To Harrogate for one more conference

Three down one to go. This Autumn we have an unusually extended conference season following the postponement of the Local Government Association Conference. Typically held in the first week of July this year the LGA conference, booked in for Harrogate, had to be cancelled when the former Prime Minister called a snap election for the same week. With council leaders needed for campaigns and chief executives required to run the elections there was no way that the conference could go ahead. 

The conference organisers could have opted to leave it until next July but the leadership team of senior councillors at the LGA insisted that it should be reorganised. And good for them for sticking to their guns. This conference is one of the big ones of the political year. For local government it is the big one. It is the one time of the year that all the senior councillors and officers from the 337 member councils in England and Wales come together to share experiences and discuss their challenges. 

For the exhibitors and commercial visitors it is hugely important too. As I always remind our clients, the gathering of all these councils represents billions of pounds of public sector buying power. Only once a year does that coalesce under one roof. Anyone seeking to understand and work with local government would be foolish to miss this conference. 

This year will have a different feel. We’re used to twilight evenings and sunshine only interspersed with the occasional summertime shower. Proceedings will feel somewhat different with darker starts and ends to the day – although it will light in time for the annual Cratus 5km run on Wednesday morning. 

The other big and more important change this year will be political. For the past fourteen years local government has been operating under Conservative (or Conservative led coalition) governments. For the first time since 2009 the secretary of state is a Labour minister. Deputy PM Angela Rayner will be delivering the coveted keynote and the conference will be anxious to hear what she has to say about devolution, funding for local services, housebuilding and a host of other critical issues. 

Cratus will be there and hosting a bunch of our usual events. I’ve already mentioned the 5km run and our LGBTQIA+ disco on Wednesday night is always a highlight. There are some other select highlights too – drop me a line if you would like to join us for dinner one evening. 

We’re looking forward to seeing attendees from across the world of local government in Harrogate. It’s one of our favourite conference towns although it has proven an enigma for some councillors from the south east in the past. Back in 2015 I advised a cabinet member from a south coast authority that he really should go. After having his pass and accommodation arranged for him all that was left for him to do was arrange his own travel. This prompted a phone call from him to me that opened with words I will never forget – “Dan, Harrogate is in Yorkshire”. Poor chap had made the booking convinced that Harrogate was in Kent. Another councillor leader from the south of England arrived at his first conference in Harrogate in the same year late in the evening. Checking into his hotel he was disappointed when his request for a sea view room couldn’t be accommodated. He had a bright start to the next day nonetheless. 

So we’ll see you next week in Harrogate. It’s not in Kent and it’s not by the sea. But it will be very interesting and it will be great fun.