London and Home Counties

I am pleased to advise that thanks to the extremely generous sponsorship by Rundles the London and Home Counties Annual Quiz will be taking place at

Williamson's Tavern

Groveland Court off Bow Lane

London EC4M 9EH

on Thursday 8th February at 6pm.

With the support of Rundles the price is held at £10 a person inclusive of a light buffet.

Teams of 4 are welcome or join one on the evening.

Please note that for catering purposes it is essential to book your place. Places should be booked by emailing secretary.lhc@irrvassociations.org.uk

By 25th September all those summer holidays will be a distant memory, so why not come along and join friends, colleagues and even makes some new acquaintances on the north bank of the River Thames.

With views across the river of the Southbank including the Shard, The Oyster Shed is a lovely location to while away the time chatting with a drink in hand.

Date: 25th September

Venue: The Oyster Shed, Angel Lane, London, EC4R 3AB  (nearest tubes Cannon Street & Monument)

Time: 5pm

Thanks to the generosity of Marston Holdings the event is free of charge. As nibbles and drinks will be provided numbers are needed in advance and numbers are limited so please get in touch with Christopher Grose at secretary.lhc@irrvassociations.org.uk to book your place.

A cash bar will also be available.

For our Annual Association Dinner on Thursday 12th March 2020 we will be returning to the prestigious surroundings of the Innholders Hall, 30 College Street, Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2RH (off Dowgate Hill, 50 yards from Cannon Street, 200 yards from Bank underground). 

This will be a gourmet fine dining experience with appropriate wines to compliment each course. We have secured very generous sponsorship (see below), so the price can be held at the same price as last year: £84 each including vat (IRRV members and one guest) or £144 each including vat (non-members), fully inclusive of all drinks before, during and after the meal.

The evening will begin with a reception at 6.30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7.00 p.m. The evening will close by 11.00 p.m. Please indicate any special dietary requirements on the booking form.  The dress code is dinner jacket (black tie) preferred.

Please makebookings and arrange to forward your payment or VAT invoice  by e-mail to secretary.lhc@irrvassociations.org.uk . Places will be allocated strictly on a “first come” basis.  Tickets will not be issued. 

On behalf of the London & Home Counties Executive can we wish all of our members a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our events in the new year.  

The Association Annual Quiz has moved venues to enable us to accommodate more teams to compete for the coveted shield. This year it will be held at The Mudlark in London Bridge (4 Montague Close, London SE1 9DA) from 6:30pm on Thursday 27th November.

We are retaining the same successful format as last year so teams can have up to four members and we will not be holding semi-final or final rounds.

Two events will be run in the lead up to Christmas On the afternoon of 29th November, Gordon Heath will address a meeting on the subject of Empty Rate Avoidance. A one day training event providing a council tax overview including a case law update will be held on 5th December. The cost of £85.00 will include all learning materials, refreshments and lunch. Bookings for both meetings can be made via p.mcdermott@exacta.co.uk

To donate to this worthy cause please visit http://www.justgiving.com/kevinsutch

31st March 2009

It is now only a month away from the big day and the last two months have been full of new experiences for me. I have achieved 18 miles on the road which was nearly a marathon, it certainly felt like one. I also completed a big test. This was the Silverstone half marathon. It was the first time I had run with lots of other people; it was the first time I had experienced an organised race; it was the first time where I had experienced completing 2 miles and seeing a huge line of people disappearing into the distance. Some of these athletes move so fast!

The Silverstone race was a great experience. I was really pleased that I managed to complete it with out a great deal of trouble, but I will be honest, I could not have gone around again! But I did go round once and I did it 2 hours 5 minutes which I thought for me, was a good time. But I soon got depressed when I saw in the results - people older than me going round in 1 hour 30 minutes. But never mind, I have never professed to be a serious runner. If you said to me this time last year that I would run 18 miles I would have laughed. After finishing the half marathon you are presented with a pack. It includes a medal, a tee shirt drinks, sweets and an energy bar. Well worth the trouble!!

I have had a great response so far for the charity contributions have now gone through the £500 barrier on my website but there is still time for you to sponsor me so don’t be shy, see what you can afford and make my blisters bearable!! My website is www.justgiving.com/kevinsutch .

The next blog will be my marathon experience!!

3rd February 2009

As Sir Alex Ferguson says its now squeaky bum time. It is less than 3 months to the big day. I have noticed a big difference in the number of people running. I walk each morning from Westminster to Millbank and I see at least 20 people in that 15 minute walk running along the embankment. And during my running I now always see three or four people where as only a month ago I would se no one.

