Please note: the programme is subject to change
09:45 – 10:30
Study Tour Optional (45 people max) of development sites around Edinburgh
As part of the Scotland Conference this year we wanted to give delegates the opportunity to see some of the regeneration work that has been happening in Edinburgh over the last few years.
We are offering everyone the opportunity to join a study tour to the Granton Waterfront. You will be transported via coach to the site from BT Murrayfield Stadium and returned in time for the opening session.
Start time: 09:00
Meeting place: BT Murrayfield Stadium car park
Please note the deadline for this is 13th September
10:30 – 11:15
Registration and Refreshments Open
11:15 – 11:30
Welcome Messages
Speakers:
Andrew Kerr OBE, Chief Executive, Edinburgh City Council & Solace Scotland Branch Chair
Alan Lees, Scotland Director, BT Enterprise
Lindsay McGranaghan, Senior Vice President – Scotland & Northern Ireland, CGI
11:30 – 12:15
What are the Government’s Asks of Local Authorities? Keynote Speakers
In this session John-Paul Marks and Sally Louden will be discussing ‘what are the governments ask of Local Authorities?’. They will be focusing on the three conference themes of Finance, National Care Service & Education Reform.
Speakers:
John-Paul Marks, Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government
Sally Louden, Chief Executive, COSLA
Chair: Andrew Kerr OBE, Chief Executive, Edinburgh City Council & Solace Scotland Branch Chair
12:15 – 13:00
Keynote Speaker
This session has been designed to look at Local Scottish Government finances and the impact of these on our communities, organisation and the sector as a whole.
Speaker: Professor Graeme Roy, Chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission & Dean of External Engagement, College of Social Science at University of Glasgow
Chair: Monica Pattinson, Chief Executive, East Lothian Council and Solace Scotland Portfolio Lead for Economic Development
13:00 – 14:00
Exhibition & Lunch
14:00 – 15:00
Your choice of 3 breakout sessions
Breakout 1:
Transforming outcomes for vulnerable, disadvantaged and care-experienced young people: improving education outcomes, job choices and life chances with MCR Pathways mentoring
This session will discuss the benefits of MCR Pathways mentoring to Local Authorities. The proven impact (independent evaluation) and benefits for young people, schools, local employers, the workforce, regional business and community. The session will also discuss the current funding offer which is available.
Speaker: Fay Gingell, Chief Executive, MCR Pathways
Breakout 2:
Empowering Education: Using cases for digital technology to support learning
Local authorities have faced significant challenges in the last few years, including everything from funding to covid-19. With an ever-present need to ensure that attainment and equity of education is bolstered and maintained, we explore how IT and technology can empower everyone involved in the education of pupils -including teachers, parents/ guardians and pupils.
Speakers:
Richard Sadler, Director of Education, CGI
Lyndsey Teaz, Vice President for Infrastructure Engagement Management, Scotland, CGI
Claire Harvey, Quality Improvement Officer , Glasgow City Council
Nick Evans, Partner Technologist, Apple, Aspire2Be
Ryan Evans, Partner Technologist, Google, Aspire2Be
Dean Garza, Partner Technologist, Microsoft, Aspire2Be
Breakout 3:
Delivering a future for Scottish local authorities: The challenges they face, the questions that need asking, and a model for the future
This will be an opportunity for delegates to shape and contribute to the IS think piece on ‘Transitions: leading through local change, together’, with delegates working together to explore the core anchors that underpin the role of a council of the future. This will inform the final think piece that will be submitted to the IS Board (comprised of 4 company Directors nominated by Solace and 4 by COSLA) for endorsement.
Delegates will be able to reflect on the progress being made across Local Government in themes such as unlocking community action, leading outcome focused cross-sector partnerships, designing services for people’s needs and creating digital, design and technology enabled transformation, and consider the radical transformation that continues to be required to address the challenging financial situation and implications of the National Care Service in particular.
Speaker: Sarah Gadsden, Chief Executive, Improvement Services
15:00 – 15:45
Exhibition & Refreshments
15:45 – 16:30
Time for Change? A Comparative Look at Scotland’s Exam System
Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) is a pioneering example of curriculum reform, but the qualifications for upper-secondary school students have seen far less reform. Exam cancellations in 2020-21, and the debates generated provide an opportunity to radically reconsider the assessment system.
As part of the OECD’s review into Curriculum for Excellence, Professor Gordon Stobart has explored possible options for assessment and qualifications in the senior phase, drawing on methods from around the world. This paper compares the Scottish system to four other British legacy systems and five other legacy traditions, to offer insight
for how Scotland could improve the alignment between CfE and upper-secondary assessments. Theoretical considerations further guide the analysis on what constitutes a dependable and trustworthy assessment system, to refine the reflection around options for the Scottish system. Three major themes emerge from this comparative
review:
– External assessments could be more innovative to capture a wider range of student capabilities
– The role of teacher assessment could be reconsidered
– The academic and vocational strands could be better integrated with the assessment system to offer a broader range of curriculum options.
