Financial implications of public sector speakers at commercially organised conferences.

National Audit Office did not have the information requested.

Dear National Audit Office,

I note that each year many public officials – civil servants and officials from national and local government bodies, plus ministers and other MPs, often speak at public conferences organised by commercial organisations.

These organisations include Open Forum Conferences; Open Forum Events; Inside Government; Govconnect; Neil Stewart Associates; Understanding ModernGov; Public Policy Exchange; Covert Police Training Ltd. and the parent companies or various trading names of these organisations or their parent companies.

I paste below a list of conference providers and some of the events with the type of public sector speaker who has been advertised as speaking. It is a sample from 2015/16, I stopped keeping a note last year. My apologies for the vagaries in style of the list but it should be fairly self-explanatory. This is compiled only from marketing emails that I received in the period from September 2015 to approximately June 2016.

My impression over the last half eight years is that this integration of public officials and public figures (Ministers and MPs) into private conferences and seminars has increased significantly. I understand the argument that specialist conference providers can organise conferences on matters of special interest for specific sectors more efficiently and cost effectively than for the public sector to do it. I also have no objection to speakers (if in their own time) or their organisations (if a work responsibility) being paid for giving presentations at such conferences. I am concerned though if public sector speakers are basically helping private sector organisations make a profit without the public finances receiving anything in return. The fees for individuals and organisations to attend such events are often very high.

(1) Can you tell me what if any assessment has been made of the profit by private or commercial providers made from conferences or seminars supported by public sector speakers? If you do not know this information for all public sector bodies can you give me an assessment for (1) speakers from ministries; (2) events where Ministers are speakers?

(2) Can you tell me what cost benefit analysis is done of senior civil servants / public body employees / Ministers speaking at commercial organised conferences? In 'commercial' I include 'not for profit' trading organisations, 'social businesses', think tanks and other public affairs organisations.

(3) Can you tell me how much money is paid for (1) public officials and (2) Ministers speaking at such conferences and what is done with the money received?

Please provide answers covering the years 2014 – 2015 and 2015 – 2016; and the previous period from 2008 – 2014 if any of the information is practicably available in these periods.

While this is a Freedom of Information request perhaps you could also take it as a suggestion to consider that such participation and commercialisation should be evaluated, if it is not done so already. I made a similar request to the Cabinet Office in 2016 but they were the wrong body to ask.

Yours sincerely,

Kiron Reid.

West Albert Road,
Liverpool
L17

Conferences with public sector speakers

Sample 2015/16

Openforumconferences 2016: Re-shaping Public Sector Services (NHS director); Combatting child sexual abuse and exploitation (NCA CEOP command); UK Onshore Oil and Gas Summit (Minister / Policy Manager Dept E&CC); Dementia Quality of Care (NHS lead);
as Open Forum Events: Mental Health – Forward Thinking including National Clinical Director, Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood, Medical Directorate, NHS England (and a NHS Foundation Trust Cex)

Open Forum Events: National Research Impact (REF): delivering excellence (a deputy manager HEFCE); The New Digital Strategy (Head of Content and Innovation at No10 and UK Cabinet Office; Director of Digital and Multi-Channel Development, NHS England; a Council Head of Digital and Design); DigiHealth UK (CEx NHS England; CEx NHS Digital; plus other NHS / NHS Trust officials).

Inside Government: Raising Standards in UK Higher Education Through Effective Regulation (A senior representative from BIS plus CE HEFCE and Director of QA, QAA); Effectively Addressing and Resolving Student Complaints in Higher Education (Chief Executive, Office of the Independent Adjudicator in Higher Education; Head of Wales, QAA); Teaching Excellence (Snr Rep TE Framework Team, BIS); Tackling Violence against Women and Girls 'led by the Hoe Office' incl Head of Interpersonal Violence Team, Home Office, a Deputy Director DoH, and a Policing Standards Manager College of Policing; Tackling Radicalisation in Education: Detecting, Preventing and Countering Extremism (a Director, Department for Education, a Deputy Director BiS)

Govconnect: Dementia 2020 North West (Deputy Director Dementia policy DoH); Early Years – Children's health (Head of Public Health Commissioning, NHS England)

Neil Stewart Associates: Making the case for diversity. The GED 2016: Head of Workforce, Local Government Association; Head of Diversity and Inclusion, NHS Employers and Senior Manager, Equality and Health Inequalities, NHS England; Minority Mental Health – a NHS national clinical lead, an NHS Trust CEx, an MP, a National Police Chiefs' Council lead;

Understanding ModernGov (trading name of Partnership Media Group Limited): 'Understanding Data Protection', Senior Policy Officer from the Information Commissioner's Office; 'Implement the Changes to the Disabled Students' Allowance', Team Leader, BIS; Understanding Freedom of Information Requests (a Senior Policy Officer, Information Commissioner's Office; a Council Head of Information Governance).

Public Policy Exchange: Dealing with the impacts of welfare reform, 2015 (Children's Commissioner; Birmingham City Council speaker); Managing the impact of welfare reform, 2016

Covert Police Training Ltd. 6th Annual deaths in custody conference, The Prison and Probation Ombudsman;

FOI, REQUESTS,

REFERENCE: FOI-1134

 

Dear Mr Reid,

 

Thank you for your request for information relating to the financial
implications of public sector speakers at commercially organised
conferences.  The specifics of your request are outlined in your email,
below.

 

I confirm that your request was received 15 February 2018 and that I am
dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

If you have any questions about this email, please contact the FOI team.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Joseph da Silva | FOI Team
National Audit Office, 157-197 Buckingham Palace Road,  Victoria, London,
SW1W 9SP
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7798 7000 | Web: [1]http://www.nao.org.uk/
Helping the nation spend wisely

 

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI, REQUESTS,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Reid,

 

Please find, attached, our response to your Freedom of Information
request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Joseph da Silva | FOI Team
National Audit Office, 157-197 Buckingham Palace Road,  Victoria, London,
SW1W 9SP
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7798 7000 | Web: [1]http://www.nao.org.uk/
Helping the nation spend wisely

 

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Kiron Reid left an annotation ()

While the National Audit Office do not hold the information that I was interested in, they did take my request seriously. The reply from Philip Taylor, the Head of FOI, stated "Your correspondence also included the suggestion that if it is not done so already, we could consider that such participation and commercialisation should be evaluated.
We thank you for asking these questions. I have shared your points and suggestion with relevant colleagues to consider as they develop plans for our future work programme."
As the questioner, I am happy that the National Audit Office have seen the value of the questions that I was asking and have taken them seriously, for potential consideration in the future. This is to help ensure value for money of public sector figures and officials being speakers at privately organised conferences.