Join us in Edinburgh for CTA’s 2018 Scotland Conference

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On 11 December, we will be holding our Scotland Conference for 2018, where we’ll gather to celebrate the fantastic contributions of community transport providers across Scotland, look at key issues affecting our sector today and to share new ideas and experiences.

This will be my first conference as CTA’s Director for Scotland. Having spoken to members about previous conferences, they tell me how important this forum is for meeting other community transport providers, to have a catch-up and see how other organisations are doing. And, if you haven’t already, it’s also your opportunity to meet me and Rachael Murphy, our Support and Engagement Executive, who joined us in July.

As with previous years, we’re pleased to be holding the conference with the support of the Royal Bank of Scotland at their excellent Gogarburn Conference Centre in Edinburgh. For organisations from further afield who might find travel to the venue difficult, we have a travel bursary scheme to cover some of the costs – you can find out more about that here.

Below you can find out more about our programme and the speakers you’re going to be hearing from during the day. To book your place on the conference just click here.

Commissioning and community transport

The debates over the last year on the use of section 19 and 22 permits have shone a light on commissioning practices and asked if they are sufficiently tuned in to recognising the distinctiveness of community transport services and the unique social value we create. Although not driven by concerns about practices in Scotland, we nevertheless need to consider any potential impacts of the Department for Transport’s proposed reforms. This session will look at the role of good commissioning in offering a better way of getting the kind of local services everyone wishes to see and finding opportunities for community transport to reach further in enabling greater access to public services and employment.

Our panel includes:

• Rachel Milne, Chair of the CTA’s Scotland Committee and CTA Trustee (Panel Chair)
• David Hunter, Transport Planning Consultant and member of the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland.
• David Brown, Project Officer (Public Transport), Stirling Council
• Andrew Stewart, Health and Transport Action Plan Programme Manager, NESTRANS/Aberdeenshire Council

Ahead of the panel, we will also be hearing from Tom Davy, Bus and Local Transport Policy Team Leader at Transport Scotland.

How will the Transport Bill (Scotland) affect community transport?

The Scottish Parliament is currently considering the Transport (Scotland) Bill which will bring several distinct reforms to transport in Scotland including the introduction of Low Emission Zones and investment in the use of technology to improve access to public and shared transport. This session will discuss the opportunities and challenges the Bill presents for community transport and the common interest we all share in making transport more accessible and inclusive in Scotland.

Our panel includes:

• Rachel Milne, Chair of the CTA’s Scotland Committee and CTA Trustee (Panel Chair)
• Vincent McInally, Sustainable Glasgow
• Stuart Hay, Director, Living Streets Scotland | Board Member, Transform Scotland
• Martin Higgitt, Communities Workstream Lead, Making Shared Transport Work for Scotland Programme, CoMoUK.

Demonstrating your Impact

In today’s climate, it’s especially important to be able to effectively make the case for community transport. Drawing on examples from across the sector, this session looks at ways in which our members can measure their impact and the benefits that can bring. A frequent adage when discussing measuring impact is ‘no stories without numbers and no numbers without stories’ so this session will look at ways in which our members can demonstrate both their social and their economic impact.

This session will be led by Rachael Murphy, Support and Engagement Executive, CTA and Kira Cox, Project Manager, CTA.

Tackling loneliness and isolation – the new national strategy and the impact of community transport

Scotland led the way in committing to a strategic approach to tackling loneliness and isolation and the Scottish Government’s consultation earlier this year highlighted the contribution of community transport in reducing loneliness. The UK Government has also published its loneliness strategy in October. This session will look at how community transport fits into this renewed effort to combat loneliness and isolation, both by the Scottish Government and more widely across the UK.

Our panel includes:

• Derek Young, CTA’s Director for Scotland (Panel Chair)
• Brian Sloan, Chief Executive, Age Scotland
• Nicola Hanssen, General Manger, Roar Connections for Life
• Bronach Hughes, Policy Officer, Equalities Unit, Scottish Government

In addition to these panel discussions you’ll also be hearing from me about CTA’s work in supporting our members across Scotland. We’ll also welcome Rachel Milne, Chair of CTA’s Scottish Committee and CTA Trustee, Victoria Ross from the Royal Bank of Scotland, and we’re also hoping to be joined by our Minister or a representative of the Scottish Government for an official address.

Please do come and join us for what promises to be an excellent day of networking, discussion and new ideas from across the community transport sector as well as the wider charity and transport sectors. The event is open both to CTA members and to non-members and you can book places for you and your team by clicking here. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me via hello@ctauk.org or 0131 220 0052.

Click here to book your place now!