Housing Professionals Conference
Professionals supporting professionals
28 and 29 October 2024
Join TPAS Scotland at this year's Housing Professionals' Conference on 28-29 October at the Apex City Quay Hotel, Dundee.
Jacqueline Norwood, TPAS Scotland Executive Director, will open this not-to-be-missed two-day tenant participation event.
This year's conference is packed with expert speakers who will share their knowledge on issues requested by TPAS Scotland members.
Take advantage of this opportunity to get expert advice, engage in interactive sessions, share best practice, network, meet up with old friends and make new connections too. Go back to work feeling motivated, inspired and raring to go.
Why attend?
Programme
All content is subject to change.
Session previews
Tackling digital exclusion
The use of digital technology to deliver services – both private and public – increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, a report, published in August this year, by Audit Scotland found that 15% of Scotland’s adult population lack foundation-level digital skills. As the trend for online services continues, how can we tackle digital exclusion, ensuring that no one is left unable to access the services they require?
Audit Scotland’s report, an audit on tackling digital exclusion on behalf of the Accounts Commission and Auditor General for Scotland, looks at:
- What is digital exclusion?
- How well is the public sector tackling digital exclusion?
- Principles for enabling digital inclusion.
During this session at TPAS Scotland’s Housing Professionals’ Conference 2024, Jillian Matthew, Senior Manager at Audit Scotland, will discuss the report’s key findings and recommendations, share examples of good practice and look at how to support digital inclusion.
Jillian has been with Audit Scotland for over 20 years in various roles. Her current senior manager role involves overseeing performance audit work across the public sector related to equalities and human rights issues.
Energy innovation and fuel poverty – supporting fuel poor households to engage with the just transition
The Scottish Government has committed to ending its contribution to climate change in a way that is “fair and leaves no one behind” – a just transition – as well as the actions needed to become a net zero greenhouse gas emissions nation by 2045. So what does this mean for Scotland’s communities?
At the TPAS Scotland Housing Professionals’ Conference 2024, Laura Fordyce, Business Development Manager at Warmworks, will discuss how her organisation supports fuel poor households to engage with the just transition to ensure no homes, communities or individuals are left behind in the transition to net zero.
Warmworks was founded in 2015 as a joint venture partnership between Energy Saving Trust, Changeworks and Everwarm. Since then, it has supported more than 35,000 households in Scotland as the managing agent of the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland. Its work is a key part of the drive to reduce Scotland’s carbon emissions and support the transition to a net-zero society. Warmworks’ role is to ensure that this transition to low-carbon living, with its rapid shift towards new, renewable technologies in people’s homes, includes everyone, especially those who need extra help and support to adapt to change.
Laura’s session will cover how the right advice, help and mechanisms can support this transition as well as sharing examples of some of the innovative technology Warmworks has delivered through its retrofit projects.
Laura joined Warmworks in early 2023 as Business Development Manager, and her role includes supporting housing associations to prepare winning funding applications and identifying routes to decarbonise their housing stock. Laura has nine years’ experience of working in the housing sector, with previous roles at the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland and Dunedin Canmore Housing Association, now part of the Wheatley Group.
Housing and community – an innovative approach to holistic community regeneration
At this year’s TPAS Scotland Housing Professionals’ Conference, Catrin Evans, Head of Development at the Community Impact Initiative (CII) CIC, will deliver a session on ‘Housing and community – an innovative approach to holistic community regeneration’.
The CII is a Wales-based not-for-profit organisation that uses the renovation of empty homes as a vehicle to help people gain skills, achieve qualifications and improve their wellbeing.
CII’s empty homes regeneration cycle involves:
- finding a long-term empty home in a community affected by the housing crisis, where residents face high levels of poverty, unemployment and social isolation
- engaging with the community and inviting locals to become participants on the project. Participants are taken through the renovation, step by step, learning new skills, gaining qualifications and improving their wellbeing
- working with partner organisations, over a period of six months, to ensure renovations are high quality, safe, sustainable and energy efficient
- once completed, properties are either used in partnership with charities and local authorities to house vulnerable people or sold back to the community, with all income reinvested into the next house, allowing the cycle to begin again.
Since the CII started in 2016, it has brought 12 empty properties back into use and supported over 300 people from marginalised communities to make positive life changes.
Catrin has now embarked on the new challenge of bringing the CII’s innovative community regeneration model to a new Scottish project in Dundee.
By attending the HPC, you’ll learn more from Catrin about the work of the CII, in both Wales and Dundee, as an example of what can be achieved through the renovation of long-term empty homes. She will also discuss the most pressing issues currently faced by communities in Dundee and question how we can tackle them using practical, innovative solutions.
Three stages of ‘Room 101’ – interactive session
Have you ever dreamed of consigning certain housing policies or practices to history? At this year’s TPAS Scotland Housing Professionals’ Conference, you will get your ‘chance’ to do just that.
The conference will have an interactive ‘Room 101’ session, led by TPAS Scotland’s Executive Director, Jacqueline Norwood, and Stacey Johnston, Creative Associate. The session is based on the comedy show Room 101, and delegates will be asked to consign housing policies and practices on topical themes to the room. This will be done in three stages comprising discussion, agreement and replacements for the consigned policy or practice.
The three housing themes to be explored are:
- The housing emergency
- Housing to 2040
- Net zero
By the end of the session, delegates will have had an opportunity to discuss these themes with other housing professionals and been able to gain new ideas and approaches.
TPAS Scotland’s Housing Professionals’ Conference is taking place on 28 and 29 October at Apex City Quay Hotel in Dundee and will focus on the theme of ‘professionals supporting professionals’. Jacqueline and Stacey’s session is taking place on the first day of the event.
Booking details
New for HPC 2024 - for each booked place, you can reserve a free place for either a modern apprentice or member of staff new to housing - paying only for the accommodation and dinner, if required.
Non-residential rate
Members £180 per day | Non-members £250 per day
Dinner (Monday 28 October)
£60
Accommodation
The discount code TPAS2024 is now live and can be booked here.
Book now
To book your space, please contact enquiries@tpasscotland.org.uk.