By Danni Clayton, Leeds City Council
It was an absolute honour and a privilege to host the first ever LGcomms Yorkshire and Humber regional network this week.
Leaving aside the dramatic drop in temperatures overnight and the resulting smattering of snow and ice the next morning that caused a few folks to miss due to school closures and succumbing to viruses, for those who made it to Leeds there was an afternoon of genuinely engrossing debate on current topical issues interspersed with more than a few moments of hilarity (“Bathgate”, for those who were in the room?!).
This isn’t the first time there’s been a meeting of all of the heads of comms within Yorkshire and Humber, albeit since it was around a decade ago there’s been a few changes since then, not least of which are the now four combined authorities within the region but in true Yorkshire fashion as soon as introductions were made and Chatham house rules agreed the conversation just flowed.
From implications around tenants rights and inspections to challenges around flags and protests and dealing with the aftermath of administrative political changes, we sat around a large table above “the most advanced shopping centre and entertainment centre in the country” of it’s time and talked at length about the common issues we shared and what we could learn from each other in tackling them.
It’s easy to underestimate the impact of being in a room, in person, away from the demands of the office, chatting about issues we’re all dealing with to various extents but I think it’s fair to say we all came away enlightened, educated, enthused and eager for more.
We’re already planning for our next session in February and with a rolling location around the region if you weren’t able to make this one due to timing or travel but are interested in joining next time, watch this space for updates about the next date and venue.
It goes without saying, obviously, given we’re in Yorkshire that a good cup of tea will be on the agenda.