Course focus

The Localism Act and Beyond

Date:
27 April 2012
Venue:
City of York Council
CPD:
4.5

Training programmes

Annual Governance Summit - FULL

This summit date is now FULL

Alternative date:

7th March 2012 - Leeds

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Welcome and Introduction by Chair
Mark Hynes, Director of Governance & Democracy, London Borough of Lambeth

Opening Address
Philip McCourt, President of ACSeS

Customer Service Delivery in the new digital age
David Clark, Director SOLACE

Challenges of Delivering a shared service model
Charlie Adan, Joint Chief Executive Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Council

Open Public Services – Implications for future service delivery
Judith Barnes, Partner, Eversheds LLP

Case Studies

  • The Co-operative Council, Mark Hynes, Director of Governance & Democracy, London Borough of Lambeth
  • The Commissioning Council. Newark & Sherwood District Council – the Commissioning Approach. This case study will look at the way in which Newark & Sherwood District Council is developing a commissioning framework in respect of service delivery.  It will briefly cover the commissioning cycle, the role played by elected Members in determining priorities for service delivery, and in reviewing those priorities on an ongoing basis in accordance with the commissioning framework and it will explore how the commissioning framework requires heads of service to examine differing delivery models including outsourcing, exploring capacity within the voluntary and community sectors, shared services, etc as alternatives to in-house service delivery.  It will also look at how Newark & Sherwood District Council has restructured the organisation to reflect the commissioning model.
    Kirsty Cole, Deputy Chief Executive, Newark and Sherwood District Council.
  • The “Easy Jet Council” – Speaker tbc

Legal Services – Future Opportunities and Challenges

The continuing pressure on local authority funding is leading to all opportunities for revenue generation being actively explored. Legal services are not immune from this, indeed many teams have been active in seeking new opportunities to generate income to offset budget reductions.  Even without the financial incentives to diversify the client base, local authority legal teams are recognising that they are well placed to provide cost effective, locally based legal services to relevant bodies and this is seen by many councils as a legitimate part of their community support.
 
The legal framework for trading and charging by local authorities is now well established and understood. The challenge in trading legal services has been the reconciliation of this legislative framework with the particular regulatory regime for lawyers. This has been rewritten by the Legal Services Act 2007 which now opens new opportunities for alternative structures to deliver legal services.
 
This session will explore what opportunities exist for trading local authority legal services to a wider client base and the local authority law/regulatory framework which applies.
Bethan Evans, Partner, Bevan Britten LLP

Procurement – Key Issues and Challenges
Helen Randall, Partner, Trowers & Hamlin LLP

Localism Bill – Governance: Consideration for Monitoring Officers

  • The extension of local authority commercial activity under the General Power of Competence requires authorities to develop new models of accountability which do not stifle enterprise;
  • The mandatory Strong Leader model's unsuitability for balanced authorities will cause some authorities to consider the relative virtues and vices of the Committee System and how a change could be effected;
  • For the 12 major Cities, local choice means a mandatory Mayoral referendum. Any Mayoral structure will outlive the personalities of the first candidates, so authorities need to appreciate when mayoral structures breed conflict rather than leadership;
  • The new Standards Regime in England is a mess. Independent Persons with no role; Diverse Codes, but no sanctions; Responsibility for Parishes, who can ignore you completely; Dispensations at will; and little prospect of Police enforcement. So, how can Monitoring Officers make sense of this and help their authorities to operate nonsense rules sensibly?
  • Order from Chaos. A short order in just 40 minutes.

Peter Keith-Lucas, Partner, Bevan Britten LLP

Managing in an age of austerity – Challenges in dealing with workforce issues

  • The way we were – changing the culture and mindset.
  • Restructuring and redeployment – minimising disruption and reducing risk.
  • Preparing the way - robust performance management and consistent absence monitoring.
  • Making friends with the unions – pre consultation “consultation”.
  • Changing terms and conditions – carrot and stick without the carrot.
  • Outsourcing – TUPE and innovative bids.

Jane Eatock, Partner, Wilkin Chapman Goolden LLP 

Question and Answer session with the speakers

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