Colin Cram has held senior positions in the public sector for the past 30 years, including central (involving the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury) and local government, higher education and the wider public sector. He has been responsible throughout for initiating and implementing innovative strategies for procurement, shared services, outsourcings and organisational re-engineering. Savings from his initiatives exceed £1bn.

Colin has created and managed several pioneering joint and shared service procurement organisations, influencing spend of up to £7bn a year. He was a founder member of the Central Unit on Purchasing (the forerunner of the Office of Government Commerce), created and led the Research Councils' Procurement Organisation, the Benefits Agency Contracts Organisation and was first director of the North Western Universities' Purchasing Consortium. Latterly, he was Director of the North West Centre of Excellence, creating and delivering collaborative opportunities in procurement and shared services for 47 local authorities.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, Colin has been appointed a senior adviser to the Office of Government Commerce and is a member of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE). He is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and training events, and is a regular contributor to professional journals. He has been a member of European working groups on procurement, innovation and sustainability. He runs a successful consultancy, Marc1 Ltd.


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Joe Manning joined NLGN as Senior Researcher in January 2012. He has led work on economic growth, capital finance and asset management. Previously, he was a policy advisor at the Design Council and prior to that a policy and communications assistant at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

Joe's experience in public policy ranges from internships in the US to research roles with a number of NGOs. He holds a Master's degree in Historical Research and a BA in History and Politics from the University of Oxford.

Presentation: Reimagining public asset management: 21st Century Joseph Chamberlain

The New Local Government Network has published another of its well researched and practical reports - this time on income generation, the opportunities and how they can be realised. The report is entitled More Light, More Power.

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With a legal background spanning private practice in city and regional firms, as well as several years in-house in the public sector, Amy Auton-Smith heads up the Corporate team within Bristol City Council's legal services division and acts as joint Deputy Monitoring Officer for the council.

Amy's specialities are local government, major projects and procurement. Her team covers all aspects of corporate governance, standards and investigations, contracts, partnerships and procurement, employment law, civil litigation, data protection and freedom of information, as well as local land charges, commons, and town and village green registrations.

Presentation: Legal aspects of income generation for local authorities

The Localism Act has ushered in a new wave of interest in how local authority services are provided and funded. Against the background of the general power of competence and the 'Community Right to Challenge', as well as the legal regimes that apply to charging and trading, local authorities will now need to consider how best to respond to these new opportunities and challenges.

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Steve Clow leads Hampshire County Council's Property Services Team. With around 300 professional staff offering a comprehensive multidisciplinary service, the department delivers a wide range of capital projects in the public sector as well as managing the existing built estate of around 5,000 buildings on 1,000 sites.

Property Services undertakes work for other public sector clients through innovative shared service arrangements and also leads a regional construction workstream initiative on behalf of all local authorities in the South East Region. The service is a regular award winner, with accolades in the areas of design, sustainability and innovation in procurement.

Steve is now the senior officer lead in the council for championing carbon reduction. The team in Property Services will support the delivery of energy reductions across the whole organisation over the next few years.

Presentation: Generating savings through rationalisation and collaboration

The public sector estate is a massive asset worth several hundred billion pounds. However, even within relatively small geographical areas, it has been managed in silos with high maintenance costs, low usage and in a way that makes it difficult to take advantage of income generation opportunities.

The presentation will include the following:
• Hampshire County Council projects that have improved use of assets and revenue savings
• The government's Capital and Asset Pathfinder Programme: a model for delivering shared benefits across the public sector
• One Public Sector Estate Programme in Hampshire: successfully delivering co-location and improved utilisation across public sector boundaries
• Asset Acquisition: future opportunities to generate income streams in a local authority context

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Nikki Bradley set up Tower Hamlets' Family Intervention Project (FIP) in 2007. In 2009, the project won the Guardian Public Service Award for its innovative partnership with Poplar Housing and Community Regeneration Association. Nikki steered the FIP away from its reliance on grant funding in 2011 and into a model of partner funding that is helping to build both its sustainability and its relevance to today's climate of localisation in a time of austerity. The FIP now delivers a range of services cross-borough.

Nikki worked for 21 years as a qualified social worker across London, predominantly in mental health and child protection work. She has contributed to the Middlesex University social work degree since 2005. In 2010, she worked for the DCSF as a Specialist FIP Adviser to the Families at Risk Division. She is currently the Coordinator of Tower Hamlets' response to the government's Troubled Families agenda.

Presentation: 'Nothing but trouble'; what's the point?

The government's 'Troubled Families' agenda is offering a financial boost to services that work with families in crisis. Nikki Bradley explains why this support can't come soon enough and demonstrates the huge financial savings and social impact that family interventions create.