My training has really moved on. I managed to get through December with out injury and by only adding 2 pounds to my weight. I managed to run over 80 miles during January including my longest run so far of 13 miles, which I have, to say was a struggle and I completed it in 2 hours 15 minutes. I have also been injury free, no pains or twinges, so I have dumped my chiropractor. My trainers are in a sorry state I think they need to be changed, and if I am going to do this I need to do it sooner rather than later.

My next challenge is to get to at least 18 miles, be on the road for 3 hours and run in the Silverstone Marathon on the 15 March.

My fund raising is going well. I got some good sponsorship at the joint meeting with the RSA and had an unbelievable evening at the IRRV Dinner where we raised £800. A big thank you to Kevin McCarthy for providing the Helicopter ride as an auction prize. And congratulations to Peter Scrafton for his highest bid of £400. The rest was raised by a sweepstake to see how long I would take to run the marathon based on my training runs. The winning entry which was the closest to my estimate of 4 hours 9 minutes 45 seconds was Helen Curtis, hope you enjoyed the champers.

Not many people know this but John Allen of Islington did a sponsored bike ride in October when he and a colleague cycled from London to Manchester for the IRRV conference. He raised £1500 which is donated to the Marie Curie charity. Well done John and thanks.

I have raised around £210 through my website www.justgiving.com/kevinsutch and I am waiting for Roy our Treasurer to let me know how much we have collected but I think I am close to my goal. But lets try and go beyond the goal, so please go to the above website and be as generous as you can.

15th December 2008

If October was a good month for running then November was the opposite. It was cold and wet and at times frosty with loads of frosty fallen leaves. My training suffered a number of setbacks the main one being an iffy hip. The Chiropractor was supposed to have sorted it out, and in their defence she did – it’s the right hip that is giving me jip.

This month has seen me buy numerous sprays to help warm up, warm down, repair minor muscle tears but all too little avail. I managed my longest run so far this month – 9 and half miles. But I think after this run my body said, enough. I have pushed it into areas that are not within its comfort zone and now it is complaining big time, so during December, I will make the most of some rest, the festive season, is not a bad time to wind down recuperate and then go for a big training push during January through to March.

I have received a fundraising "kit" from Marie Curie which has some ideas about raising money for the charity. There are certainly some really weird ones which I will share with you over the next few months.

I have raised around £700 through my website www.justgiving.com/kevinsutch the Golf day and the Quiz which raised an amazing £480. So only £1300 to go.

13th November 2008

October was a great month for running. There were very few cold days and it is really quite pleasant to be running in warm weather even if it is a hard grind to complete the mileage. I managed to complete over 60 miles last month and have now got up to 8 miles in one run. My target is to complete 10 miles by Christmas. But recently a minor disaster has struck. Tight hamstrings, sore calf muscles and sore achilles have recently hampered my training. But the internet is amazing – I have been able to find out training plans, recovery plans and treatment programmes – I didn’t realise that there was so much to running.

A trip to the chiropractor revealed a minor problem with my left hip and £100 later it seems to be getting better. So it back on the training plan mixing my runs between the treadmill when it is really cold and on the road when I want to do longer distances. I do find running on a treadmill a real bind and anything over three miles is a real chore.

I have just booked a place for the Silverstone half marathon which is in March so this should be a good marker for me to see if I will be able to do the real thing in April.

ASSOCIATION DINNER, 6.30 p.m. FRIDAY, 30th JANUARY 2009

INNHOLDERS HALL, LONDON EC4R 2RH

Many thanks to the organisers and everyone who attended our annual Association Dinner on Friday 30th January.

There was record number of attendees and a splendid evening of quality food and fine wine (plus other assorted beverages)  was enjoyed by all who attended. The evening included a sweepstake to guess our Chairman Kevin Sutch's finishing time for the London Marathon and Charity auction for a helicopter flight down the Thames. These raised over £800 for Kevins charity Marie Curie Cancer Care - www.justgiving.com/kevinsutch

Planning has already begun for the 2010 dinner so watch this space.

Download presentations from the joint meeting held between the London & Home Counties Accociation and the RSA.

12 January 2009

Just a short note to thank everyone for allowing me to be President for the coming year. I am really looking forward to continuing the great work of the association, especially the sterling efforts of Andy Cummins the outgoing President. One of the main aims of Andy’s presidency was to encourage the Institute to involve all members in its decision making and in gaining representation at national level, this is something that many of us have been frustrated about for some time. I am really pleased to see that after a number of efforts and the recent consultation process, proposals are being put to the AGM in Telford to allow voting rights for all members. Our association fully supports these proposals and I would urge all eligible members to attend and vote in favour of these much needed changes. If you are not yet eligible to vote but are attending the conference I would encourage you to attend the AGM to show the depth of support for these changes.

During the year ahead I look forward to encouraging increased involvement in the association from all members. With the executive I will be looking to put together a programme of events both professional and social that will appeal to all members. If you have any suggestions or would like to see a particular subject covered please let me or another member of the executive know.

