The CIPFA Student Learning Centre

The CIPFA Student Learning Centre will go live on 1 February, ushering in a new era in learning and bringing a host of learning tools to support students through to qualifying and becoming a CIPFA member. It will be replacing the current Open Learning Material, plus several of the elements currently found in the Student Section of the CIPFA website.

To find out more about CIPFA’s new open learning package visit www.cipfa.org.uk/students/current/learning_centre.cfm

Are You Prepared for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)?

A major change in public sector accounting was announced in the 2007 Budget so that annual accounts of central government departments and related public bodies will be produced using IFRS from the 2008/09 financial year. This means that 2007/08 accounting information will need to be re-stated for comparative purposes. The transition to IFRS for local authorities will follow in subsequent years.

To prepare the way for these major changes, CIPFA and PricewaterhouseCoopers have developed a suite of training workshops that are being delivered throughout the UK.

• Preparing the Way - This is an introductory half-day workshop that identifies the key issues to be
  addressed, the major differences in accounting requirements and essential lessons to be learned from the private sector experience.
  
  
• Managing the Transition - This is a one-day workshop that discusses the adoption of IFRS, which will be implemented through the IFRS-based FReM, and identifies the key standards impacting the public sector.
  
  
• A Step by Step Guide - This is a two-day workshop that provides a practical guide to the essential steps to be taken to ensure successful implementation of IFRS requirements.

Delivering Good Governance in Local Government –Guidance for Welsh Authorities

In June, CIPFA in association with SOLACE published Delivering Good Governance in Local Government: The Framework. In order to assist police authorities and forces in Wales in meeting these requirements, CIPFA, with assistance from the Welsh Audit Office, has developed guidance which will be published shortly. on the CIPFA Shop - www.cipfa.org.uk/shop

Public Money & Management - A Lean Public Sector?

Public Money & Management’s February 2008 issue (Volume 28, Number 1) will include a major theme on Lean production and public management. Lean in the public sector is overtaking other techniques and this issue will show how and why it can work and why it is considered more effective than other techniques.

www.cipfa.org.uk/pmpa

Could You Chair CIPFA's Children’s Services Panel?

CIPFA's Children’s Services Panel is seeking a new Chair. The Children’s Services Panel reports to the Institute's Public Finance and Management Board and meets three times a year. Expressions of interest are invited from senior finance practitioners in the Children’s Services field who would like to be considered for the role of Panel Chair.

For more details and how to apply visit www.cipfa.org.uk/panels/childrens_services or email lesley.lodge@cipfa.org before 25 January 2008.

Panel Newsletters Available to Download

Housing Panel newsletter
www.cipfa.org.uk/panels/housing

Open Day Event at The CIPFA Education and Training Centre (CETC)

The CETC is holding an open day on Wednesday 12 December for any potential students and their employers to attend to find out more about the CIPFA qualification and CETC’s courses. The open day will start at 4.30pm and will feature a presentation from a CIPFA representative, a talk from the CETC South East course director on CETC’s courses, and a case study from a current Final Test stage student.

To book a place call 020 7403 4300 or email Julia.knight@cetc.org.uk or visit www.cetc.org.uk/news/news35.cfm

The CIPFA Education and Training Centre Course Dates

CETC will be releasing its course dates for the June 2008 exams in early December. The dates included in the brochure are for the professional accountancy qualification day and block release courses. All courses start in February continuing until the end of April before revision courses take place in May.

To receive your copy contact 020 7403 4300/enquiries@cetc.org.uk. Booking is through the enrolment form which can be downloaded from www.cetc.org.uk or by contacting CETC as above.

Senior Professionals Welcomed to the Institute

19 November saw the graduates of the joint Postgraduate Diploma in Public Finance & Leadership/CIPFA programme attend a ceremony to welcome them to CIPFA and congratulate them on their success in completing the qualification.

Recruitment is still taking place for the fourth intake of the programme. Find out more at www.cipfa.org.uk/cetc/courses/CPDPFL.cfm

Procurement Seminar
5th December 2007, Edinburgh

This seminar will provide updates on:

• Commodities A, B and C
• Collaborative Procurement Protocols
• Case Study in Collaborative Procurement: Collaborative Procurement Hub (NHS) 
• Procurement Policies and Tendering Arrangements with the Voluntary Sector
• Case Studies in Current Voluntary Sector Procurement
• Testing Financial Stability of Suppliers
• Procurement Audit

Capital Procurement
10th December 2007, Glasgow

This course aims to provide delegates with an understanding of the role of Procurement at all stages of Asset Management from Strategic Planning and Review through to Asset Disposal and Decommissioning.

Strategic Risk Management
12th December 2007, Glasgow

This course will provide delegates with ideas and examples of quantifying risk - financially and other ideas for monitoring and quantifying the impact/performance of risk management.

Further information for all of our training courses and events can be found on at www.cipfascotland.org.uk.

Effective Audit Committees
7 December 2007, The Hilton Hotel, Templepatrick

The recent crisis at Northern Rock has highlighted the importance of having an effective Audit (and Risk) Committee and what can happen when an organisation fails to recognise what is coming. CIPFA Northern Ireland is holding a seminar on 'Ensuring Effective Audit Committees', which will provide insights into the role of an Audit Committee and identify the skills, competencies and behaviours that characterise successful and effective Audit Committees.

