All council treasurers/finance directors have the opportunity to become involved with their respective Treasurer Societies.
These Societies operate to further the interests of the respective tier/type of authority, covering counties, districts, unitary, Metropolitan, London and Wales.
The Association of Local Authorities Treasurers Societies (ALATS) is the umbrella body for all societies and brings together the professional and technical interests of all types of council. ALATS does not seek to duplicate the work of the individual societies but to seek common ground between the inevitable competing interests that occur when discussing issues such as grant distribution. ALATS meet twice a year and usually with representatives of related organisations such as the Audit Commission and CIPFA. It is chaired by Jon Pittam, county treasurer of Hampshire County Council, and its members are the secretaries and presidents of the individual societies.
At the last meeting we discussed topical issues including the status of financial management within local authorities. This debate is often dominated by the status of the finance director within the Council. While most people/organisations believe that an individual should have a seat at the ‘top table', it is a more important debate that just where one individual sits.
A related topic was the role ALATS and the societies have in developing the finance directors of the future. The need for professional succession planning is maybe something we have neglected recently.
Other topics discussed were preparations for CSR09, technical issues relating to funding of services (including 14-19 education funding and health and social care funding), and the ALATS accounts for the year. Presenting these (assets of £3,000) to a group of finance directors was more daunting than presenting the Bridgend statement of accounts to full council. n
Gareth Moss is finance director of Bridgend CBC
