6.28 — weeknotes — LGA Conference

LGA Conference in Harrogate this week and the first that I have ever been to. Was a bit of a hectic weekend as I flew back into the UK on Sunday — spend the morning in Crawley Urgent Treatment centre and then off to Harrogate on Monday afternoon.

Reason for the trip to the NHS was I have managed to fracture one of my fingers — but was determined not to let it stop me doing things, although the next couple of weeks will be a bit challenging.

Reason I was at the LGA Conference was that I was part of a panel on Health Inequalities in 2040 — with some of the practical examples we have done with the Health Foundation and NHS Colleagues in Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust around Digital Inclusion.

Was a great panel discussion on the Tuesday. Chaired my Cllr David Fothergill from LGA with Sally Cartwright DPH at Luton and Ann from Health Foundation — we all bought something different to the discussion and had a queue of people after the session coming to talk to us.

Too many highlights I think really to mention. Although one I will pause on was the session before mine where Fatima Whitbread MBE talked about her life from care home to athlete — and how much more we could do as Corporate Parents — truly inspirational.

I was genuinely impressed with the range of sessions, the energy in the rooms, the speakers and the exhibitors. It reminds you just how unique the Local Government landscape is and just how important and connected to our communities it is. The ecosystem is a complex one and replies on Central and Local Government coming together — suppliers — partners — political leaders and Officers to provide a set of impressive services in challenging conditions.

Unsurprisingly the financial context came up a few times and I attended some really interesting sessions on the future of finance. Was also great to listen to the Deputy Prime Minister on the last day — genuinely resetting the relationship between local and central government. Will be interesting to see what comes out from this and the budget next week.

Tune of the week: Berri — The Sunshine After The Rain (Official Music Video)