Practitioners’ Conference 2025

As the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill moves towards enactment, in this session you will look at the practicalities of complying with legislation, what kind of documentation will be required and how might those plans be tested.

Helen Ball FSLCC, Town Clerk at Shrewsbury Town Council

Helen Ball FSLCC began her career in 1997, working part-time for a small East Yorkshire parish council. In 1999, she became Town Clerk for Beverley Town Council, one of the first councils created by referendum under the Local Government & Rating Act. She later earned a first-class Local Policy Degree from Gloucestershire University in 2007. In 2009, Helen became Town Clerk of Shrewsbury Town Council, overseeing a large council with 72,000 residents and a £4 million budget. Active in various boards and partnerships, Helen is also an SLCC Board Director and a well-regarded voice in the sector.

Big dreams inspire big changes, mobilise resources, create opportunity, remove obstacles and empower us. One of Bernie’s many big dream’s recently at the tender age of 64 was to row solo across the Atlantic for his ‘Boat of Hope’ Mental Health Campaign was to help support young people around the world to open up a conversation on how they felt inside their hearts and minds through the use of the creative arts and adventure. To do this he needed to invest over four years of this time, raise over £120,000 for the campaign and recruit an army of people within the creative arts, armed services and the education sector to make this happen. Bernie’s talk will explain why you should dream big, and D.R.E.A.M., a 5-step plan to achieve your big dream. Bernie explores why big dreams are important to us all and how you can make sure you turn your dreams into a reality at any age of your life: Bernie will truly captivate you with his stories of his remarkable life of giving, adventure and supporting those in need. You will leave both inspired to have a big dream, and with the tools to make it happen. So what’s your ‘Big Dream’ and what are you doing to make it happen?

In this session, we’ll explore effective procurement practices, including ways to source local suppliers, structure briefs, and balance quality and cost in scoring. With practical examples, we’ll cover best practices for managing evaluation panels and creating a procurement process that drives positive outcomes.

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes is an architect, co-founder of Extended Studio and Design Council expert. He specialises in working with communities and public sector clients to create projects and places that spark a sense of connection. From community learning kitchens to affordable workspaces in railway arches, street growing gardens to community housing on brownfield sites, their projects promote community engagement, development and education, all founded on sustainable practice.

Tom was also previously Head of Design for TfL’s Housing team, leading a client side team, and giving him an insight into what its like to work with consultants, and how to get the best from them.

Tom inspires people to understand design. He brings it to life by showing its immense value, its lasting impact, and the legacy it can leave on a project.

The new government has pledged “to get Britain building” and work with “builders rather than blockers”. At the core of this approach is the building of one and a half million new homes across the country over the next five few years.  At the same time,  they are promising communities, including local councils, a greater say on how these new homes are built. In this challenging environment, the session will consider what are the opportunities, barriers and benefits to local councils of dealing with new housing development to get the best outcomes for local communities.

Andrew Towlerton, SLCC National Planning Advisor

A qualified planner, Andrew has worked in various senior planning roles in the public and private sectors. He is also a qualified parish clerk so is familiar with local councils.

In this session, you’ll explore: what defines a “mistake,” the costs associated with errors, the underlying reasons we make them, and practical steps you can take to address and reduce mistakes.

Gregg Fradd, Director, The Accuracy People

Greg is the Director and Head of Training for The Accuracy People. Greg has been working in the field of learning and development for 25 years, and has been specialising in the field of accuracy and attention-to-detail since 2005.

The Accuracy People help organisations reduce costs and increase productivity by equipping their people with the tools to ‘get it right first time, every time’. The Accuracy People work with those for whom data accuracy is important. They help people explore why human beings make mistakes – all of which have a consequence – and in turn, enable them to reduce ‘human error’ in the workplace. Their work has taken them around the world, helping clients as diverse as banks, law firms, wealth management firms, pharmaceutical companies, telecommunications companies, utilities suppliers, local and national governments, manufacturers, publishers, police forces, railway signal operators, funeral directors and potato farmers.

Local Council Consultancy (LCC) was established by SLCC in 2018 to provide locum and consultancy services in the local council sector. With a value for money and unique ‘profit for purpose’ philosophy, LCC offers sector specific solutions for your needs. Come along to this session to hear more about the projects we undertake, how we can supply locum support if needed and what it’s like to be part of the LCC associate and locum team.