04 June 2007

National conference helps manage the future

A national conference to develop the skills of tomorrow’s senior managers was held in Southampton recently.

The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and Senior Managers Graduate Programme Conference took place at the head office of Ordnance Survey, Britain’s national mapping agency.

As part of its strong relationship with local government, Ordnance Survey is a SOLACE gold partner. Ordnance Survey data supports a wide range of local government activity. It helps managers to respond to emergencies, plan for contingencies, process benefit claims, determine school catchment areas, deliver environmental services, and plan transport and road maintenance.

Over 80 members of the SOLACE Graduate Programme, who are public-sector leaders at an early stage in their careers, came from across the UK to listen to a wide range of discussions relevant to their development needs.

Speakers included Vanessa Lawrence, Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey; Ravi Gurumurthy, Speech Co-ordinator and Strategic Advisor to David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and Andy Scate, Head of Planning and Sustainability for Southampton City Council.

Vanessa Lawrence says, “The power of location is enhancing performance management of local government and underpinning decision making. We have seen that location is becoming the fourth driver to decision making alongside revenue, time and cost. In many cases, different types of geographic data from different sources are brought together to provide rapid analysis of complex issues resulting in improved service delivery.”

As the representative body for senior strategic managers working in the public sector across the UK, SOLACE promotes management excellence and provides professional development for its members.

The SOLACE Graduate Programme has been created to develop a wide base of up-and-coming talent within local government and the wider public sector.

Each year SOLACE organises two one-day national events specifically for members of its Graduate Programme. This is the fourth event in partnership with Ordnance Survey.

James Jeynes, Head of Membership Services for SOLACE, adds, “Our graduate members are the senior managers of the future, and events such as this one, kindly hosted by Ordnance Survey, give them the chance to learn from sector leaders and network with other people in similar roles across the public sector”.

END

Notes for editors:

1     Ordnance Survey is Great Britain’s national mapping agency, providing the most accurate and up-to-date geographic data, relied on by government, business and the public.

2     Download this news release at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/media

3     Ordnance Survey and the OS Symbol are registered trademarks of Ordnance Survey.

 

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Head of Corporate Communications - Rob Andrews

Email: rob.andrews@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2265

Senior Communications & PR Officer - Paul Beauchamp

Email: paul.beauchamp@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2568

Press Office fax: (+44) 023 8030 5295