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A councillor for the Leytonstone Ward in Waltham Forest for the past 12 years, Clyde Loakes has a deep understanding of the workings of local and national government. He understands how policies are developed and shaped, to deliver for local residents and communities. Ambitious and energetic, Clyde has enviable networks and a passion for excellence and improvement in public services, as well as a strong commitment to and deep understanding of partnership working and community engagement. Widely respected in local government circles across the political spectrum, Clyde stood down as Leader of Waltham Forest in May 2009, after six years at the helm.

As well as acting as the Chair of the North London Waste Authority for the past five years, the country's second largest waste authority, he is the Environment Portfolio Holder in Waltham Forest, and a founding member of the London Waste and Recycling Board. As Deputy Chair of the LGA's Environment Board since 2010, he has led on waste matters for the LGA.

Presentation: Going for green growth

Waltham Forest Council has developed an award-winning recycling scheme that has prevented unnecessary waste, made a positive impact on residents and helped to generate new sources of revenue. The scheme was judged to have the potential to be replicated anywhere and this presentation will discuss how that can be achieved.

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After a 30 year career in the British Army in logistics, Ian McPherson held senior posts with Northamptonshire and Wiltshire County Councils before moving into consultancy with Helm, Tribal and then BDO, where he spent over six years specialising in government infrastructure and transformation across the UK and in the Horn of Africa.

He has taught at Cranfield University and in the US and has had his efforts recognised on two occasions by the Queen, being awarded the BEM in 1981 and made an OBE in 1999. Ian was elevated to become a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply in 2005.

Ian was recently appointed Managing Director of Commercial Services Ltd, a leading supply business that is wholly owned by Kent County Council, operating in the care, energy, education supplies, employment and direct services markets, where he is transforming the way revenue streams are generated in truly innovative fashion.

Presentation: Income generation through viable, sustainable and profitable commercial trading

The challenges and milestones that Commercial Services have experienced along the journey to becoming a £600m turnover trading organisation, offering best value and choice to its customers whilst delivering an ever-growing financial return/dividend to its shareholder - Kent County Council.

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Ian Swain graduated from Southampton University in Electronic Engineering in 1976 and obtained a PhD, also from Southampton, in 1982 for research entitled 'Adaptive Control of an Arm Prosthesis'. This marked his involvement with the medical profession and he was employed as a Research Fellow in Neurological Rehabilitation at Southampton before moving to Odstock Hospital, Salisbury in 1982. He was the first person employed in Clinical Science and Engineering in Salisbury where the department now employs 48 people.

Ian's principal areas of interest are in rehabilitation engineering, in particular functional electrical stimulation. Currently, he is Director of Clinical Science and Engineering in Salisbury and Professor of Clinical Engineering at Bournemouth University. He has seven patents and has written over 150 papers on biomedical engineering.

An extensive clinical FES service has been developed in Salisbury over the past 20 years and has seen well over 4,500 patients using surface stimulation systems. The first randomised controlled trial was undertaken to show the clinical efficacy of an FES orthosis, the Odstock Drop Foot Stimulator (ODFS), which is now recommended by NICE and the Royal College of Physicians.

This clinical experience has enabled the design of a wide range of neuromuscular stimulators that have practical clinical applications that are CE marked and FDA approved. Ian helped establish the first NHS commercial company, Odstock Medical Limited, in April 2006 of which he is Clinical Director and now sells products in 18 countries.

Presentation: A different way of working – The creation of OML, the first NHS commercial company in England

Income generation in hospitals has tended to be opportunistic rather than part of a planned strategy to generate funds to improve services and patient care. Odstock Medical was established in 2006 to further develop and market the techniques developed in the Department of Clinical Science and Engineering, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, to improve walking in people with neurological disabilities as a result of stroke, MS and other similar diseases. There are significant advantages in having a dedicated service established on more commercial lines where the income raised can be ploughed back into the 'business' to expand and develop new products rather than subsidise overspends in other departments within the hospital. It also focuses the 'business' considerably and can make the development of the services provided more flexible in a changing economic climate.

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Alan has been Chief Executive of LCVS since 2001. Prior to that he has held senior management roles in nonprofit and statutory agencies. His professional background in teaching and social work has given him a passion for creating opportunities for people to succeed and fulfill their aspirations.

LCVS | United Way is a registered charity that aims to advance the common good through mobilising and equipping individuals and groups for voluntary action and charitable giving.

Since 1909, we have been the strategic support organisation for donors and the non-profit sector in Liverpool. We are United Way Worldwide's national partner for the UK.

Presentation: Capacity building: moving from free service to paid for provision

Moving from free service provision to a more commercial model requires major cultural change. Achieving this whilst retaining a motivated team, whose focus has been on providing social care, free to all, is a major challenge. This session will provide a case study on the rationale, the issues, how they can be overcome and the benefits.

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