Speaker: Professor Gordon Stobart, Emeritus Professor of Education at the Institute of Education, University College London
Chair: Dr Grace Vickers, Chief Executive, Midlothian Council and Solace Scotland Portfolio Lead for Education
16:30 – 17:30
Your choice of 2 breakout sessions
Breakout 1:
Coming Home implementation: How multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary collaboration can deliver the human right to live in the community through human rights driven, self-directed social care support
ENABLE and a local authority partner will highlight how successful collaboration can prevent out of area social care support arrangements and avoidable long term hospital stays, by providing rights driven, self directed social care support in their community via the ENABLE PA Model, realising the ambition of the Coming Home implementation plan agreed by the Scottish Government and COSLA to end this practice by March 2024.
Speakers:
Jan Savage, Director, ENABLE Scotland
Mari Galletly, Regional Director, ENABLE Cares
Tom Kelly, Head of Adult Services, Learning Disability and Recovery, East Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Chair: Paul Jukes, ENABLE Scotland Chair
Breakout 2:
IoT and Technology Enables Care – contributing to Scotland’s National Care Service
Confucius once said “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home”. We explore the links between housing and health, and the increasing role that housing will play in a place-based community care service. The IoT and TEC solutions deployed today will be part of the journey to a fully integrated data suite and person centric care management of the future.
Speakers:
Alison Scott, Principal Consultant, Agilisys
Claire Darbyshire, Head of Health & Social Care Technology, Agilisys
Robert Steenson, Associate Delivery Director – Scotland, Agilisys
19:15
Dinner & Drinks Reception
Radisson Blu Hotel, Royal Mile Edinburgh
09:15
Arrival, Exhibition & Refreshments
09:30 – 10:15
Keynote Speaker
Gideon Skinner, head of Political Research at Ipsos, joins us to discuss Ipsos’s data regarding the severity of the impact of the cost of living crisis on poverty levels in our communities, exploring beyond the usually recognised household poverty towards in-work poverty and debt levels. He will also discuss how this manifests in demand on public service, how councils can rise to the challenge, as well as the implications of this for public sector reform.
Speaker: Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research, Ipsos
Chair: Cleland Sneddon, Chief Executive, South Lanarkshire Council and Solace Scotland Vice Chair
10:15 – 11:15
The Climate Emergency needs Local Government Leadership
This plenary session will provide an update on climate change policy and the priorities for local government and its leaders. It will also explore improved collaboration to accelerate delivery, and focus on key challenges and opportunities facing local authorities in meeting their climate change duties while also addressing wider social, economic and environmental outcomes.
Speakers:
George Tarvit, Director, Sustainable Scotland Network
Phillip Raines, Deputy Director – Domestic Climate Change, Climate Change Division, Scottish Government
Chair: Craig Hatton, Chief Executive, North Ayrshire Council
11:15 – 11:45
Exhibition & Refreshments
11:45 – 12:45
Health Inequalities – Improving Health Locally
The session will share initial findings from the Health Foundation’s Health Inequalities in Scotland: An independent review, considering how these vary between local areas and highlighting key challenges. There will also be discussion of examples of local action to improve health and reduce inequalities and discussion of the barriers to implementation.
Speakers:
David Finch, Assistant Director, Healthy Lives, The Health Foundation
Julie Robertson, Project Manager, Economies for Healthier Lives, Glasgow City Region
Katie Kelly, Deputy Chief Executive, East Ayrshire Council
Chair: Angela Leitch, Chief Executive, Public Health Scotland
12:45 – 13:00
Chair’s Closing Speech
Speaker: Andrew Kerr OBE, Chief Executive, Edinburgh City Council & Solace Scotland Chair
13:15
Networking Lunch
13:30 – 14:15
National Education Roundtable Discussion – Chief Executives
Building on the changes in our world, locally and globally, and the central importance of children’s rights, the recent Muir review concluded the importance of Putting Learners at the Centre and recommended the need for a new vision for the future of Scottish education to be co-developed with as inclusive participation as possible. Consequently, a National Discussion about the future of education involving people across Scotland is not only timely but also vitally important.
Our National Discussion is intended to be a high-profile public engagement activity. The intention is to hear all voices but particularly to listen to children and young people and the voices of those who are not usually heard, and the adults and organisations who support them. The independent facilitators enter this National Discussion with open minds and an intention to genuinely listen, learn and represent a full range of views from across Scotland.
Prior to the official launch of the National Discussion, this early engagement session will enable members of Solace to meet with Professor Carol Campbell, an Independent Facilitator for the National Discussion, to learn about, and provide feedback on, the proposed purpose, scope, priorities, and intended outcomes. In particular, the session will include consideration of the upcoming opportunities to engage in, and contribute to, the National Discussion and how Solace members, and their organisations and communities, can be involved in this process appropriately and authentically.
The aim is to put children and young people at the heart of the discussion and to co-develop a future vision for Scottish education that is congruent with tackling the challenges facing children and young people and aspirations for their future with linked priorities for action.
Speaker: Professor Carol Campbell, Professor of Leadership and Educational Change, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
