The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way that many of us work and has forced a major rethink in the way we manage public sector assets. Many councils have come to rely on the income from commercial, economic and social investments in its local economy and sometimes beyond. Those who own airports have seen incomes plummet. Investments in shopping centres and offices have an uncertain future. 

Town Halls, Civic Offices, area offices and public sector hubs will never be the same again. Will previous trends for large, open plan, flexible work spaces where desks are shared continue post COVID? Or will the homeworking revolution and the need for COVID-safe offices force a fundamental review of what will be effective going forward. 

CIPFA has been following the changing trends through surveys and regular polls of participants in our COVID-19 Online Discussions and our training events on the future of office accommodation. This session will pull together the key findings of the surveys to date and help you to think through what this means for the future.

Sponsored by: Policy in Practice

Councils are looking ahead to what COVID-19 means for collection rates, people’s ability to pay, and whether their council tax support schemes can cope with increased demand.

Zoe Charlesworth will share key findings of three new reports:

1. An 18 month project working with 22 Welsh local authorities for the Welsh Government on Universal Credit, council tax reduction scheme and rent arrears in Wales

2. Reports for the Greater London Authority on the impact of the Coronavirus Hardship Fund, and on the impact that a flexible approach to collections has on collection rates

3. Analysis for the Cabinet Office on the effectiveness of an early intervention approach to managing arrears in two councils, Newcastle and Barking and Dagenham

Council tax arrears were already £3.5 billion pre-crisis and are forecast to reach nearly £5 billion by the end of parliament. Zoe Charlesworth will examine what the worsening financial crisis means for council’s collection rates, budget setting and council tax support schemes, and will look at efforts across central and local government to improve how council tax debt is recovered.

What impact will the Redmond Review have on the future of audit and scrutiny across the public sector? Following the launch of his review into local authority financial reporting and external audit last year, join Sir Tony Redmond to explore his findings and recommendations

 Neil Green leads the GIAA’s specialist Counter Fraud and Investigation team, which provides counter fraud services across UK government. With a focus on driving up standards and helping protect the public purse, the team’s unique position at the centre of government enables it to offer a truly cross government perspective on the threats faced. Neil will share his insights into current, emerging and evolving fraud threats. He will also describe how the cross-government counter fraud response is being enhanced through the Government Counter Fraud Function, Profession and Standard.

Neil will be joined by Marc McAuley, CIPFA’s Head of Counter Fraud Operations, to discuss CIPFA’s research into fraud at the local level. Marc will share insights on how local authorities perceive the threat of fraud, offering a snapshot of what people see, think and feel about fraudulent activity today, and how they think it’s likely to change in the future.

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors

This event is a chance for friends and family to celebrate CIPFA students whose exam results reflect the best performance in specified modules of CIPFA’s Professional Accountancy Qualification (CIPFA PQ).

Your future career: senior managers from the world of public finance share their stories and advice on shaping your career.

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors.

Sponsored by Zurich Municipal

We are living and working through a period of great change and uncertainty and we need to look to understand how this affects the risks facing our organisations and how we manage them. The pandemic has changed the world, our communities and how we all work. This session will look at the risk landscape for your organisations in this context in the short to medium term, exploring the implications of the last few months and the emerging risks that you are exposed to and should be considering.

Conference close

COVID-19 and supply chain fraud

13.15pm – 13.45pm

 When huge sums of public money are injected into the sector, the opportunities for financial crime and exploitation along supply chains increase. Learn lessons about incorporating due diligence and supply chain expertise into your crisis management procurement process.

Fraud Trends in UK Government – A view from the Bridge

13.45pm – 14.15pm

Neil Green leads the GIAA’s specialist Counter Fraud and Investigation team, which provides counter fraud services across UK government. With a focus on driving up standards and helping protect the public purse, the team’s unique position at the centre of government enables it to offer a truly cross government perspective on the threats faced. Neil will share his insights into current, emerging and evolving fraud threats. He will also describe how the cross government counter fraud response is being enhanced through the Government Counter Fraud Function, Profession and Standard.

Summary to be announced

Sponsored by PFM

Prior to the onslaught of the COVID pandemic, local authorities were already striving to address budget gaps caused by reduced funding and growing demand for adults’ and children’s care.  Despite assistance from the Government, COVID has caused many councils financial difficulties.  This session will focus on local authorities working together to provide innovative solutions to their financial challenges.  The first part of the panel will focus on a group of local authorities who are coming together to form the Local Authority Commercialisation Company (LACC) to solicit sponsorships from private sector companies to generate revenue or reduce operating costs. LACC, on behalf of its members, will publish tenders to solicit sponsors and each member authority can then elect which sponsorships in which to participate.  The second part will present other innovative ways that local authorities have joined together, including a discussion of the UKMBA and its successful entrance into bond market, providing a cost effective alternative to the PWLB.

Join the local authorities putting sustainable policy making into action.

COVID-19 and supply chain fraud

11.10 am – 11.40 am

When huge sums of public money are injected into the sector, the opportunities for financial crime and exploitation along supply chains increase. Learn lessons about incorporating due diligence and supply chain expertise into your crisis management procurement process.

Fraud Trends in UK Government – A view from the Bridge

11.40 am – 12.10 pm

Neil Green leads the GIAA’s specialist Counter Fraud and Investigation team, which provides counter fraud services across UK government. With a focus on driving up standards and helping protect the public purse, the team’s unique position at the centre of government enables it to offer a truly cross government perspective on the threats faced. Neil will share his insights into current, emerging and evolving fraud threats. He will also describe how the cross government counter fraud response is being enhanced through the Government Counter Fraud Function, Profession and Standard.