£295 + VAT. For further information and booking, please visit www.cipfa.org.uk/ni/seminars.cfm, or contact Emily Kennedy emily.kennedy@cipfa.org/028 9026 6774.

Transport and the Environment
11 December 2007, The Linenhall Library

With the need for improved roads and public transport infrastructure, can policies be developed and implemented in Northern Ireland that improve transport but also meet environmental demands?  Given the relative scale of environmental issues in Northern Ireland, compared with the global impact of the USA, India and China, do these developments matter anyway?

11.00am - 1.45pm £20+vat, includes a light lunch. For further information and to book visit www.cipfa.org.uk/ni or contact Nicola Greer nicola.greer@cipfa.org/028 9026 6770.

Public Training Courses

PMPA Annual Members Meeting "Innovation and Improvement: Have Britain’s public services got service right, and how can they do it better?”
4th December 2007, BT Tower, 60 Cleveland Street, London W1: 12.45 - 3

Geoff Mulgan, the Director of The Young Foundation, has agreed to speak at this year’s Annual Members meeting. Together with the opportunity to take in the glorious views from the top of the BT Tower, this promises to be a sparkling event to round off the PMPA year.

‘Making the Most of Academic-Practitioner Exchange’
5th December 2007, Queen Anne’s Gate, London: 10.30–3.15.

The Public Management and Policy Association (PMPA), in association with the National School of Government and Public Money & Management, will be holding this one-day seminar. The event will draw on debates in the current issue of Public Money & Management and discussions that have taken place in the PMPA/National School of Government 2007 Practitioner Exchange events on ‘Evidence-Based Policy-Making: What is Evidence and How to Use It?’

To book your place at either of these events please email info.pmpa@cipfa.org or contact Sandra Harper on 020 7543 5679.

Dealing with Change

Change is often met with anger, resistance and fear. The Change Management section of the Improvement Tools has been updated and now includes new content:

• An article about The Change Curve, which is widely utilised to help people understand their reactions to change.
• A group exercise to generate discussion about the feelings provoked by a particular change.
• A diagnostic tool to encourage people to record what they really feel about change.

Become an Improvement Network registered user to access this content. Existing users can simply login at www.improvementnetwork.gov.uk/imp/core/page.do?pageId=1900011771

World Accountancy Week

2007 marks the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the global organization for the accountancy profession. To celebrate this milestone, IFAC is organizing a number of special events, publications and other activities around the theme “Thirty Years of Progress”.

The centerpiece of the anniversary will be World Accountancy Week, December 2-8, which will include a special event in New York City on Thursday, December 6. During World Accountancy Week, IFAC, together with its 155 members and associates in 118 countries, will recognize the contributions of more than 2.5 million professional accountants to protecting the public interest and supporting economic growth and development worldwide.

www.ifac.org

Improving Information to Support Decision Making: Standards for Better Quality Data

Following consultation, the Audit Commission has released a set of standards endorsed by CIPFA which are designed to help local authorities and other public bodies ensure the quality of data they use for decision making and performance reporting.

With increasing emphasis on performance information, for example in CPA and its future replacement, the quality standards will support local authorities and other public bodies in managing their performance information well. This will in turn lead to better informed decision making and less detailed inspection of the data which makes up individual performance indicators.

www.audit-commission.gov.uk/reports

New NHS and Local Authority Employer Schemes Accredited

Congratulations to Wokingham Borough Council, London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, Cardiff Council, Worthing & Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust for achieving Level 2 accreditation.

Find out more about getting your employer scheme accredited at http://learning.cipfa.org.uk

Honorary Treasurer for The House of St Barnabas

The House of St Barnabas in Soho has been helping homeless people change their lives for over 160 years. The House is in the process of changing from a residential hostel for homeless women to a state-of-the-art centre offering essential life skills, training, personal development opportunities and career paths for London's homeless people and those in crisis.

It is an exciting time at the House of St. Barnabas as they re-launch the charity and they are seeking an Honorary Treasurer to help realise their vision. For further details please download the job description or contact Andy Griffiths (CEO) andy.griffiths@atthehouse.org.uk/020 7437 1894.

CIPFA Members Scoop Prizes at the Government Finance Profession Conference

In this, their 25th conference anniversary year, the Government Finance Profession Conference introduced 10 new awards. Many of these prizes, including Personality of the Year (Christina Earls, Department for Work and Pensions) and Boss of the Year (Caroline Rolfe, Department for Transport), went to CIPFA members.

To see all the winners please visit: http://thegfp.treasury.gov.uk/news/news_38.html

International Financial Reporting Standards - Preparing the Way - 6 December 2007, more

Effective Audit Committees - 7 December 2007, Templepatrick more

Social Care Finance: Budget Issues in 2008 for Adult and Children's Services - 10 December 2007, London more

Children's Services Finance: Managing Future Funding - 11 December 2007, London more

Further Developments in Local Authority Housing Finance - 12 December 2007, London more

The CIPFA Local Government Finance Seminar - 13 December 2007, London more

CIPFA Technical Audit Update - 13 December 2007, London more