As is customary I will be aiming to raise funds for a worthy charity during my year as president. I have chosen Shooting Star Children’s Hospices as my charity. It is an amazing organisation that offers support for children who are suffering life limiting diseases and their families. Having had the honour of visiting one of their facilities the care and support they give is truly inspiring and I can’t think of a more worthy cause. I am planning a challenge to help raise funds; it will be running related so watch this space. PS Andy, I still regularly look skywards in the hope of spotting you floating down from the perfectly good plane you promised to jump out of.

For those of you who have had the opportunity to get away this summer I hope you had a great time and those still to set off have fun.

All the best

Chris Boylett

Do join us for this meeting on Monday 11th December 2017 which will be of interest to Valuers, Local Authority staff and others involved in Rating and Rates.

The Meeting will start at 4pm and is being held at City of London Offices, Wallbrook Wharf EC4R 3TD      http://www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/images/PDFS/CorporationOfLondonMap.pdf

Association President Chris Grose will be talking through the Budget announcements and the consequences to come, 

President Gordon Heath and Carla-Maria Heath will be outlining the latest on Rates Retention (including 100% in London for 2018)

Geoff Fisher will be giving a Tribunal case update in particular the major decisions on the York Museums and York Council HQ offices cases.

All panel members will update on other topical business rate issues

* We also understand that the Rating Valuers annual Xmas drinks is being held that evening, at the The Pavilion Pub (Cellar Bar).  This is off Bow Lane and about 5 minute walk from the IRRV Meeting.

The meeting counts as RICS/IRRV CPD for 2017 and is free to members of IRRV, the charge for non-members is £30.00. Please send an email to confirm your attendance by close of business Wednesday 6th December.

Please book as soon as possible to secure places – to Carla-Maria.Heath@cityoflondon.gov.uk

On behalf of all of the London and Home Counties Executive may we wish all of our members happy Christmas and a safe and prosperous 2014

http://irrvassociations.org.uk/documents/4/files/Presentations/Microsoft%20PowerPoint%20IRRV%20Buisness%20Rates%20Update%20Xmas%202019.pdf

The meeting included:-

• recent cases
• The Commons Treasury Select Committee Report
• Proposed changes to business rates promised as part of the Election
• latest RICS Guidance Update

Regards

Chris Grose

L&HC Assocation Secretary

Cain Ormondroyd, leading barrister and regular advocate for the VOA, DCLG and HMRC gave a presentation on 16th Janauary 2017 on the subject 'Rates Avoidance: Time for Reform?”.

Copies of the slides are now attached./documents/4/files/Rates%20avoidance%20-%20time%20for%20reform%20160117.pdf

The London & Home Counties executive have great pleasure in announcing a comprehensive meeting and social schedule for 2008/9.

Full details of all events will be circulated to member and placed on this webpage in due course but if you require any further information now please contact the secretary Nick Rowe at nick.rowe@hounslow.gov.uk

The next meeting of the Association will be held on 11th November at Westminster City Hall when Mick Lear and Kevin Sutch will present a joint paper entitled KLOE gap analysis - a local authority practitioner's and the Audit Commission's view.

 ick Lear is the Head of Benefits at LB Lewisham and Kevin Sutch, this years Association Chairman is a member of the Institutes Benefit Faculty and has carried out 5 inspections on behalf of the Audit Commission using the latest KLOE.

The meeting will commence at 2pm, and refreshments will be available from 1:15pm.

Westminster City Hall - 64 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QP

Members and guests are welcome to either meeting and places are free but limited. Could you Paul McDermott by email if you would like to attend. paul.mcdermott@towerhamlets.gov.uk

The 2022 IRRV National Conference is nearly upon us,  Most of the London and Home Counties Executive members will be attending and many are speaking or chairing sessions.

The Conference is a great opportunity to meet other profesionals in the same field as you, whether from the public or private sector as well as suppliers.

The various sessions allow you to update yourself on the latest professional thinking as well as providing CPD hours to those that require it

Chris writes ....... I started my career in Valuation at GL Hearn, and subsequently have worked in the Valuation Office, Bisset Moffat Hill and Sanderson Weatherall before joining Capita Real Estate in 2011. Followong Capita’s acquisition of GL Hearn I am now back where I started.  During my year I hope that the executive committee can work on offering more frequent professional meetings to support us all in our day to day work.  However to do this we also need to know what our members want from us, and of course offers to provide venues or to speak will be gratefully received.  Outside work I watch F1, maintain a couple of allotments and have been known to cycle.

