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| Conference Centre at Scarman House |
I spent Thursday and Friday of last week at Warwick
University Conference Centre attending a workshop for council finance portfolio
holders run by the Local Government Association.
This might seem a rather dull way of spending
time, but it was in fact a stimulating and interesting couple of days. I was rather thrown into my new role back in
May, having only been on the County Council for a year, and there have been
times when I have been beset with serious doubts about what I am supposed to be
doing. I do have a background in
finance, having worked as an analyst advising public companies and investors for 20
years or so in the City, but the world of Local Government finance is very different. From the moment you find out that income in
a council’s budget is treated as a negative number you realise that you are
in a totally different world.
The negative income question (along with a lot of other
mysteries) was dealt with by the facilitators of the event with clarity and
wit, and we also heard from a number of experienced councillors who have been
in their finance roles for some years. I am not
sure if I am very much clearer about what I ‘should’ be doing, since clearly
they all take an individual approach, but I now have the confidence that I can
pretty well carry on in my own particular way.
The political balance of the delegates was mixed, with 5
Conservatives, 5 Labour and a solitary Liberal Democrat from South Lakeland District Council. It was interesting to exchange views and ideas
with them. It was also fun on the Friday
morning because the Labour party people present were all glued to their mobiles
watching as the results and turnout numbers gradually emerged from the counts
for the South Yorkshire election for Police and Crime Commissioner. By the time the morning was over it was clear
that their candidate had won, so they all went home in a cheerful state.
I too was happy to be on my way back to Suffolk, although
this didn’t last long since the traffic on the way home was terrible!
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