Peter will be sharing his perspectives on priorities and challenges for Government and their implications for public bodies.

At this seminar, we will be joined by a Government Minister to discuss next steps in public body reform, including a closer look at alternative models that Chairs can consider adopting in their organisations.

What impact have government spending controls had on public body / department relationships? This seminar will be ran by the PCF in partnership with the Institute for Government and the Universities of Birmingham and Sheffield and will build on our previous work on effective relationships between departments and public bodies. Chairs will have the opportunity to contribute their views and inform the development of detailed recommendations for improving the controls framework.

Trevor Llanwarne, Government Actuary, will lead a discussion with Chairs of public bodies on strategic risk management in government. What is the common approach and how can this be improved? Trevor will present a new approach to risk that ALBs can start using in their organisations immediately.

A seminar with Dame Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

The seminar will consider the role of Chairs of public bodies in handling complaints – what should we be doing, what more we can be doing, and how the Ombudsman can help.

Sir Bob Kerslake, Head of the Civil Service, is now confirmed to speak at the PCF’s first annual conference. He will join other top speakers from government to consider themes such as transitions, effective relationships between ALBs and Departments, accountability in public bodies and new models for service delivery. You can download a copy of the programme here.

The Government has outlined its aspiration for at least 50% of new Ministerial appointments to the boards of public bodies to be women by the end of the current Parliament. In order to make this aspiration a reality, Chairs of public bodies need to play their full part.

As well as the challenges, this session will focus on the practical things that Chairs can do to help to improve the balance of women and men on boards of public bodies. The issues will be put into the context of overall board diversity. 

We will be joined by Chloe Smith MP, Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform, Ruth Medd, Founder of Women on Boards, a successful Australian social enterprise recently launched in the UK and Anne Watts CBE, Chair of the Appointments Commission. Denise Keating, Chief Executive of the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion, will act as first respondent, leading into a wider discussion and debate with Chairs.

John Cridland CBE, Director General of the Confederation for British Industry (CBI), will be attending and speaking at PCF’s seminar in September.

Discussion will focus on the relationship between the public and private sectors and the private sector’s role in the recovery from the recession and the reform of public services.

Margaret Hodge, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, will be speaking to Chairs about accountability, the relationship between parliament and ALBs ant the continuing drive to ensure value for money across all public spending.

Reception to mark the launch and publication of the joint PCF / Institute for Government guide to effective public body and departmental relationships.