Agenda item

The Chairman invited Henry Butt (HB), Improvement Strategy Adviser, to introduce the update.

HB gave an overview of the current plans for the Innovation Zone (IZ) at the LGA Annual Conference and encouraged members to participate in and promote the programme:

·       In conjunction with the IZ Member Working Group, preparations were now nearly complete. It was proposed to have 3 stands with presentations taking place concurrently.

·       The programme will include over 30 sessions around the theme of Resilience and Renewal. A new feature this year will be 7 TEDx style ‘spotlight on’ sessions, challenging councils to think differently.

·       HB flagged up Annex B to the report which highlighted the wider conference sessions featuring improvement.

Members’ comments and questions:

·       Members welcomed the proposed programme for the IZ and wider conference.

·       A request was made to try and encourage keynote speakers to visit the IZ to see how councils have been adapting to the various challenges they have faced. MS said that screens will be displayed in the main conference areas promoting the IZ and officers had been working hard to ensure that wider sector-led improvement featured heavily in the main conference. Keynote speakers so far confirmed included Michael Gove, Rishi Sunak, Lisa Nandy and Sir Ed Davey.

Decision:

Improvement & Innovation Board noted progress on developing the Innovation Zone programme and how Improvement will feature in this year’s LGA Annual Conference 2022 in Harrogate from 28-30 June 2022.