Thursday

14th June 2007

Lewsey Farm

Learning Centre Trust

Luton

A Half-Day Research Dissemination Workshop

Agents for change - Public Sector & Social Enterprise

Introduction

Benefitting the Economy and Society Through Procurement is a major initiative, based in the East Midlands region, that aims to improve the correlation between public sector expenditure and public benefit, positioning social enterprise as a key delivery vehicle in acheiving this goal. The Sustainable Developement Research Centre (SDRC) is working as the research partner on the BEST Procurement Programme.

As part of the research dissemination exercise SDRC is holding a series of workshops in each of the regions of the UK. Each event is designed to create a forum for communicating the research findings and sharing best practise with and among leading practitioners in the area of social enterprise development and public sector procurement

Aims

The aim of each workshop is to communicate the findings from the research understaken in the East Midlands and to listen to and share best practise with other regions. In this way, we hope to build a UK-wide perspective of activity.

Workshop Objective

This Luton workshop will, through discussion and case study examples, explore the policy context, barriers and drivers for change in access to public sector markets. We will hear the experiences of speakers from both the East Midlands and your local area. We invite you to join our discussion.

13.00

13.30

13.40

13.55

14.15

14.35

14.45

14.55

15.15

17.00

Programme

Registration and Coffee

Welcome and Introduction - Steve Clare, Development Trusts Association & Elizabeth Ball, Development Trusts Association and BEST Procurement Partner.

Dr Sarah-Ann Munoz and Heather George, SDRC - Programme update

James Cushing, Business Infrastructure Manager, Northamptonshire Enterprises Ltd

Chris Addey, Corporate Procurement Manager Luton Borough Council

Coffee Break

Elizabeth Ball, Development Trusts Association and BEST Procurement Partner

Robert Hinkley, Director of Amble Electrical

Group Discussion, exchanging experiences:

• Types of change
• Policy changes
• Challenges for Social Enterprises and Local Authorities

Close

Venue - Lewsey Farm, Learning Centre Trust, Luton, Beds, LU4 1QQ www.lflct.org

Registration - Please contact Jan MacPherson on 01309 678111 or email:

Jan.Macpherson@sdrc.uhi.ac.uk to register for the workshop