ACES National
ACES SPRING CONFERENCE 2012,
BARNSLEY Marcus Perry
Marcus joined local government in 1994 after a career in the corporate world and private practice, UK and abroad. Between 1996 and 2005 he was Head of Property at the London Borough of Brent. During this time he joined ACES and became Chairman of the London Branch between 2000 and 2002. He is now Branch Treasurer. He was a long standing member of ACES Council, his last role being Coordinator for Performance Management. Since 2005 he has had interim assignments at Newham, Westminster, East Sussex County Council and, most recently, Bromley.
Marcus gives an overview of the conference, its theme and speakers’ presentations. “As your reporter, it leaves me to thank the speakers for their excellent, informative and thought provoking presentations which were of a very high calibre and very relevant for an ACES conference.”
This year’s Spring Conference was hosted by ACES North East Branch and ACES delegates, partners, friends, clients and customers all gathered at the Holiday Inn on the outskirts of Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
This year’s theme was “Faster Higher Stronger” which had one wondering if the organisers had thought the event was a prelude to the Olympics – until all became clear with the addition of the words “The Challenges of Property in the Public Sector”. The challenges attracted over 100 delegates and partners from some 60 organisations, which was an excellent turnout in these difficult times.
As has become customary, several of the old hands at ACES Conferences arrived the day before to enjoy an informal dinner in a local restaurant, as a precurser to the main event.
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Thursday morning started with a meeting of the North East Branch, to which all ACES delegates were invited. The meeting, chaired by Branch Chair Daniella Barrow, included a brief welcome from our National President, Heather McManus and then a lively discussion on the Portas Review, led by Richard Allen from the Heart of England Branch. My notes record that the North West Branch does not like it.
The first speaker for the conference proper was Carol Summers, Chief Executive of TerraQuest, whose presentation was entitled “Data Collection: the Government Agenda”. Of concern to those present, Carol informed us that only 20% of public organisations really knew what they owned – and this after all those years of work on asset management plans. Carol emphasised the importance of data to an organisation to enable it to make the right property decisions. Leadership and buy-in remain crucial at local government level during times of step-change if we are to achieve the savings expected from property. Carol concluded her presentation by expressing the view that huge opportunities lay ahead in local government, particularly if we involved
the private sector – and we should use ACES to share good practice. [I’m trying – Editor].
After lunch Daniella introduced Heather who welcomed us to the conference before introducing Steve Pick, Acting Chief Executive of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, to give the introductory address to delegates and welcome us all to Barnsley.
The afternoon presentations began with David Curtis, Executive Director of the Homes and Communities Agency for the North-East, Yorkshire and Humberside, asking us if we were “Ready for the Challenge”. David advised the HCA’s remit had increased since the abolition of the Rural Development Agencies but it remained, in essence, to deliver quality affordable homes – currently more homes with less money. David then explained the HCA’s role in delivering the Government’s Housing Strategy and “Get Britain Building” campaign, with its fund of £570 million in addition to other committed funding. David expressed the importance of the HCA’s working with Local Enterprise Partnerships and its policy of “being here to help others get things done”. After further explanation of the different initiatives and strategies
THE TERRIER - Summer 2012
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