19 June 2009
25th June 2009, Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Leading academics on world finance, professional leaders from UK Business and government and media commentators will meet in Swansea next week to consider the implications of the global recession on Wales’ communities during Wales’ biggest public sector conference.
This year’s WLGA Annual Conference is set within the most difficult of financial contexts for local government since the second world war and offers a hugely impressive line up of speakers and level of debate.
The outlook for public expenditure over the next few years looks very bleak and local authorities are facing some major difficulties in the scale and quality of services they provide. The conference will provide the setting for over 350 delegates to hear senior Welsh Assembly Government Ministers’ and UK business leaders’ views for responding to these challenging economic times and creating the right climate for recovery. These include:
• Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister
• Andrew Davies, Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery
• Brian Gibbons, Minister for Local Government and Social Justice
• Cllr John Davies, WLGA Leader
• Adam Price, MP
• Prof. Tony Travers, London School of Economics
• Prof. Kevin Morgan, Cardiff University
• Prof. Siobhan McClelland, University of Glamorgan
• Prof. John Seddon, Cardiff University
• Prof. David Egan , University of Wales Institute Cardiff
• Richard Lambert, Director General CBI
• Alison Ward, Chair SOLACE Wales
• Kirsty Williams, AM
• Huw Lewis, AM
• Nick Ramsay, AM
The main conference plenary will explore the impact of the recession on Wales’ communities across three key areas: regeneration, health and education. During breakout sessions, delegates will have the opportunity to discuss each of these areas in more detail with leading academics in each of the fields.
The three breakout sessions are:
• Regenerating Wales’ communities’ - participants will hear more about research commissioned by WLGA on the impact of recession across Wales;
• Improving health and well-being as a means to creating vibrant, prosperous communities; and
• Closing the gap between poverty and educational attainment- can we break the cycle?
For full detail of the conference programme visit:
http://www.wlga.gov.uk/english/events/wlga-annual-conference-2009/
Media guest passes are free. If you are member of the Press and plan to attend please confirm your attendance no later than Monday 22nd June
Ends
For more information contact: Natasha Weeks