The 2023 LGA conference was back in Bournemouth this year with the sun once again out as local government gathered for our annual jamboree. Whilst the commitments of being council leader had left me, chairing one of the LGA's policy boards - and particularly one that is very much engaged with government at the moment on assurance - meant I was no less busy. And of course, I arrived at LGA conference with the knowledge that I had just also been elected as deputy leader of the LGA Conservative Group, serving alongside new group leader Kevin Bentley.
The Improvement and Innovation Board is closely associated with the conference Innovation Zone, so I spent several sessions here, both opening conference sessions as well as taking part in sessions on celebrating One Public Estates and also the work of peers. As well as the great and good of local government, conference normally see senior government figures too, and I was pleased to get an opportunity to talk to Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. I also 'secured' the main plenary on Thursday morning to host a session with Lord Morse, the interim chairman of OFLOG, and Clive Betts MP, chairman of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee - a decent attendance considering many of us had danced the night before away at the legendary Cratus LGBT+ disco!
Without doubt, the LGA conference remains the premier event to meet and discuss current and future issues for local government, whether a politician or officer. The main plenary sessions pulled in some big names, whilst the Innovation Zone shone a spotlight on some of the exciting things happening across the country on a range of subjects. With a thriving fringe scene, plus a number of other social gatherings, three days in Bournemouth both blew cobwebs away as well as recharging us all for the coming year.
