I thoroughly enjoyed chairing the Future of Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference on Tuesday. For my introduction, I decided to take the plunge and speak my mind about these conferences. To me, they are a chance to hear about good practice and to network. But more than that, they are also a chance to […]
Blog
CLOA Blog
Half time at London 2012 and a job well done… but the “L” debate needs a more rounded view…
It was never in doubt, was it? Superb facilities, a stunning environment, event organisation of outstanding quality, and an army of volunteers that made event participation and attendance a pleasure. All of the superlatives thrown at the Games and Team GB are deserved – this has been an outstanding achievement for Britain and for sport. […]
An intelligent debate on the future of libraries
“An intelligent debate” was one of the key messages from Ed Vaisey, Minister for Culture, at last week’s NSA/CLOA conference on the future of libraries. I had the pleasure of chairing this well attended event that brought together some leadership thinking in testing times. The Minister started his address by rightly pointing out that the […]
The National Archives – a new approach to local engagement
As Chair of CLOA it was a pleasure to meet recently with The National Archives CEO Oliver Morley and members of the management team. There was a strong focus in our conversation around TNA’s welcome approach to local engagement on the development of the sector. The update briefings to the sector, consultation around forthcoming accreditation and […]
Tackling diabetes – worrying news
I’m sure I wasn’t alone this week among CLOA members to be in a state of “non – shock” by the breaking news that “the majority of NHS spending on diabetes is avoidable”. The predictability of the report follows equally worrying reports on obesity levels across the population, and closer to home for our sector, […]
CLOA/Local Authorities meet with NGB’s to discuss Whole Sport Plans
Dear Colleagues, Following on from discussions at the back end of 2011 CLOA has been working closely with Sport England to try and improve the engagement of NGB’s and Sport England with Local Authorities. This culminated in cCLOA being invited to a meeting of NGB Chief Execs and Development Directors early this year to set […]
The Community Games are coming
It’s been a hectic time since the Cardiff conference – catching up back at the office being a priority, and then attending a number of CLOA engagements that demonstrated to me how important it is to get involved in your professional organisation, shape the debate and as a leader broaden your experience. Each of my […]
Post-conference reflections
The LGA/ CLOA conference in Cardiff was always going to give a barometer reading of the sectors’ mood after the first serious set of savings have begun to bite and council cultural budgets for 2012/13 have been set. I have to say that I came away with an impression that the glass was ever so […]
All to Play For?
Dear Colleagues, I am pleased to be writing this week from Cardiff, where over a 100 delegates have made their way to the LGA/CLOA Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference. There is a notably higher representation of Councillors than in previous years, which whilst is encouraging, reflects the current pressures facing CLOA Members to ‘get out’ to these valuable […]
Message from the Chair
Dear Colleagues, 2011 was a challenging year I’m sure for most of us, with the impact of savings beginning to bite, and change the one certainty in our daily business. I’m sure that like me, it has been a case of repositioning the culture and sport sector in local political and managerial thinking, and steering […]