Annual Quiz – kindly sponsored by Rundles Wednesday 12th February 6.30pm The Pavilion End, 23 Watling Street, London EC4M 9BR

 The annual quiz will again be held at The Pavilion End, 23 Watling Street, London EC4M 9BR. 

Either come along as a team or form a team on the evening.  Teams maximum of 4 people, £10 per person, ticket price includes finger buffet. 

To enable us to organise the catering please email secretary.lhc@irrvassociations.org.uk to book your place, either as a team or an individual.

Dominic Cain IRRV (Hons), MBA

After the superb England performances this summer in cricket, cycling and rugby, I am delighted to let you know that the summer of exceptional sporting events continues with the Annual London & Home Counties Association golf tournament taking place on Friday 16th September 2016.  

Since the tournament’s inception twelve years ago, the day has continued to be generously sponsored by  Equita, Newlyn plc and Phoenix Commercial Collections Ltd; we welcome and are grateful to JBW Group Ltd who are sponsoring the event for the first time. Entrance continues to be held at £30.00. This includes green fees, breakfast on arrival at 9:00am, dinner (smart casual attire) and trophies. The format is individual stableford scores using full handicap (max 24).

Once again the event will take place at the South Hertfordshire Golf Club's Vardon course. I am reminded that there have been some interesting alterations made to the course recently, this was specifically to further handicap Paul Sharpe’s chances of success in the Sponsors Challenge.

The club is located in Totteridge North London and the course is renowned for its relatively small, often sloping greens, and the undulating nature of the land place a premium on intelligent shot placement. This, together with putting surfaces which are amongst the best in the south of England is why South Herts. has regularly been chosen as an Open Championship pre-qualifying venue and for the London & Home Counties tournament.

If you would like to join us, it is essential that you book a place, please contact Andy Cummins on 07841 995732 or by email andy.cummins@phoenixcommercial.co.uk

The Association’s grateful thanks go to Andy Cummins for his superb organisational skills and each of the sponsors - Equita, JBW Group Ltd, Newlyn PLC and Phoenix Commercial Collections Ltd for agreeing to continue to sponsor this event.

At the recent AGM Nick Rowe was elected as President for 2010/11. Following a change in the constitution the title of the post was amended from chairman to President. The senior post was first appointed in 1963 and indeed the title was initially introduced as President. This was them amended to Chairman in 1972.

Phil Black was elected as Vice-President and will assist Nick during his year. In closely fought elections David Graaf and Kevin Sutch were re-elected and we welcome Angela Turner to the executive as our student member. 

Nick follows an illustrious list of past holders of the post, many of whom still play an active role within the institute both locally and nationally

R.V.A. and I.R.R.V.

London and Home Counties Association

CHAIRMEN

1963/64           H. Jackson

1964/65           A. Donald Nicholls

1965/66           A. Donald Nicholls

1966/67           Jack Thomas

1967/78           Arthur G. Hirst

1968/69           John B. Sharp

1969/70           J.C. Malley

1970/71           Stanley T. Milbourne

1971/72           T.M. Harris

1972/73           Jack J. Vogler

1973/74           J. Ewart-Smith

1974/75           W. Eddie Jenkin

1975/76           Edwin Hall

1976/77           Thomas Penry Jones

1977/78           E.H.J. ("Ted") Straight

1978/79           Geoff Chapman

1979/80           Chris G. Tomkins

1980/81           Harold W. Scott

1981/82           Vincent J. Ellis

1982/83           Bill Shiner

1983/84           Richard Cox

1984/85           A. ("Lew") Coles

1985/86           Terry J. Massey

1986/87           Martin Taylor

1987/88           Tom Milburn

1988/89           Jack Horsnell

1989/90           Steve Clarkson

1990/91           Alan Titheridge

1991/92           Carla-Maria Heath

1992/93           Terry J. Walsh

1993/94           Gary Watson

1994/95           Gordon Heath

1995/96           Paul McDermott

1996/97           Hilary Kitchener

1997/98           David Lunn

1998/99           Geoff Fisher

1999/2000       Mark Scanes

2000/1             Sue Trotter

2001/2             Wendy Livings

2002/3             Carla-Maria Heath

2003/4             Martin Taylor

2004/5             Gordon Heath

2005/6             Roy Tilbury

2006/7             Paul McDermott

2007/8             Andy Cummins

2008/9             Kevin Sutch

2009/10           Peter Scrafton

2010/11           Nick Rowe

The latest issue of the Assocaition newsletter is now availiable. If anyone has any comments on the newsletter (good or bad) or ideas for future issues please contact nick.rowe@hounslow.gov.uk

Download Newsletter

This year’s annual quiz will be in aid of the Chairman’s charity - Marie Curie Cancer Care

FRIDAY 28^TH NOVEMBER 2008

RED HERRING PUBLIC HOUSE

TIME: 6.30 P.M.

