Tim Reade, Head of Property Advisory Services, reviews the CIPFA Scotland Conference 2019
It was a long and at times very picturesque six-hour drive from the CIPFA Property Chester office to the amazing venue for the Conference that was St Andrews’ Fairmont Hotel. It was a real pleasure to be able to meet over 170 delegates from the many authorities, government departments and public sector institutions who attended the two day thought leadership plenaries, deep dive technical workshops and general Celtic networking camaraderie!
For my part, as a chartered surveyor with my feet firmly planted in the world of bricks and mortar, delivering a workshop on capital strategy to an audience made up of finance experts was mildly concerning but I do relish a challenge. In only 30 minutes much ground was covered and of course the topic was aimed at providing a summary of the strategic issues that Local Authorities face in this area.
As all authorities grapple with the need to complete their strategies by 1 April it was great to get the feedback from service heads that a strategic approach was exactly how they envisaged delivery of a fit-for-purpose capital strategy. Whether they were able to ensure this became a reality in their respective authorities was another conversation and indeed one which could not hope to be covered in the time we had.
For more information on the support we can offer via in-house training, network events or consultancy in the area of capital strategy contact us at property@cipfa.org