President update 3rd July - latest news from ADEPT
Hello everyone
Firstly, to introduce myself. I’m Anthony Payne, ADEPT’s President for the next year. I’m also Strategic Director for Place at Plymouth City Council.
It is a great privilege to have been elected as the President, and I hope to be able to do the role justice. My priorities for the year will focus on the inter-relationship, tensions and integration of policy and practice to make places work; better joined up government and in particular funding requirements, solutions and opportunities; and the training and support for our greatest asset – namely our people within Place departments. You can find out more about these in my piece in the MJ!
I’d like to thank Mark Kemp for his dedication and good humour throughout his presidential year, which has seen ADEPT further grow and develop. Although, leaving Hertfordshire to pursue new projects, Mark will continue to be part of the Leadership Team as Immediate Past President, so I am looking forward to his ongoing support.
I am also delighted that Kylie Russell will be joining ADEPT as deputy CEO on 21st July. If at any point, you feel there is an issue that ADEPT could possibly assist with in relation to our interface with government, other national or professional bodies, please do let Hannah and myself know and we will endeavour to consider the issue that is raised.
News and publications
As you know, ADEPT is part of the Blueprint Coalition. The group recently published its Manifesto Asks, which calls on every political party to commit to empowering local authorities to tackle climate change. The Coalition is also holding an open webinar, Where next for local climate action? on 12th July. We will discuss the critical role of local government and the national policies that could help accelerate local climate action. It’s free, so please click here for further details.
The Future Highways Research Group (FHRG) has published a new prospectus. Aimed at local authority highways service leaders, the document collates all the available tools and services open to ADEPT members. Download the prospectus here.
Sticking with highways, we have just published ADEPT's Essential guide to highways terms an easy reference guide to terms that can often mean different things to different departments.
Events
June’s Lunch and Learn, hosted by Jacobs, explored natural capital and nature-based solutions including how a natural capital approach can deliver multiple benefits across projects. We'll be writing up a blog next month.
The next Lunch & Learn session will focus on supporting career pathways to highways and infrastructure, looking at the challenges of an ageing workforce and competing sectors within a global jobs marketplace. The event will be hosted by Kier and will take place on 21st July – book your place here.
Booking is now open for the ADEPT National Traffic Managers Conference on 5th October. This year’s theme is ‘Preparing, Delivering and Managing Resilient Road Networks’ and will focus on current and future issues facing traffic managers in delivering a safe, sustainable highways network. The event will feature a series of presentations and panel sessions tackling the challenges and embracing the opportunities in the traffic management world. Find out more and book your free place here.
The Navigating Transition workshop – aimed at those beginning to think about a new stage in their career – being held in Birmingham on Friday 13th October (more details here) – not that I am trying in any way to encourage you to leave the sector!
Blogs
This month’s Climate Change blog features ADEPT’s policy officer, David Dale who talks more about the Blueprint Coalition’s manifesto for place-based climate action. The blog is here.
The Live Labs blog talks about the pivotal role of Monitoring and Evaluation to the Live Labs 2 programme and is written by Jamie King, Associate Transport Planner at WSP and member of the programme team. The blog is here.
Finally, a couple of dates for your diary! We are currently planning ADEPT’s Autumn Conference, which will take place on 16th and 17th November 2023 in Nottingham. More information will follow, but please save the date!
This is always a popular event attracting top speakers and debate – along with Place Directors, the conference is a real opportunity for senior members of your team to come and meet colleagues from across the country and take advantage of one of the many benefits of ADEPT membership. It’s also great value for money.
You can find out more about ADEPT’s latest news, publications and the work of our boards and groups on the website: www.adeptnet.org.uk