Our Chairman Kevin Sutch has selected Marie Curie Cancer Care as his chosen charity for his year in office. In a rare moment of weakness he has agreed to run the London marathon in April 2009 for the charity. To donate to this worthy cause please visit http://www.justgiving.com/kevinsutch

Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the UK’s largest charities. It was established in 1948 – the same year as the NHS – and marks its 60th anniversary in 2008. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, we expect to provide care to around 27,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in our hospices this year, along with support for their families.

We mainly care for people with cancer but we also care for people with other life limiting illnesses. Our services are always free of charge to patients and their families, which means that in 2007-08, we will need to raise more than £115 million. The charity is best known for its network of Marie Curie Nurses working in the community to provide end-of-life care for patients in their own homes.

We have 10 hospices across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and two centres for palliative care research. We also run the world-renowned Marie Curie Research Institute, which investigates the causes and treatments of cancer. For the past three years, Marie Curie Cancer Care has been campaigning for more patients to be able to make the choice to be cared for and die at home. Research shows around 70 per cent of people would like to die at home if they had a terminal illness, with a sizeable minority opting for hospice care. However, more than 50 per cent of cancer deaths still occur in hospital, the place people say they would least like to be.

Our campaign – Supporting the Choice to Die at Home – continues to attract widespread support from cancer patients and their families, healthcare professionals and politicians from all parties. In 2004 we launched our first major palliative care service improvement plan, the Marie Curie Delivering Choice Programme, to provide greater choice for patients in end of life care.

The programme has five projects underway across the UK – in Lincolnshire, Leeds, Tayside (Scotland), Barnet (north London) and south-east London. Financially, around 70 per cent of the charity’s income comes from the generous support of thousands of individuals, membership organisations and businesses, with the balance of our funds coming from the NHS. We also depend on an army of volunteers to support our work in both care and fundraising.

The daffodil is the emblem of Marie Curie Cancer Care. Every March we run the Great Daffodil Appeal, with street collections and other fundraising events nationwide.

We recently held an Association meeting on the latest enforcement issues, this took place at Chiltern District Council Offices on Tuesday 21st October. The session was an interesting and timely one, the speaker was Dr Steve Everson, Director General of the Association of Civil Enforcement Agencies.

Attached are a copy of his slides for those that were unable to attend.

On 26th February Sean Langley will presented a paper entitled "Leadership and Change Management".
 
Sean spent more than 19 years employed with Gosport BC; Test Valley BC and Basingstoke & Deane BC, before working as a freelance Revenues & Benefits Consultant since 1999.
He is a fully qualified Corporate Member of the IRRV since 1985 and a Past-Chairman of the Wessex Association, serving as an Executive since 1992.
Sean became a published author when 'The phat Controller (A Leadership Handbook)' was published last summer.

A copy of his presentation is attached here.

The LHC AGM was held at Southwark Council Offices on 31st July 2019 and accompanied by wine and cheese.

Andy Cummins provided an annual report of his presidential year, as mentioned by Chris earlier, one of Andy’s priorities during the year was to promote a change in the national rules to enable Technician members to vote on national issues. Andy’s mantra being ‘one member one vote’ he amongst others have promoted and lobbied the cause which has lead to proposals being put to members at the AGM in October. It was reported that £2,000 had been raised through out the year in aid of the president’s nominated charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) with 50% of this sum being raised at the annual dinner.

Allan Clark provided an informative update on the year’s accounts and was thanked by all in attendance for the excellent job he has continued to do as treasurer.

A proposal was made to amend the constitution to remove the post of assistant secretary and replace with a social secretary. The proposal was approved after a lengthy discussion regarding the responsibilities of each of the secretary posts.

Elections to officer posts and members resulted in the following:

Following his election as president Chris Boylett thanked Andy for all the work he had undertaken during the last year and announced his nominated charity Shooting Stars Hospice. As Chris states above he will be undertaking some form of charitable run to raise funds.

IRRV National President Louise Freeth took to the floor addressing attendees indicating this was the last regional association AGM she was due to as president (as a member of the LCH exec she cant get away from us that easily). Louise provided an update on national matters, particularly the success of the apprentice scheme. Louise also spoke about the need to support the General Council and the proposed changes to the Constitution to permit ‘one member one vote’ as a 2/3rd majority at the AGM is required in order for the changes to pass.

Charlotte Acutt gave a vote of thanks to Louise for her commitment to her role of President and for being an inspiration to other members (particularly younger female members).

Notice of Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Association will be held at the Marylebone Cricket Club, Lords Cricket Ground, St. Johns Wood, London NW8 8QN on Tuesday 13^th April 2010 commencing at 4.00p.m to be followed by a buffet at approximately 5.00 p.m. The nearest underground station is St. Johns Wood.

