Strengthening local economies and communities through enterprise. Held at New Connaught Rooms, London

Supported by the Make your Mark campaign and the Municipal Journal, this conference looked at the role of enterprise in unlocking talent, reducing worklessness and shaping places. It examined how local authorities, working with local and regional partners, can promote and support enterprise to tackle cross-cutting priorities and build on the plan in the Government’s Sub-national Review. Delegates had the opportunity to reflect on the Government’s new Enterprise Strategy and learn about the latest Welfare to Work Policies, including the Working Neighbourhoods Fund which can be used to support enterprise to tackle issues of worklessness and deprivation. When asked if it is really possible to have an enterprising approach driven by central government, Roger Wilshaw, Deputy Director, Local Economic Development and Renewal, Communities and Local Government responded by acknowledging that the civil service was prone to "...take a good idea and turn it into a tortured process". The biggest challenge facing the civil service was, he said, to understand how policies can be delivered by Local Authority and Regional Development Agency staff: "we've made a lot of progress but there's a lot more to do".