Friday, 20 April 2007

The Big Event

The day of the big conference in Hatfield: Transforming Local Public Services Together. This event was put together (almost single-handedly) by Andrew Burt of Hertfordshire County Council. He watched over the conference with a paternal eye making sure that everything went smoothly.

There were about 300 people present, and I was surprised to realise how many of them I now knew, or at least recognised. There was a very strong turn-out from the voluntary sector, and quite a good showing from the statutory sector across the whole of the East of England region.

After the usual preliminaries, the day sprang to life with an excellent presentation from Mark Mitchell of Dacorum CVS. Mark was very impressive, and seemed effortlessly to identify the key issues. But he had not previously struck me as the sort of man who would use interface as a verb.

Anne Blackmore (Head of Policy at NCVO) also gave an excellent presentation, helpfully emphasising that local authorities should engage the voluntary sector not just in the delivery of services, but also in efforts to define needs, and to design solutions.

I chaired one of the morning workshops: Size Matters! …ways in which the value and volume of the voluntary sector can be measured. It was not an easy session to chair as there were one or two people present were determined to talk on every single issue, and then to provide a running commentary on everyone else's contributions. I just about managed to hold the workshop together, but the seams were beginning to go. Sarah Pinnock of Watford Borough Council attended the workshop; I hope her view of WCVS wont be coloured by this.

At lunchtime, I attended Paul Barasi’s meeting for Compact Voice.

The afternoon began with speeches from John Stoker (Compact Commissioner) and Debbie Edwards (Office of the Third Sector). Then I chaired a workshop on Local Compacts and two-tier working. This was a far better workshop: better presentations (from Paul Barasi and Laura Hack), more productive discussions, and much easier to chair.

At the end of the day, I expected to chair the final plenary sessions. But only when actually climbing on the platform did I realise that I was a member of the Q&A panel and that the session would be chaired by my colleague Anne Jansz (Stevenage CVS). After a long-ish day, this last-minute change left me feeling slightly discombobulated but I took my seat as calmly as possible.

Most questions were easily dealt with. But David Fitzpatrick (Hertfordshire Community Foundation) in his usual casual manner asked exactly the right question: if the voluntary sector becomes in part a delivery arm for public services, how can it convince local government of the value of its other work? When I expected to chair the session, this is the question I most wanted addressed. But I had not thought that I would face the question myself. I felt rather like the father in Hope and Glory whose young son bowls him an unexpected googly.

I did my best to do the question justice: made the right sort of noises, rambled for a sentence or two, mumbled incoherently, and then sat back as nonchalantly as possible. Other panel members John Stoker (Compact Commissioner), Keith Shephard (CEO of Herts CC) and Michele Rigby (Social Enterprise East of England) all seemed to give far more coherent answers. Did anyone make any sense of my answer? Did everyone notice my discomfiture? Some things it is best not to know.

Despite this, I thought the conference was a great success. Certainly, at the close of day, Andrew Burt bore the look of a man satisfied with a good day’s work.

I turned chauffer and drove Compact Commissioner John Stoker back to Hatfield railway station. He seemed very straightforward and likeable.