 2018 and in 2019 joined the ICCM as a Technical Services and Journal Officer.

@InstituteCCM

Community Engagement: Food for Thought?
Elisabeth Skinner MBE FSLCC, SLCC Academic Leader, Dominic Stapleton FSLCC, Community Governance Assistant Course Leader & Community Governance Students: Stacey Worden PSLCC, Elaine Brown PSLCC, Tina Crookes & Lara Jacob

A group of Community Governance students offer you a very tasty presentation on community engagement created for an assignment during lockdown. A discussion about community engagement will be followed by other examples of practical assignments introduced by the teaching team.

Does your council need to up its engagement game?
Does it need a “big picture” vision on what community engagement could achieve?

This session takes an unusual but “delicious” approach to exploring the fundamental underpinnings of community engagement.
By grasping an understanding of the theory, you will be able to show your council how they can apply sound principles to build their confidence and deliver engagement activity ranging from small crumb level to multi-tiered wedding cake spectaculars.

#SLCCCommgov

Grant Applications: How to Increase Your Chances of Success
Ian Morrell, Development Manager @65 High Street

Discover how to apply for grants:
1. Why do you need a grant?
2. How do you find them and apply?
3. Getting our ducks in a row: project partners, matched funding and timing
4. Meeting the grant funders requirements and completing the application
5. Being turned down. What have we learnt?
6. Success! Fulfilling the grant award contract

@nailseatown

Markets Supporting the High Street
David Preston FSLCC, NABMA Chief Executive

Many local councils now operate markets and for centuries they have been the heart beat of local communities. However, at the end of 2020, there is a real fear that the future of 85% of traditional markets may be under threat due to the impact of the pandemic and lack of government support.

Recognised to be in the top 25 factors to create vibrant town centres, and witnessing renewed trust and customer loyalty during lockdowns, then how has Covid 19 really impacted on markets and market trading, and how important will local markets and events be to the recovery of the local high street?

David has been part of the NABMA family since his first conference experience as far back as 1976 at Llandudno. He looks forward to the future in an organisation that is supportive, friendly and so important in terms of its services, education and networking.

@Nabma_Markets

Finance – Getting Ready for Year End
Lisa Roberts PSLCC, SLCC Advisor

• Are all your documents signed?
• Comparison of actual P&L against budget and forecasts – how accurately did you predict? What were the anomalies? Can the forecasting process become tighter?
• Asset register – is this up to date? How are you logging your assets? Do you have pictures and maintenance records? Does this tally with your insurance policy?
• Are you ready for the AGAR? Do you know what parts of the P&L go into each section of the AGAR? Can you start to look at comparison and understand where there is significant under or overspend form previous year?
• Timetable – have you got all your “ducks” in a row to fulfil the tight AGAR turn around?

Background to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman including our Limited Contact with Town & Parish Councils
Michael Hyatt, Professional Practice Co-ordinator & Jane Stewart, Investigator, Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman

This session is only relevant to clerks in England and will cover the background to the work of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, including our limited contact with town and parish councils.

• What does the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman do
  • An overview of our role, function and how we work
  • Examples
• A focus on our jurisdiction – over principal councils and care providers
  • Explanation of the limitations of our working relationship with parish and town councils
  • Standards complaints
• Effective complaint handling

Michael Hyatt, Professional Practice Co-ordinator, Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman

Before joining the Ombudsman in 2016 I worked for over 20 years in district, county and unitary councils, initially in planning and regeneration, then at head of service and assistant chief executive level. I’ve worked closely with parish and town councils throughout that time including supporting market town regeneration initiatives, helping develop neighbourhood planning projects and working with county associations of local councils on the quality parish scheme. In my current role, I lead on quality and standards across the LGSCO and am helping develop our thinking around adapting our jurisdiction to reflect the changing nature of local governance.

@LGOmbudsman

General Power of Competence (GPOC) in Wales – Getting Ready
Kevin Griffiths, Head, Local Government Partnerships, Welsh Government

For clerks in Wales

• • What are the proposals? How are they different from now?
  • Timelines (bill, regulations, etc)
  • Criteria. Consultation proposals
  • Support for changes
• Other noteworthy and linked (legislative)
  • Training Plans
  • Annual Report
  • Qualified Clerks
• Other noteworthy and linked (non-legislative)
  • Good Councillors Guide
  • Strengthening governance and financial management plan

@WelshGovernment

Why Plan for an Emergency?
Patricia Marks, Somerset Business Agency

Patricia Marks is a highly client focused and commercially astute senior business professional specialising in business development and project management, significant experience of working with public, private and third sector organisations and a proven record of accomplishment in the successful delivery of programmes and development projects within the areas of employment, education, charity, healthcare, business, environment and agriculture.

Acknowledged as a confident and persuasive communicator, with the ability to develop and maintain strong working relationships, both internally and externally, I have considerable experience of leading and motivating effective teams and providing training, coaching and mentoring to enable the attainment of both personal and company goals and objectives.

@SBAenterprise

Accessibility in Office: The Fundamental Accessibility Considerations Creating Accessible Word & Excel Documents
Adam Tweed, Service Development Manager, AbilityNet

This session will introduce the fundamental accessibility principles and considerations for creating accessible Word and Excel documents within Microsoft Office.

It will cover the importance of properly formatted headings and tables, considerations around the use of fonts and colour and other key accessibility features to ensure that your documents can be accessed by your widest audience.

The session will be delivered by AbilityNet, a charity that provides support for both disabled and elderly people at home, at work and in education.

@AbilityNet

An Optimistic Story of Resilience, Change & Courage to Make Life Altering Decisions
Matt Ellison, Motivational Speaker

Matt Ellison is an inspiring and thought provoking transgender speaker. His life experience as a trans man himself means those who hear Matt speak are inspired and encouraged. The principles of facing something so profoundly difficult and making such a huge and fundamental change apply to everyone in all areas of their professional and personal life.

With today’s more accepting society the number of trans folk having the courage to transition is doubling every few years. So this topic is relevant and something everyone should know more about.

@mattespeaker