There will be a tour of Lords that we plan will take place prior to the AGM - commencing at approximately 2.30pm. The entire event has been generously sponsored by Rundle & Co.

The minutes of last year’s AGM and the Annual Report will be available at the meeting.  If you are unable to attend but would like a copy, please let me know or check the Association pages of the IRRV website.

There are vacancies on the Association Executive Committee for Corporate, Technician and Student / Affiliate members.  If you would like details of what is involved please contact me on the number below or by e-mail. A nomination form is also attached. The completed nomination form must be received by me no later than Friday 9th April 2010.

The President of the Institute, Geoff Fisher IRRV (Hons), will be addressing the meeting on current matters of interest and his experiences as President. 

For Security and catering purposes, please let Nick Rowe nick.rowe@hounslow.gov.uk by email if you intend to attend the AGM.

The meeting will be immediately followed by a buffet - (No charge but donations welcome to the Chairman’s Charity)

Nick Rowe

Vice-Chairman

nick.rowe@hounslow.gov.uk

07903 753288

Andy is the Business Development Director at Phoenix Commercial Collections and is responsible for acquiring new business and the management of existing clients.

He has been a member of the Institute since arriving from Ireland in 1990 where he was a Local Authority Revenue Collector, door to door in those days! He started his Local Government career in Britain as a scale 4 revenues officer at The London Borough of Barnet. Over time he was appointed as the Assistant NDR Manager, with responsibility for all NDR recovery including Magistrates Court Liability Order applications and Means Enquiry hearings. He left Barnet to take on a new challenge with Capita.  

Andy spent eleven years with the Capita Group initially as a revenues consultant, then as the Head of Recovery for Local Authority revenues contracts and finally as Business Development (South) for Equita. During his time at Capita, he was responsible for managing successful projects on behalf of many clients of all sizes from; The City of Westminster, The London Borough of Bromley, The London Borough of Lambeth, to The Borough of Broxbourne, West Lindsey District Council and many more.  

Follow link to e-mail Andy

For our Annual Association Dinner on Friday 12^th February 2010 we will be returning to the prestigious surroundings of the Innholders Hall, 30 College Street, Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2RH (off Dowgate Hill, 50 yards from Cannon Street, 200 yards from Bank underground).  This has proved very popular on previous occasions and the Innholders have a justified reputation for hospitality. As a result of very generous sponsorship, the cost will be £50 each, fully inclusive of all drinks before, during and after the meal. You will be very welcome to bring guests.

RVA & IRRV London and Home Counties Association

PRESIDENTS / CHAIRMEN

1963/64           H. Jackson

1964/65           A. Donald Nicholls

1965/66           A. Donald Nicholls

1966/67           Jack Thomas

1967/78           Arthur G. Hirst

1968/69           John B. Sharp

1969/70           J.C. Malley

1970/71           Stanley T. Milbourne

1971/72           T.M. Harris

1972/73           Jack J. Vogler

1973/74           J. Ewart-Smith

1974/75           W. Eddie Jenkin

1975/76           Edwin Hall

1976/77           Thomas Penry Jones

1977/78           E.H.J. ("Ted") Straight

1978/79           Geoff Chapman

1979/80           Chris G. Tomkins

1980/81           Harold W. Scott

1981/82           Vincent J. Ellis

1982/83           Bill Shiner

1983/84           Richard Cox

1984/85           A. ("Lew") Coles

1985/86           Terry J. Massey

1986/87           Martin Taylor

1987/88           Tom Milburn

1988/89           Jack Horsnell

1989/90           Steve Clarkson

1990/91           Alan Titheridge

1991/92           Carla-Maria Heath

1992/93           Terry J. Walsh

1993/94           Gary Watson

1994/95           Gordon Heath

1995/96           Paul McDermott

1996/97           Hilary Kitchener

1997/98           David Lunn

1998/99           Geoff Fisher

1999/2000       Mark Scanes

2000/1             Sue Trotter

2001/2             Wendy Livings

2002/3             Carla-Maria Heath

2003/4             Martin Taylor

2004/5             Gordon Heath

2005/6             Roy Tilbury

2006/7             Paul McDermott

2007/8             Andy Cummins

2008/9             Kevin Sutch

2009/10           Peter Scrafton

2010/11           Nick Rowe

2011/12           Phil Black

2012/13           Louise Freeth

2013/14           David Graaf

2014/15           Allan Clark

2015/16           Dominic Cain

2016/17           Matthew Kelly

2017/18           Chris Grose

2018/19           Andy Cummins

* In accordance with Headquarters’ wishes, this Branch changed the title from President to Chairman in 1972 – the title President was re-introduced in 2010.