Summary to be announced

Summary to be announced

The need to reform adult social care funding is decades overdue – and remains one of the thorniest issues on the UK political landscape. The sector entered the COVID-19 pandemic on the back foot, facing mounting levels of demand and unmet need, workforce shortages, an increasingly fragile provider market and significant levels of underfunding.  

The pandemic clearly highlighted weaknesses in the sector’s resilience – and should act as a catalyst for reform. The shift in public perception of health and care services means there may never be a better time to address the relationship between the state and the individual and consider what a reformed social care funding system could look like. 

President’s closing address

Sponsored by Impower

Why do savings plans so often fail to deliver? What strategies and approaches can be deployed within complex systems to increase confidence that sustainable savings will be realised?

In a time of greater uncertainty and increased financial strain, the stakes are high when it comes to delivering savings. Identifying savings of the required scale right now can be a real challenge but delivering them is even harder. To do this, we need to recognise that systems are complex and implementing sustainable change is not an overnight solution.

We define ‘good savings’ as those that achieve improved outcomes, strategic alignment and sustainability.

This session, which will be drawing on the experiences of our local authority clients, will showcase successful examples of how this has been achieved. It will demonstrate how shaping inclusive ambition, strengthening the connection between spend and needs and delivering at the frontline enables real and sustainable system change.

This session will highlight approaches that can increase confidence in the delivery of savings, and encourage finance colleagues to embrace opportunities that will improve outcomes and create ‘good savings’.

2019 saw us sit up and pay attention to the climate crisis, with government declaring a climate emergency. What are the next steps for public services in achieving a carbon neutral country by 2050 or sooner?

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Public sector finances will feel the strain more than ever before as they grapple with the impact of 10 years of austerity, the COVID-19 pandemic and rising demand for services.

Robust data and solid evidence will be increasingly important in ensuring that the best outcomes are achieved and that scarce resources are targeted where they’re needed most. Join a discussion with experts from across the worlds of health, police, housing and local government to explore the role of data and analytics in the future of policymaking and ensuring organisational resilience.

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors

The picture for diversity remains hugely varied across the public sector, both in the UK and internationally. Very few countries have achieved gender parity in senior public service roles, women in the UK public sector are, on average, paid 14% less per hour than men, and in 2018, 12% of civil servants who declared their ethnicity were black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME). Diversity is key to organisational performance, so what can we do to improve diversity and inclusion in the public sector workforce?

Sponsored by TechnologyOne

This session will take the form of a discussion between panellists on the current climate in local government including the impact and management of changes associated with: Covid-19, Digital disruption, transformation, commercialisation and how local councils are looking for modern systems to improve efficiency and decision making.

Summary to be announced

Sponsored by Zurich Municipal

We are facing up to the challenge of a global emergency, the climate emergency. Climate change adaptation and mitigation has been described as the risk issue of a generation and environmental and climate related risks have been steadily climbing up global risks lists in recent years. We have seen a rapid shift in policymaking and public sentiment, making responding to this risk area a more critical and urgent challenge than ever. The public sector is at the forefront of this agenda in the UK and must be thinking about holistic strategies that mitigate, adapt and build resilience, responding to the physical, transition, potential liability risks as well as identifying and optimising opportunities. This session will consider the key themes from Zurich Municipal’s recently published Climate whitepaper and look at the key areas for you and your organisations.

COVID-19 has accelerated demand for social care in an environment in which demand was already rising exponentially. How can local authorities manage demand-led services like social care?

The ongoing pandemic and construction of the Nightingale hospitals has shown how quickly capital can be mobilised in a crisis situation, despite years of limited access to capital funding. 

Looking back, how prepared was our infrastructure to cope with a public health crisis of this magnitude? Were the right investments made? What lessons should we learn to inform infrastructure spending moving forwards?

Large scale private sector collapses like Carillion and Interserve have shaken confidence in the outsourcing model. Could non-profits have a role in filling this gap? Explore how charities and social enterprises can support the delivery of place-based services that add value to local areas.

 In 2014, devolution was the big conversation, with local government pressing for greater control of their local areas. However in 2020, we still have one of the most centralised states in the developed world. COVID-19 has highlighted the fact that local government often plays the largest role in supporting communities through crisis. As we reach a new normal, how can devolution be brought back to, and kept at, the fore of the policy agenda? What powers should be devolved, and what models of governance should be explored for managing them?

The amount of change in the public sector over the past decade requires professionals with a new approach to public finance. What skills will be needed to ensure that the profession can be future-proofed against oncoming challenges the sector faces?

While adults social care remains the highest area of spend for many local authorities, demand for children’s social care is rising. How can councils ensure long-term financial resilience against the fluctuating impact of demand-led services?

Summary to be announced

Support mechanisms put in place by the UK government in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic have been unprecedented in scale and implemented at pace. As we move away from the initial crisis response, we need to start reconsidering our approach to accountability, sustainability and growth. How will decisions taken in the early days of the crisis be scrutinised? Are established models of governance fit for the future, and if not, what may have to change?

A virtual alternative to our traditional CSN networking drinks event.

Break-out into small groups led by established professionals and newly qualified members.

COVID-19 has sent the economy reeling, both at home and abroad, with vast amounts of public money being spent to keep the public and private sectors above water. With neither a vaccination nor consistently effective treatment near at hand, and limited understanding of how COVID-19 might evolve, what long-term economic impacts can we expect to see? Will the pandemic be the great unifier, or further deepen existing political divides?

Sponsored by: Grant Thornton

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors.

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors

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Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors

Time to explore the virtual exhibition hall and chat with the exhibitors