Local Councils Conference 2020 Friday 23 October 2020

Unable to attend? Here’s what you missed…

Who attended? 371 individuals registered for access to the event. 117 different parishes across Cambridgeshire and sent along one or more representatives, making this the best attended event yet. The full list of local councils participating can be found in Appendix 1.

Going online Holding the event online allowed a number of parish councils who would not normally attend to send someone along. Whilst a few individuals experienced some connectivity issues, for the most part, these were easily resolved.

Keynote Address and Case Studies The keynote address and video case studies from the parishes of Cottenham, Houghton & Wyton, and Wisbech were widely praised. If you haven’t had a chance to watch these, you can still view them on YouTube by clicking on the hyperlinks below: • Keynote address (Adrian Chapman) • Case Study 1 – Cottenham • Case Study 2 – Houghton & Wyton • Case Study 3 – Wisbech

The final session of the morning was a panel session, hosted by Adrian Chapman, Service Director, Cambridgeshire County Council & Peterborough City Council with additional expert speakers from Public Health (Dr Liz Robin, Director of Public Health), Community/Faith (Archdeacon Hugh McCurdy) and Local Councils (Penny Bryant, County Executive Officer of CAPALC). You can watch this on YouTube here.

Afternoon Workshops Six workshops were provided in the afternoon and delegates chose one session to attend. All six workshops were highly rated by participants; receiving an average score of 8 out of 10. The sessions were recorded and are available to watch by clicking on the hyperlinks below: • Making our lives better: The future of technology in our communities • Preparing for Emergencies • Strengthening your Town or Parish Council's offer to its residents • Enabling and Supporting Volunteering • Improving collaborative working between Clerks and Councillors • Local Councils: Developing, managing, maintaining and owning community assets successfully

Marketplace The marketplace of online booths provided a good opportunity for participating organisations to showcase their services to the local councils attending. The booths allowed organisations to talk to attendees either via text chat or via video chat, which took a little getting used to but attendees were also able to download files, watch videos and follow links to websites and social media. The list of participating organisations can be found in Appendix 2.

- 1 - Informal Networking The informal networking lounge provided a focus for attendees outside the programmed sessions and there was evidence of lots of relaxed chat taking place and swapping of information and ideas.

Conference Feedback A formal request for feedback was sent around to attendees following the event and responses suggest the Conference was very well received with attendees awarding it an average score of 8.5 out of 10.

Three quarters of respondents said they had picked up some actionable information to take back to their local council to implement.

71% of respondents said they were going to watch other sessions on demand.

93% of respondents would encourage others to attend next year’s event (whether it is held online or in person).

The following comments illustrate the success of the Conference: • “I felt I could speak with more people online and it was good to see all Parish Councils helping each other and sharing ideas.” • “This was surprisingly straight forward and overall a positive experience.” • “Great platform and lots of opportunity to chat, engage and share.” • “I hold a couple of jobs and this meant i could attend as opposed to miss it or have to take holiday to attend it. I thought it was a great job.” • “Having the conference online allows more participation. I work for a large town council and normally only one or two officers would attend. The online format has allowed more officers to attend.” • “Well done in enabling the conference to take place. It appeared to be well attended and there was plenty of engagement, attendees asking questions and commenting. Being virtual it is a very different experience, but because of the lively online engagement and breakouts you do still feel a participant.” • “I spoke to a few councillors who said they wouldn't have attended in person due to travel commitments and preferred being online.” • “Any physical conference involves a bigger time commitment whereas online has no travel overheads and more time flexibility to drop-in and drop-out, albeit limiting networking serendipity.” • “It was a very professionally run event. Ultimately, in my opinion you cannot beat face to face contact but this event ran it pretty close.”

We offered a prize of a £75 CAPALC training voucher for the feedback response drawn at random from those submitted and this was won by Southoe & Midloe Parish Council.

Summary It is firmly believed that the online Conference was an excellent way for those who support local councils to engage with a wide audience and brought people together around a common theme at a time when demonstrating the strength of communities acting together is much needed.

