Pitter pat little April showers….. I hope that you are all managing to dodge the rain drops that seem to have swept the country over the past few days.
I have decided that being Institute President means that you move too quickly to be rained on anyhow!!
Since my last update I have started the AGM attendances for the associations. The first (as they seem to be first with most events) was the East Midlands on 15th April. Leicester I am afraid was a mass of road works, but I picked my way along to the glorious old town hall building, it is so nice to still see some of these housing local government as so many offices are modern buildings. Leicester Town Hall was undergoing a lick of paint but all the same it was a friendly and familiar feeling.
The Friday after, I attended my own AGM of Sussex and Surrey Association. We run our AGM as a normal meeting as well as having the President speak and election of officers we also have a guest speaker for a topical subject. This one saw Geoff Fisher SVP give an update on the 5 “R’s” (Recession, Revaluation, empty Rates, Regeneration and Rent service). Geoff felt that the change to the values on revaluation may well mean that the poundage (multiplier) will need to drop steeply to keep the overall contribution to the fund even. He remains quite confident that we will have a transitional relief scheme for the new list however … oh joy!
Monday 20th was a teleconference for the LTR faculty board. Despite various people calling in from laybys and “borrowed” offices, it was a good meeting and we were able to discuss some of the current issues affecting the revenues world. Particular concern was raised over the anticipated legislation concerning deferment of rates. The board has prepared an initial briefing paper to send in to CLG raising queries that we hope will be addressed when the legislation is finally released in July. Failure to address issues such as what happens if someone on the deferment scheme vacates during the period, and how should the pool be accounted for and contributions made in respect of these deferred amounts could lead to a real quagmire for administrators. We hope that the department will address all of our issues!
Tuesday 21st saw me arrive a little late for the London and Home Counties AGM due to my misjudging the time to take the changed route on the Thameslink train in to the City. Luckily they delayed the start of the meeting until my arrival and we finished almost on time! The meeting saw the installation of former Council Member Peter Scrafton as Chairman for the year.
Wednesday morning I was off to South Wales (Swansea) for lunch with the executive and AGM. Determined that I would not be late I gave myself an hour and half more than the journey time, thinking I could get a little retail therapy in before, however the accident on the M4 leading in to London meant that it took me 2 hours to get on to the M4 when this would normally be 50 minutes. I arrived in Swansea with 15 minutes to spare and the shoe shopping was therefore abandoned!
I have decided that being Institute President means that you move too quickly to be rained on anyhow!!
Since my last update I have started the AGM attendances for the associations. The first (as they seem to be first with most events) was the East Midlands on 15th April. Leicester I am afraid was a mass of road works, but I picked my way along to the glorious old town hall building, it is so nice to still see some of these housing local government as so many offices are modern buildings. Leicester Town Hall was undergoing a lick of paint but all the same it was a friendly and familiar feeling.
The Friday after, I attended my own AGM of Sussex and Surrey Association. We run our AGM as a normal meeting as well as having the President speak and election of officers we also have a guest speaker for a topical subject. This one saw Geoff Fisher SVP give an update on the 5 “R’s” (Recession, Revaluation, empty Rates, Regeneration and Rent service). Geoff felt that the change to the values on revaluation may well mean that the poundage (multiplier) will need to drop steeply to keep the overall contribution to the fund even. He remains quite confident that we will have a transitional relief scheme for the new list however … oh joy!
Monday 20th was a teleconference for the LTR faculty board. Despite various people calling in from laybys and “borrowed” offices, it was a good meeting and we were able to discuss some of the current issues affecting the revenues world. Particular concern was raised over the anticipated legislation concerning deferment of rates. The board has prepared an initial briefing paper to send in to CLG raising queries that we hope will be addressed when the legislation is finally released in July. Failure to address issues such as what happens if someone on the deferment scheme vacates during the period, and how should the pool be accounted for and contributions made in respect of these deferred amounts could lead to a real quagmire for administrators. We hope that the department will address all of our issues!
Tuesday 21st saw me arrive a little late for the London and Home Counties AGM due to my misjudging the time to take the changed route on the Thameslink train in to the City. Luckily they delayed the start of the meeting until my arrival and we finished almost on time! The meeting saw the installation of former Council Member Peter Scrafton as Chairman for the year.
Wednesday morning I was off to South Wales (Swansea) for lunch with the executive and AGM. Determined that I would not be late I gave myself an hour and half more than the journey time, thinking I could get a little retail therapy in before, however the accident on the M4 leading in to London meant that it took me 2 hours to get on to the M4 when this would normally be 50 minutes. I arrived in Swansea with 15 minutes to spare and the shoe shopping was therefore abandoned!
I listened to the Budget for part of the journey but it was the following day before I read the paper and picked up on the matters that affect us. I was very puzzled at the Chancellor's comment that LAs have had no increase in caseloads although the benefit expenditure has gone up. I am sure that all of our statistics disprove this. I may well be writing to the Chancellor to point this and a few other inconsistencies out!
I think that brings you up to date. I am off to Keele this week (students have been there since Saturday) for the spring revision course. Clearly this is a major week for our students preparing for the June exams and I shall enjoy spending a few days with them. Of course I wish them all the very best of luck in the forthcoming exams, but then hard work and dedication (demonstrated by all students that I meet) pays off too!!