Notice of Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Association will be held in the City Marketing Suite at the London Guildhallon Tuesday 21st April 2009 commencing at 4.00p.m to be followed by a buffet at approximately 5.00 p.m generously sponsored by Rundle & Co.. The nearest underground stations to the Guildhall are Bank, Moorgate, and St. Paul’s.

The minutes of last year’s meeting are attached and the Annual Report will be available at the meeting.  If you are unable to attend but would like a copy, please let me know or check the Association pages of the IRRV website.

There are vacancies on the Association Executive Committee for Corporate, Technician and Student / Affiliate members.  If you would like details of what is involved please contact me on the number below or by e-mail. A nomination form is also attached. The completed nomination form must be received by the Association Secretary no later than Friday 17th April 2009.

The President of the Institute, Julie Holden IRRV, will be addressing the meeting on current matters of interest and her experiences as President. 

For Security and catering purposes, please let the assistant secretary know by email if you intend to attend the AGM to p.mcdermott@exacta.co.uk

London & Home Counties Association

Annual General Meeting

21^st April 2009 4.00 p.m.

Agenda

1.      Apologies for absence.

2.      Minutes of last Annual General Meeting.

3.      Matters arising.

4.      Annual Report 2007/2008.

5.      Annual Statement of Accounts.

6.      Chairman’s nominated charity.

7.      Election of Association Officers.

8.      Election of Members of the Executive Committee.

9.      Announcements.

10.Address by the President of the Institute.

11.Vote of thanks from the Vice-Chairman.

12.Any other business. 
(Notice of any other business should reach the Secretary by 17 April 2009)

The meeting will be immediately followed by a buffet sponsored by Rundle & Co.

(No charge but donations welcome to the Chairman’s Charity)

Paul McDermott IRRV

Assistant Secretary

c/o GBK Exacta (UK) Ltd

33 Cavendish Square

LONDON

W1J 2DJ

Tel:  020 7182 4233 (switchboard)

       020 7182 4354 (direct)

Fax: 020 7182 4100

Email: p.mcdermott@exacta.co.uk

Website: www.exacta.co.uk

Around 50 guests sampled the luxury of the Innholders Hall on Friday 1 February at the London & Home Counties Association Dinner.

Fine wines were carefully selected by Gordon Heath to complement the menu which was enjoyed by all.

Thanks also go to Baker Tilly, Equita, IBS Opens Systems UK, Newlyn Collection Services, Phoenix, Reader & Rolls and Vantis plc for their generous sponsorship of the evening.

The evening ended with a raffle a charity auction which resulted in over £800 being raised for the chairman's charity and Roy Tilbury walking home with a limited edition photograph of Manchester United legends Denis Law and George Best.

We are looking for members to contribute any ideas or thoughts they may have for anything to do with the London and Home Counties Association. This could be ideas for meetings or training days. Thoughts for social events or ways to encourage more participation. Any ideas will be welcomed by the Executive. Please pass any thoughts or ideas to either the President - Kevin Sutch via e-mail to k-sutch@audit-commission.gov.uk or on 07815 879622 or to the Secretary - Nick Rowe via e-mail to nick.rowe@hounslow.gov.uk or on 07958 490869

Gary is the Chair of the IRRV Local Taxation and Revenues Faculty Board. He will lead delegates through all areas of Council Tax including valuation, liability, reliefs and recovery.

It will cover recent (and proposed) changes in legislation and the latest case law.

Cost of this event is a realistic £80.00 and will include comprehensive notes and lunch.

The venue that has been chosen is Haringey and is conveniently situated by Wood Green Tube Station on the Piccadilly Line. To book your place(s) on what promises to be a popular event, please contact Phil Adlard, Association Secretary at padlard@oxford.gov.uk

Postponed

The next Association meeting, which was scheduled to take place on 25th September 2008 has unfortunately has had to be postponed due to circumstances out of our control.

It is aimed to re-stage this event later in the year.

Jonathan Bower, Geoff Fisher, Colin Smith and Peter Scrafton will jointly present a paper entitled

" Impacts of Compulsory Purchase Orders". Jonathan, Geoff, Colin and Peter are well known leading experts in this field.

