As the summer comes to an end and autumn approaches, I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy some time off after what has been a very busy six months for us all.
Without the opportunity to meet at the LGA’s annual conference this year, I thought it was important for the Conservative Group to keep in touch with our members by organising a series of webinars, covering topics as diverse as devolution, the ‘green recovery’ and the future of care homes.
For the first of these webinars, I was delighted to welcome Local Government Minister Simon Clarke MP to discuss the Government’s plans for devolution ahead of the publication of its White Paper later this year. Unsurprisingly, this was by far the best attended of all our webinars, and there was plenty of time for questions and discussion with Simon after his opening remarks.
Our ‘Green recovery’ webinar was chaired by Cllr David Renard, Chairman of the LGA’s Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board, with Megan Trethewey, from the Conservative Environment Network, leading the discussion.
Megan highlighted some of the positive impacts of the lockdown on the environment, including cleaner air and a greater appreciation of nature and open spaces. She also stressed how councils can respond positively to the practical challenges posed by climate change and highlighted some of the Government’s achievements in this area.
“Positive impacts of the lockdown on the environment include cleaner air and a greater appreciation of nature and open space”
Finally, David Pearson CBE, Chair of the Social Care Sector COVID-19 Support Taskforce, was the speaker for our ‘Future of care homes’ webinar, which also covered the impact of COVID-19 on the sector. Again, we had a lively question-and-answer session, covering a variety of topics.
I am delighted that the feedback from those attending these webinars was very positive – so much so that we are planning to hold further sessions shortly. For information about these events please follow us on Twitter @LGACons and check the regular email bulletins that are sent to all Conservative councillors.