Local Enterprise Partnership  In the wake of the abolition of Regional Development Agencies, Eric Pickles and Vince Cable have invited local government and businesses to work together to create Local Enterprise Partnerships.  These are to cover upper tier authority areas, to contain an equal number of business people and elected members with a business chairman.  I invited our two vice chancellors, chief executives of the top 100 Oxfordshire companies, business organisations such as CBI, IoD, FSB, OEP and Chambers and Oxfordshire council leaders to a meeting in County Hall in the early evening at made a presentation for a proposed bid to government for an Oxfordshire-based local enterprise partnership to be called The Oxfordshire City Region Board.  Here is a link to my Briefing Note and to the Power Point.

Word file

Oxfordshire Partnership  I made a presentation to the Oxfordshire Partnership on 14 July 2010 entitled New Government - Emerging Themes.  It was an attempt to do some horizon scanning and the likely impact on Oxfordshire.     Here is a link to the Power Point.

Here is a link to my speaking notes.

Here is a link to the Power Point presentation I used.

Here is a link to the Power Point presentation we used.

Oxfordshire Business Awards Dinner  I was honoured tonight, not only to attend the Oxfordshire Business Awards Dinner  but also to make the presentation for a new award For lifetime achievement in Oxfordshire's economy by contributing much to Oxfordshire's economy  to a couple who have given something back to Oxfordshire's business life  The award went to Sir Martin & Lady Wood   They founded Oxford Instruments, a hugely successful Oxford company.  They went on to found the Northmoor Trust, the Oxford Trust (now known as Science Oxford), Oxford Innovation Ltd which helps local spin out businesses and the Oxfordshire Economic Partnership.  Here is a link to the full list of their achievements which I used as a speaking note.

Local Government Association Finance Briefings After the LGA Executive today, there was a meeting of the Strategy & Finance Policy Review Group at which we had three presentations:

	Prof Tony Travers of the LSE;
	Stephen Jones, LGA Finance Director and an ex Treasury civil servant;
	Paul Raynes, LGA Programme director - regeneration & transport, & culture, tourism & sport

You can access each of these Power Point presentations by clicking on the presenter's name.

Town & Country Planning Association Annual Conference - Making Planning Work  I addressed a conference at One Whitehall Place, Westminster run by the TCPA.  I shared a platform with Nick Raynsford MP (Lab) and an anonymous Liberal who stood in at very short notice for Cllr Richard Kemp (Lib) who cried off at very short notice.  My five minute presentation is here.

Oxford University Chinese Government Programme   I addressed 30 senior members of the Chinese government and Communist Party on local government issues.  They were interested in the relationship between elected members and officials.  Given that democracy is a relatively unknown quantity in China, I spent quite a bit of time out of my allotted 30 minutes in talking about voting systems, majority and minority administrations and the current controversy around pay for public servants.  I also talked about the critical importance of there being a good working relationship between members and officers with a clear understanding of respective roles. I shared a platform with Bob Price, leader of Oxford City Council.  We had simultaneous translation which is better than consecutive translation but nevertheless means there is less dialogue and audience reaction than we are used to.  However, this was compensated for in the question and answer session that followed where we had some lively questions that showed they had been listening intently to what we had been saying and the interpreters had clearly done a god job of translating our ramblings into coherent Chinese.

District Councils Network Executive Away Day The Executive is working with the Leadership Centre for Local Government to plan for the difficult political and financial issues all of local government faces.  I was invited to give a county council view of two-tier working and was encouraged to be provocative!  I hope I succeeded in the interests of promoting a good level of debate.

Corporate Induction Event  This is an induction for new county council staff across all directorates.  It was attended by some 130 staff, including our new Director for Children, Young People & Families.  This is my presentation which talks about the importance of political awareness in an organisation that is member-led  

Apprenticeship Summit  A conference jointly sponsored by the High Sherriff and me to highlight opportunities for apprenticeships in Oxfordshire and to promote a sense of Corporate Social Responsibility for young people Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEETs)

Launch of SEEDA Innovation and Growth Team for Oxfordshire  - SEEDA has invested a considerable sum in this team which is designed to promote innovation and economic growth in Oxfordshire. In my address to 100+ attendees, I sought to promote the success and diversity of our economy.  My Power Point presentation is quite large and I hope that, by clicking this link, you can access it.

Partnership Event This was open to members of Oxfordshire partnerships – the Oxfordshire Partnership, the District Local Strategic Partnerships and the Thematic Partnerships. 

Bicester Summit  This Power Point presentation was given at the Bicester Summit held at Chesterton Golf Course on 9 December 2009.  The South East Regional Minister, Jonathan Shaw, was in attendance.

City/County Business Breakfast at Blake Lapthorns  This address was given to the regular Business breakfast jointly hosted by Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council.  It sets out the financial position faced by the County Council in the medium term.

Local Government Association (LGA) finances  This presentation was delivered to senior members of the LGA as an introduction to a business planning workshop  

Green Belt Policy  This presentation was delivered to senior Chinese government officials on an Oxford College course

Safe Cycling in Oxford   This presentation was delivered to Lord Krebs, Principal of Jesus College and a selection of fellows, under-graduates and staff of the College following an exchange of correspondence about a statement he had made in a speech in the House of Lords about cycling policy in Oxford

Constructing Excellence at NW Bicester  This presentation was delivered to an audience of more than 100 people at the Said Business School.  It presents a series of challenges tot he developers of the proposed eco-town at NW Bicester.

The View from the Public Sector - I am a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Accountant by profession.  The monthly magazine of the latter body is Accounting & Business and they recently invited me to contribute a public sector viewpoint. 

Credit Crunch - Cause & Cure - Address to Nebraska State University Students attending Oxford University Programme

LGA Finance team Away Day - Briefing for LGA Finance team

County councils: Improving Performance and Good Governance - Presentation to senior Chinese government officials attending Oxford University Programme

Working in a Political Environment - Presentation to Seminar for new staff members

State of the County - Presentation to Oxfordshire Strategic Partnership