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President's Update

This blog page features updates from ADEPT's President, Anthony Payne.

Latest post

President update 1st March - latest news from ADEPT

Hello! 

A year comes around so fast! No sooner have we started 2024 then the ADEPT Spring Conference and President Awards Dinner comes into view. It’s time to book your place and join us in celebrating our achievements across our places over the past year. The theme for this year’s conference is A good sense of place: creating resilient communities in a time of change and we are, as always, lining up an exciting range of speakers and thought provoking sessions. We have sent out details of how to submit your award entries, but please contact us for further information. 

You can find more information on the draft programme and book your place on the conference webpage.

News

SEND transport is one of the most urgent funding challenges we face. In response, we published the ADEPT SEND Transport Toolkit in November last year. We are holding a webinar on 6 March to introduce the toolkit, discuss best practice and present some different approaches being used by members across the country. If you’d like to attend, please email Hannah Bartram. In addition, our policy work with ADCS on this topic has resulted in a joint meeting with the Department for Education, where we pushed for a long term solution through future legislation and some short term actions, such as the need for personal transport budgets and co-working with the NHS. We hope for movement on this issue in the Spring Statement.

ADEPT is also providing evidence to DfT for the forthcoming spending review. The Transport and Connectivity Board has been working on this and Chair, Ann Carruthers, has issued a comment on the recent DfT Local Transport Fund announcement. 

I had a helpful catch-up meeting with Sarah Pickup, interim CEO of the Local Government Association, and look forward to meeting new CEO, Joanna Killian, when she starts in March. I have also been enjoying the regular 6-monthly calls with corporate partners.

Publications

In the last month, we submitted our response to the Government’s consultation on heat network zoning where we set out the key issues in the consultation for local authorities including ensuring policy, the role and funding of local Zone Coordinators, commercial delivery models and connecting local authority buildings. We will also be responding to the DLUHC consultation on Future Homes Standards.

We have also started posting the first stories from the equality, diversity and inclusion campaign, A Place for All, that we are running in partnership with Colas. I hope you’ll take the time out to read and share each of these personal stories which you can find on ADEPT’s LinkedIn page. They provide a real insight into the experience of each individual, but also the challenges they’ve faced at work and how they have overcome them, changing their workplaces for the better in the process. There is much we can learn and bring to our organisations in every piece.

Live Labs 2

There are still a few places left for the Live Labs 2 Expo. Taking place at Birmingham Conference and Exhibition Centre on 17 April, it is a fantastic opportunity to meet the teams, partners, SMEs and academics involved in each trial. We will also have stands and presentations from across the programme. Find out more at the Live Labs 2 Expo website.

Blogs

We have two special additional blogs this month inspired by the Autumn Conference session on artificial intelligence (AI). Revolutionising Highways: How AI is Transforming the UK's Transportation Industry has been written by Colas’ Vishnu Kalia and Brave New World - Embracing AI for sustainable and inclusive placemaking is from Rupert Lorraine, Director of The Arts Institute at the University of Plymouth. Both make for fascinating reading.

This month’s Climate Change blog again comes from our very own CEO, Hannah Bartram. In a recent Lunch & Learn, a team from AtkinsRéalis shared their work on Liveable Neighbourhoods and how they have developed a new approach for working with communities. Find out more here.

Back to Live Labs 2, and we have a special blog from Programme Director, Giles Perkins, talking about sustainable infrastructure, carbon focused innovations and the Live Labs 2 programme. Read ‘Unpacking the carbon question’ here.

Neil Gibson Past President of ADEPT and our facilitator for PACE: The Place Leader’s Programme is the author of our latest blog from the thought leadership programme from ADEPT and Amey. In ‘Shaping Tomorrow’ Neil discusses the importance of thought leadership for place. Find out more here.

Events

Continuing on from our special AI blog posts, our next Lunch & Learn hosted by Arcadis will examine Using AI to optimise Transport Plan Delivery Plans on 22 March. Free for ADEPT members, you can register here. Also, for those who missed the last popular session on The Flood and Water Management Act (2010) – Schedule 3 and the Sustainable Drainage Approval Body (SAB), the slide deck is available here.

And a final reminder our next Green Finance Training with CIPFA session will take place on 7th March. There is still a little time left to book. Find out more here.

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.

More posts

  • President update: 29th September

    As rising numbers of COVID-19 cases continue across the country and the difficult situation for many students dominates the news, we are also facing the prospect of greater national restrictions. Parliament is concerned over the lack of scrutiny of emergency powers and there are still issues with the track and trace app. For many of us, it might also feel like Groundhog Day, as we continue to wait to find out about Tranche 2 of Active Travel Funding. 

    Read more >

  • President update: 15th September

    The rising number of coronavirus cases and the R number increasing to between 1 and 1.2 are obviously concerning, particularly in the northern areas of England and the Midlands and have prompted the Government to introduce the new ‘rule of six’ guidance. The Prime Minister’s introduction of Covid Marshalls took many of us by surprise with more details due out this week. One of the most pressing issues for us of course, is how they will be funded.

    Read more >

  • President update: 1st September

    Managing the reopening of schools to all students has provided many challenges, not only for the Government and schools themselves, but also for place directors. We have been working out how we can ensure pupils can travel to and from schools safely using public transport, which has been a massive issue for ADEPT members, and most keenly felt by those outside more urban areas.

    Read more >

  • President update: 31st July

    The news has been concerning this week, with the reintroduction of some lockdown measures across areas in the north of England, as well as the requirement to quarantine for travellers returning from Spain. The measures serve to highlight that coming out of lockdown is not an easy process, and with increases in cases across Europe, a reminder of how connected we are with our friends.

    Read more >

  • President's Update

    Local government yet again finds itself facing an uncertain future with even less certain budgets. There has been much coverage of the Public Accounts Committee report which has outlined risks and issues with increasing commercial investments and borrowing across councils, and how Covid-19 has led to a shortfall in expected income.

    Read more >

  • President update: 8th July

    It was interesting to listen to the chancellor’s summer statement, which outlined some important new investment that will have an impact on clean and green growth. The investment into infrastructure, the £3bn green jobs plan and the £2bn Green Homes Grant, will all help to drive a green recovery. In particular, retrofitting homes is vital for communities and the wider built environment – it not only reduces carbon emissions, it also builds resilience to future climate change, reduces fuel poverty and improves health.

    Read more >

  • President update: 1st July

    The Prime Minister’s much trailed announcement of a New Deal wasn’t the once-in-a-generation, green and clean recovery many had hoped for. Some of the funding had been announced before, just with a speeding up of delivery timescales, but investment in broadband and cycleways is welcome. ADEPT would like to see more ambitious thinking from government.

    Read more >

  • President update: 24th June

    As the Government opens up the economy further and reduces the 2m rule to ‘1m plus’, local high streets begin to see a welcome influx of visitors becoming more confident in returning to town centres, and a slow shift into a more normal life.

    Read more >

  • President update: 17th June

    This week marks the beginning of a significant time for our high streets with many shops allowed to reopen, but with strict social distancing in place. We will be watching closely how the public reacts over the coming weeks to get an idea of how safe our communities feel about returning to the shops. It’s a major concern for all place directors who need to ensure their communities feel confident and that their local economies can restart. For retail businesses, it is also a critical point as they work out how they can continue to operate with a reduced footfall. 

    Read more >

  • President update: 9th June

    My first week as ADEPT President has been a busy one. I never thought my first big role would be to don the Lycra, get on my bike and do an interview with BBC’s Countryfile, but that’s exactly what I did. Never say ADEPT isn’t without surprises.

    Read more >

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