was also very responsive to members’ needs and requirements and those of their colleagues who also attended. So a few years ago we moved from the arrangement of 4 or 5 short talks in the evenings throughout the year, to one, and sometimes two, half day events.


And we have found to our delight in the NW Branch that this format has been very successful and has had an important and beneficial knock on effect on members of the Branch when local authorities were suddenly hit hard by the global economic downturn.


Over the last few years, partly as a result of well attended and well subscribed CPD events (and partly I suppose as a result of good financial management by our Honorary Treasurer) the NW Branch found its accounts to be in a reasonably healthy financial position. Such a position enabled the Branch to take a more flexible approach on behalf of members when arranging CPD events. This also happily coincided in 2011 with my year as junior vice chairman of the Branch and my responsibility to organise the main CPD event that year.


Not having carried out such a daunting task previously filled me with some trepidation but I need not have worried. The support from colleagues who had done it all before was fantastic and the majority of my effort was confined largely to following up the leads from previous years on potential speakers, ensuring a good topical mix of subjects, confirming speaker availability and attendance, organising the programme and putting in place a host of human and technological back-up measures just in case.


We were confident that the timing of the event in May and the well used and popular venue of Haigh Hall would hold us in good stead in terms of encouraging turnout. However, a great deal of uncertainty revolved around the impact of stringent budget cuts being administered by many local authorities in the region, including horror stories of a complete freeze on training budgets in some cases. We debated the matter for a long time at our Branch Committee but in the light of our financial position the decision was easy. We decided to


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slash the delegate fee to just £25 for a half day’s attendance at a CPD event which included an excellent buffet lunch in a delightful historic hall set in lovely countryside just outside Wigan (yes, there is such a place).


It did the trick and the attendance was one of the best we had had for some time augmented by a high level of feedback forms returned and very good ratings for all of the speakers. Furthermore, even at only £25 fee per delegate we managed to achieve a break even position for the event and thus avoid significant inroads into our balances.


Ever willing to learn lessons, we happily embarked on the same format for this year’s CPD event. This time I was very much a bit part player and the organisation was ably undertaken by our junior vice chair, Andrew Voss, with the same admirable support from our Chairman, Rachel Kneale, and our General Secretary of the Branch, Keith Jewsbury. The timing and the venue followed the same well trod path. Again we debated the fee, cognisant of the continuing economic climate and the ongoing budget cuts in local authorities. There was a call for a free entry event, but fearing this might demean the professionalism behind the organisation (and indeed might be regarded as insulting to some speakers) we again set the fee at a still extremely competitive £25 for the half day, including lunch.


Well, this time we excelled ourselves and received a staggering demand for places from delegates to such an extent that the General Secretary had to close the booking list and turn people away two or three weeks before the event. On the day we achieved a full house for the venue comprising 95 attendees who benefitted from an excellent event according to the feedback forms. The speakers were Alan Walker and Jeremy Steele (Cobbetts Solicitors) who presented their usual thought provoking Commercial Property Law update, Susan Robinson (CIPFA) with a comprehensive review of developments in Asset Valuations and Kevin Aspin (Kevin Aspin Training Ltd) who presented a typically entertaining talk on the tips and traps of effective face to face negotiation. The


THE TERRIER - Summer 2012


feedback highlighted the helpful joining instructions and pre-event information; good/very good scoring for all speakers and topics; good event content and session durations; a comfortable and appropriate venue and location. The feedback was also an opportunity for Members to make suggestions for future topics for subsequent CPD sessions and this makes the process all the more easier when we know what members want.


A review of the income and expenditure figures for the CPD event demonstrated that we ultimately incurred a net loss on the day, albeit a moderate one. Indeed a small increase in the fee to £30 would have just about achieved a break even point but we still felt that £25 was just about right for all the good reasons above.


In conclusion, what I have found to be really heart-warming from my involvement in the NW Branch CPD in recent years has been the willingness of colleagues to pull together and support each other in the very challenging and time consuming environment currently in local government and the immense value of organisations such as ACES, when we are able to support members’ training needs and obligations in spite of the financial constraints of their employers.


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