February

 

APSE is hiring!

A vacancy has arisen for a post of Principal Advisor based in Oxford.

The role of the Principal Advisor is to coordinate a broad range of advisory, research, written briefings, seminars and information events to local councils, as well as having responsibility for supporting and developing regional membership within the South of England. The post holder will also take responsibility for managing the existing support team based in Oxford. The deadline for submissions is 25 February.

Click here for more information on how to apply.

 

A vacancy has also arisen for the post of Administration and Finance Assistant based in Manchester. The successful individual will provide administrative support to the organisation’s Finance, Solutions and Training sections. The role will support the management of training course bookings and preparation and post course tasks, sales invoicing, credit control and formatting reports, CVs and liaising with customers and suppliers. The deadline for submissions is Monday 11 February.

Click here for more information on how to apply.

 

Labour Local Government Conference 2019

APSE will be hosting two fringe events at the Labour Local Government Conference in Coventry on Saturday 9 February:

1. Neighbourhood services: what do the public really want from your local council?

Alongside Paul Smith of Survation, APSE will explore the impact of austerity budgeting on neighbourhood services and share findings on a recent public opinion poll; this shows the public trust local councils to deliver services, over and above the private sector, and that the public want more of their taxes spent on local public services. Are our neighbourhood services like bins, recycling, parks and housing the way in which councils should be reconnecting with local voters?

2. New municipalism and community wealth building

In this session APSE will explore the benefits of adopting a community wealth building approach to local council services. From insourcing services to developing local supply chains through procurement, and acting as market disruptors – making changes to the shape and function of the local economy is essential to changing an economic model that leaves many behind. This session will share some of the quick wins that your council could adopt to start working towards community wealth building.

If you are attending the Conference, we look forward to seeing you there!

 

Risk and commercialisation: A guide for local scrutiny councillors

This report by APSE and the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) discusses the ways in which scrutiny can engage with issues arising from commercial activity. The report explores the current landscape around commercialisation, and provides a toolkit and guide for councils to help build their own bespoke, locally-relevant governance and scrutiny systems for commercial activity. The full report is available to download for free from the APSE website. To purchase a hard copy, please complete the online form. APSE will be discussing the report findings at the forthcoming Commercialisation Network. You can also read about this in this research in the MJ  

 

Keeping up to speed with the latest energy developments

The APSE Energy webpage is updated regularly so you can keep up to speed with the latest energy news. Previous APSE energy views include the local authority role in the electric vehicle agenda and a recent Ofgem consultation on changes to the licensing regime for suppliers

 

BigChange - New Approved Partners

APSE is delighted to welcome BigChange to the Approved Partner scheme. BigChange is an established force in mobile resource management, offering a host of solutions that have proven to transform the way companies manage their mobile workforces and mobile operations. Click here to learn more about this exciting new partnership.

 

Conservative Councillors’ Association Local Government Conference 2019

APSE will be hosting two events at the CCA Local Government Conference in Oxford on 22 February:

1. Fringe Event: Neighbourhood services - what do the general public really want their taxes spent on?

APSE will share the findings of our latest public opinion survey on neighbourhood services. What do the public want their tax spending on and who do they trust to deliver local services like parks, refuse collection, highways and housing? Will it be local councils and local councillors or central government and ministers?

2. Plenary:  The local government finance plenary

APSE will share the findings of our latest local government finance research and ask if austerity is coming to an end when will local government get its fair share? What should we be demanding from the Comprehensive Spending Review for local councils? Is criticism of council approaches to assets, investments and commercialisation strategies fair or an unwarranted attack on our freedoms and flexibilities?

If you are attending the Conference, we look forward to seeing you there!

 

Beond – New Approved Partners

APSE is delighted to welcome the Beond Group to the Approved Partner scheme. Beond is a multi-award-winning energy consultancy set up to provide public sector and non for profit organisations with more choice, full transparency and significant savings against traditional PBO’s consortium offers. Click here to learn more about this exciting new partnership.

Beond are kindly sponsoring Workshop 2: Is your council getting value from your energy provider? at the Big Energy Summit on 14-15 March in Warwick. You can book your place at the Summit by clicking here.

 

Welcoming our newest staff member!

APSE is delighted to announce our newest member of staff, Data Analysis and IT Officer Ryan McNally. Having spent twelve years working for Manchester United - six years as a data analyst - Ryan will be responsible for providing data analysis support to the APSE benchmarking process, maintaining systems to process data, populating databases, interrogating and producing reports. Ryan can be contacted on [email protected]

 

Latest Briefings

·         The Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Act 2018. The National Assembly for Wales introduced the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill on 13 March 2017 which became law on 24 January 2018. This briefing outlines the latest position with regards to the legislation. Click here to read online.

·         State of the Market 2018: Building Cleaning Services. The survey covers a range of issues of interest to officers and councillors responsible for building cleaning services. Click here to read online. 

·         Trend Analyses 2017/18. These briefings provide details on the performance information available from APSE’s performance networks service; looking at performance indicators and current policy issues for councils who deliver:

• Education Catering Services
• Building Cleaning Services
• Building Maintenance Services