IRRV London & Home Counties Association - TRAINING Sue Beasor and the Audit Commission 23rd and 24th October 2008 How can we use the Housing Benefits Key Lines of Enquiry to improve our service? Managers may have been grappling with this concept but how many team leaders and assessors actually know what the Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE) are and how they are used. This is a practical session aimed at team leaders, supervisors and senior benefit officers to understand the requirements of the new inspection regime. This is a great opportunity to hear direct from the Audit Commission and work with colleagues form other authorities to understand the requirements and practical changes they need to implement. The day will be presented by Sue Beasor; an experienced benefits practitioner, trainer and consultant together with a representative from Tim Savill's team in the Audit Commission. We will limit the number of places available at both venues In order to allow maximum participation the sessions will run on 23rd October at the Town Hall in Walthamstow and the 24th October in the offices of Chiltern District Council in Amersham. (see the links below) The price for this opportunity is £89 plus VAT, including lunch and refreshments. When you pay for 3 places a fourth place is offered free of charge. Programme: 10.00 a.m. Introduction - Aims & Objectives, for the day * Introduction by the Audit Commission * The Local Government Performance Framework * Where do Benefits fit? 1pm ­ 2pm Lunch 2pm Workshop ­ KLOEs preparing to meet the challenge of a new inspection regime. 4.00 p.m. (approx) Close, (breaks at around 11.15am and 3pm) Please book your places early as this is an opportunity not to be missed! Bookings can be made by emailing me by return to paul.mcdermott@towerhamlets.gov.uk We will invoice your authority but we must have an official order number to secure your place Venue Information: Chilterns: http://www.chiltern.gov.uk/site/scripts/location.php Walthamstow: http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/leisure/museums-galleries/vestry-house-museum/museum-information.htm Paul McDermott Asst. Secretary

Wondered what you missed out on at a recent Association meeting? Copies of speaker's slides are now available on the meetings pages and will be shown for up to three months after the meeting.

Slides will only be shown with the presenter's permission.

We are currently holding slides from the following events:

David Tretton & Jerry Schruder - NDR Changes and Empty Rates - 19 November 2007

Helen Robertson - Shared Services in Benefits - 14 January 2008

Sally Hammond - Comprehensive Area Assessments & Local Area Assessments - 19 February 2008

The latest minutes of the Executive will be posted on this site as soon as possible after the minutes have been agreed.

Notice of Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Association will be held in the City Marketing Suite at the London Guildhall on Tuesday 21st April 2009 commencing at 4.00p.m to be followed by a buffet at approximately 5.00 p.m generously sponsored by Rundle & Co.. The nearest underground stations to the Guildhall are Bank, Moorgate, and St. Paul’s.

The minutes of last year’s meeting are attached and the Annual Report will be available at the meeting.  If you are unable to attend but would like a copy, please let me know or check the Association pages of the IRRV website.

There are vacancies on the Association Executive Committee for Corporate, Technician and Student / Affiliate members.  If you would like details of what is involved please contact me on the number below or by e-mail. A nomination form is also attached. The completed nomination form must be received by the Association Secretary no later than Friday 17th April 2009.

The President of the Institute, Julie Holden IRRV, will be addressing the meeting on current matters of interest and her experiences as President. 

For Security and catering purposes, please let the assistant secretary know by email if you intend to attend the AGM to p.mcdermott@exacta.co.uk

London & Home Counties Association

Annual General Meeting

21^st April 2009 4.00 p.m.

Agenda

1.      Apologies for absence.

2.      Minutes of last Annual General Meeting.

3.      Matters arising.

4.      Annual Report 2007/2008.

5.      Annual Statement of Accounts.

6.      Chairman’s nominated charity.

7.      Election of Association Officers.

8.      Election of Members of the Executive Committee.

9.      Announcements.

10.Address by the President of the Institute.

11.Vote of thanks from the Vice-Chairman.

12.Any other business. 
(Notice of any other business should reach the Secretary by 17 April 2009)

The meeting will be immediately followed by a buffet sponsored by Rundle & Co.

(No charge but donations welcome to the Chairman’s Charity)

Paul McDermott IRRV

Assistant Secretary

c/o GBK Exacta (UK) Ltd

33 Cavendish Square

LONDON

W1J 2DJ

Tel:  020 7182 4233 (switchboard)

       020 7182 4354 (direct)

Fax: 020 7182 4100

Email: p.mcdermott@exacta.co.uk

Website: www.exacta.co.uk

The London & Home Counties executive have great pleasure in announcing a comprehensive meeting and social schedule for 2008/9.

Full details of all events will be circulated to member and placed on this webpage in due course but if you require any further information now please contact the secretary Nick Rowe at nick.rowe@hounslow.gov.uk

I am keen to ensure that all members are receiving their mail from the London & Home Counties Association. Accordingly I should be most grateful if you could feed back to me (or the Assistant Secretary) the e-mail addresses for anyone that you feel may be missing out !

During each month we send out a wide variety of information including the popluar newletter and notices of meetings and training events. I am always interested in hearing about any suggestions or requests for information that you would like me to circulate to you.

If you have had a change of job, venue or home address please also remember to contact me with this information as soon as possible in order that I can amend our records.

In the meantime we look forward to seeing you at our next meeting.

Nick Rowe IRRV
Association Secretary
Tel 07958 490869
nick.rowe@hounslow.gov.uk