CIPFA ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2005 - RAISING THE BAR - BUILDING INNOVATIVE AND ENTERPRISING
PUBLIC SERVICES
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy is one of the leading
professional accountancy bodies in the UK and the only one which specialises
in the public services. CIPFA’s annual conference is one of the public
services’ largest events attracting 1,000 delegates from a broad span
of the public, private and voluntary sectors including a growing number of international
guests. It provides an opportunity for delegates to address the important issues
of the day and to benefit from the insight and experience of opinion formers
and leaders.
This year, CIPFA celebrates its 120th anniversary and it is particularly fitting
that our conference
should be held in Manchester where the Institute’s inaugural meeting was
held, in the Town
Hall, in 1885.
Managing public services is an increasingly tough business. Improving customer
service; reaching all corners of the community; managing complex investment
projects; securing efficiency gains – these are just a few of the typical
challenges which leaders and managers are grappling with daily across the sector.
All of these efforts have to pass the test as a coherent whole too. Public services
management is not about directing a series of disparate unconnected projects.
It is about delivering services which are smoothly engineered and integrated
– within and beyond the individual organisation – to meet carefully
researched user and community needs.
Much has been written about the challenge
to make organisations more efficient. But that too is only part of the story.
The bar representing public and stakeholder expectations stands much higher
than mere efficiency. Public service leaders must deliver organisations which
exude innovation and enterprise if they are really to meet the standard of our
time.
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