Any further questions or feedback, please contact: Alison Brown, Head of Business Services, Cambridgeshire ACRE (Lead Organisers for the event)

- 2 - APPENDIX 1: LIST OF LOCAL COUNCILS ATTENDING

East Cambridgeshire Parish Council Bottisham Parish Council Woodhurst Parish Council Burwell Parish Council Wyton-on-the-Hill Parish Council Cheveley Parish Council Yaxley Parish Council City of Ely Council Yelling Parish Council Haddenham Parish Council Isleham Parish Council Peterborough Kirtling and Upend Parish Council Bainton and Ashton Parish Council Little Thetford Parish Council Castor Parish Council Mepal Parish Council Deeping Gate Parish Council Stetchworth Parish Council Glinton Parish Council Swaffham Bulbeck Parish Council Hampton Hargate and Vale Parish Council Wicken Parish Council Orton Longueville Parish Council Witchford Parish Council Orton Waterville Parish Council Parish Council Fenland Thorney Parish Council Chatteris Town Council Ufford Parish Council Doddington Parish Council Elm Parish Council South Cambridgeshire Leverington Parish Council Balsham Parish Council Manea Parish Council Bar Hill Parish Council March Town Council Barrington Parish Council Whittlesey Town Council Bassingbourn Parish Council Wimblington Parish Council Barton Parish Council Wisbech Town Council Cottenham Parish Council Croydon Parish Council Dry Drayton Parish Council Abbots Ripton Parish Council Duxford Parish Council Alconbury Parish Council Elsworth Parish Council Alconbury Weston Parish Council Fen Drayton Parish Council Bluntisham Parish Council Fowlmere Parish Council Brington & Molesworth Parish Council Foxton Parish Council Buckden and Diddington Parish Council Fulbourn Parish Council Bury Parish Council Gamlingay Parish Council Catworth Parish Council Girton Parish Council Colne Parish Council Grantchester Parish Council Earith Parish Council Great Shelford Parish Council Fenstanton Parish Council Harston Parish Council Folksworth & Washingley Parish Council Hauxton Parish Council Godmanchester Town Council Histon & Impington Parish Council Great & Little Gidding Parish Council Horseheath Parish Council Parish Council Ickleton Parish Council Great Staughton Parish Council Landbeach Parish Council Hail Weston Parish Council Linton Parish Council Hemingford Abbots Parish Council Litlington Parish Council Hemingford Grey Parish Council Little Abington Parish Council Hilton Parish Council Little Gransden Parish Council Holme Parish Council Longstanton Parish Council Holywell-cum-Needingworth Parish Council Longstowe Parish Council Houghton & Wyton Parish Council Meldreth Parish Council Town Council Oakington & Westwick Parish Council Parish Council Orwell Parish Council Offord Cluny & Offord Darcy Parish Council Over Parish Council Perry Parish Council Papworth Everard Parish Council Pidley-cum-Fenton Parish Council Sawston Parish Council Sawtry Parish Council Shudy Camps Parish Council Somersham Parish Council Stapleford Parish Council Southoe & Midloe Parish Council Swavesey Parish Council Spaldwick Parish Council Thriplow Parish Council St Ives Town Council Waterbeach Parish Council Town Council Whaddon Parish Council Stilton Parish Council Willingham Parish Council The Stukeleys Parish Council and The Raveleys Parish Council

- 3 - APPENDIX 2: LIST OF ORGANISATIONS PARTICIPATING IN THE ONLINE MARKETPLACE

The following organisations provide support to local councils. Their names have been hyperlinked to their websites so you can click on them for more information:

Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough

BHIB Councils Insurance

Cambridgeshire ACRE

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Against Scams Partnership

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Association of Local Councils

Cambridgeshire County Council – Adult Social Care

Cambridgeshire County Council – Fostering Service

Cambridgeshire County Council – Public Health

Cambridgeshire County Council – Youth Offer

Fens Biosphere

Came & Co

Connecting Cambridgeshire

Eastern Community Homes

Huntingdonshire District Council

Living Sport

Parish Online

Peterborough City Council

Rialtas Business Solutions Limited and MicroshadeVSM

Scribe Accounting

Support Cambridgeshire

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Publication date: Dec 2020

The Cambridgeshire Local Councils Conference was brought to you by: