Programme

Facing the Cuts: A CIPFA Special Public Finance Summit

Date:	Wednesday 8 September 2010
Venu:	Cavendish Conference Centre, London
Chair:	Chris Bilsland, Chamberlain, City of London and Chair of the CIPFA Local Government Policy Panel

During the last year the effects of the economic downturn and the consequent reduction in public sector revenues have been severe. But worse is yet to come, we are told.
The challenges for local public services must be to look at new and innovative ways of reducing the effects of the impending cuts whilst maintaining service delivery and customer focused offerings. But how can this be achieved during times of cuts and efficiency savings?

Is it time for ground breaking reform of financial management practices and spending in the public sector?

This conference will address those questions head-on and offer practical ways of facing the cuts and steering your organisation through these unprecedented financial challenges – protecting the customers and communities that rely so heavily upon your success in the process.

09.30	Registration and coffee
10.00	Welcome from the chair
10.10	Opening address: What to expect under the new Government The scale of challenge facing the new government Anticipating the extent and the effects of spending squeezes looming What are the margins for error? What are the risks if we misjudge our response or fail to implement it successfully? *Speaker: Robert Chote, Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies*
10.40	Practical options for delivering major efficiencies What are the key options that have worked best How to effectively implement major organisational change and transformation Innovative service delivery models The role for collaboration Changing the pattern of interventions between public service partners to deliver better value for money *Speakers: Chris Buttress, Public Sector Partner and Andy Ford, Lead Local Government Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers*
11.20	Morning refreshments
11.40	Case Study 1: Achieving transformational efficiencies through shared services within police forces Outlining the Yorkshire-Humberside shared services strategy Achieving major efficiencies through an effective shared services solution Creating the shared service roadmap to ensure staff ownership Optimising efficiencies and savings through property and asset sharing Assessing exactly what kind of savings and efficiencies can be achieved Considering our achievements so far and looking to the future Speakers: Bill Wilkinson, Chief Executive and Treasurer, South Yorkshire Police Authority & Chair of the CIPFA Police Panel and Mark Whyman, t/ Deputy Chief Constable, Policing, Yorkshire and Humberside Police Authority
12.20	Case Study 2: Progressing a major budget reduction Prioritisation and protection – how to get effective decisions made Engaging with service users, the community and your workforce Key success factors in ensuring plans are effectively implemented *Speaker: Nick Bell, Chief Executive, Staffordshire County Council*
13.00	Lunch
14.00	Keynote address from Bob Neill MP The state of public finances in local government Emergency budget results CSR *Speaker: Bob Neill MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government*
14.30	Total Place: redesigning the shape of public services to deliver budgetary savings More for less: considering how Total Place is now more important than ever in managing resources effectively A practical update on what has already been achieved and anticipated budget savings Sharing assets Where next? If Total Place succeeds what kind of reforms might it give rise to? *Speaker: Paul Dransfield, Corporate Director of Resources, Birmingham City Council*
15.00	Afternoon refreshments
15.20	Reshaping delivery of public services to save money: a first hand appreciation of the art of the possible How to radically reduce the burden on the public purse AND improve services on offer to communities Getting to grips with the scale of cuts required and prioritising their impact Understanding barriers and resistance to change and overcoming them Changing the organisation to create capacity and capability for the paradigm shift *Speaker: Paul Carter, Leader, Kent County Council*
15.50	Effective leadership during public sector recession What are the key challenges to for leaders and what does effective leadership need to look like during recessionary times Implementing organisational change How to maintain staff morale and motivation during a period of retrenchment *Speaker: Will Tuckley, Chief Executive, London Borough of Bexley*
16.20	Chairman’s final remarks and close of conference