CfGS is at the LGA Conference in Bournemouth
There is no doubt we are living through some of the most dramatic political times of a generation. The EU referendum, a prime minister resigning and political infighting amongst the Conservatives and Labour create a colourful back-drop to the Local Government Association Annual Conference in Bournemouth.
There will be much to discuss this year and CfGS is pleased to have a stand at the conference once again. Jacqui, Ed and Su will be on hand to hear how your organisation is managing its decision-making, governance and scrutiny during these interesting times. Also to answer any questions you might have on issues such as devolution, safeguarding, transformation and budget planning/ scrutiny.
We know that recent events have created some significant uncertainty and raised a lot concerns. It is too early to tell, but our initial assessment is that Brexit poses some risks, not least the fact that the Westminster civil service will be using significant levels of resource negotiating our exit and adjusting domestic policy and legislation to fill the void created by jettisoning of EU laws. More broadly, a change in premier could also change policy focus. Who knows if the next cabinet (assuming there will be a change of personnel in the Autumn) will have the same commitment to policies such devolution? And what of the changes to health and social care policy? Tim has recently blogged about what Brexit might mean for these areas – but until the dust settles it is hard to know if the current raft of changes the NHS is going through won’t be thrown up in the air – it certainly wouldn’t be the first time.
So whilst we do love to be beside the seaside, what we would really love is to hear your thoughts about scrutiny in these interesting times and probably more importantly we’d like to have a chat about how CfGS might be able to help your local authority. These big macro issues won’t have much impact yet and through it all we know local government will keep doing what it does best – trying to deliver excellent public services to local communities. In the meantime CfGS is on hand to help you figure out how you can develop excellent governance and scrutiny now, which will also stand you in good stead for an uncertain future.
So track us down in the Purbeck Hall, stand 79. We have rock to give away!