Travel difficulties with the railways, earlier in the year, has resulted in a considerable "shuffling" of events into the second half of the year. The second half of our programme has now been finalised.
One Day Conferences Dealing with Emerging Issues
A new one day seminar, to be held on Monday 4th June, has been organised entitled Keeping up to Date - Informing Future Policy Options: Recent Research Affecting Student Housing. This exciting event will bring together three key researchers who are responsible for reports on student finance, the impact of students on the private rented sector and the Unite MORI research on student lifestyles. With all three authors in the room reporting and discussing their findings, this will be an important day for those wishing to inform future policy options.
Later in the year, on Wednesday 6th July, the planned conference on housing association and HEI co-operation in the provision and facilities management of student accommodation, entitled Housing Associations & Student Accommodation: Forming Genuine Partnerships & Maintaining Quality - How's it Going? is being held in London. The day will look at new schemes that have recently come on line and will assess some older schemes to see how they are working. Following increased partnership working and institutions outsourcing more of their own housing, this topic is increasing in importance. As usual, the emphasis will be on the practical from those who have achieved, not those who say they might.
On Monday 11th June 2001, The Growing Use of the Web in Student Accommodation, will look at and consider recent innovations in using the web for student accommodation. Layered marketing, using commercial sites, developing a new site and interactive services, will all be examined and discussed in a around table format, with established experts in the field.
Students and the Law
Students and the Law continues to be an important theme in our training and two specialist briefings are being held on Tuesday 22nd May 2001. The first, The Disability Discrimination Act and its Relevance to Student Accommodation Providers, will look at how the act affects residential suppliers. The second, The Special Requirements of Housing Students under the age of 18, is in response to the growing requests for information and advice about housing younger students.
These half day briefings are a new, and cheaper, method of imparting core information to delegates.
Three other events also provide legal advice and assistance. Agreeing with Students, to be held on Friday 1st June 2001, looks at what contracts students sign with their institutions. Are they enforceable?
The ever popular Advanced Housing Advice Skills a three day residential module, has been refreshed and will provide what is now accepted to be the authoritative grounding in student and institutional legal issues for both the student and the institution, with a strong concentration of students in the private rented sector. These bracing modules are information packed and build, through participation and interaction, a growing confidence in delegates' own abilities within these areas.
Because our previous two events on The Human Rights Act, Ethical Behaviour and Student Accommodation, were both booked up, we have arranged an updated and revised additional day on Friday 26th October 2001 (really part of next year's programme).
Once again, our legal training team of Hilary Crook (from Denison Till, Solicitors) and the barrister, John Martin, continue to attract excellent evaluations from past delegates for their thoughtful, yet practical approach to student accommodation issues: lawyers that actually give you answers and enhance your understanding of the issues.
Standards and Housing Management
The emphasis on standards, safety and amenity is maintained with three events. The first, to be held on 24th April 2001, looks at Electrical Safety in Student Accommodation and provides expert and practical assistance, in a housing management context, on how to identify, maintain and enforce, electrical safety in student housing, of all kinds. The day also includes group work and interactive participation.
On Friday 4th May 2001, Using Accreditation and Codes of Standards to Ensure Safety in the Private Rented Sector, looks at the increasing importance of voluntary systems to encourage property owners in the private sector to maintain and improve standards and offer a recognisable quality benchmark to wary student consumers. The importance of such schemes, soon to be promoted in a forthcoming Good Practice Guide developed by Birmingham University for the DETR, will make the day of relevance to many dealing with the student private rented sector.
Refurbishing Institutionally Provided Accommodation, to be held on Friday 8th June 2001, will look at different approaches to refurbishment by three universities and will stress the need to upgrade and maintain a flexible accommodation stock that is a pleasant and affordable place to live.
The Special Aspects of Managing Small Houses, to be held on Tuesday 12th June 2001, will look at just that and will emphasis efficient and tenant-friendly methods of managing perhaps the hardest housing stock of all.
Conclusion
This year, Unipol has broadened out the number of speakers and trainers used and has enhanced the participation of delegates whereever possible. Notes and background information also continues to improve.
The second half of the year is at attempt to share travelling between delegates, we are holding events in Leeds (2), York (3), Manchester (1), London (3) and Edinburgh (2) - 11 events in all. We are particularly pleased that we are able to undertake some training in Edinburgh for the first time.
Despite the travel problems, attendances this year at our events have been strong and delegates have made an important contribution to the vibrancy and direction of each event they have attended. The follow up after events, through networking and through our discussion group show that issues raised remain important and live after the event, resulting in better housing management and higher quality advice to our consumers.
Unipol Training hopes to create a family of delegates, providing serious training from those with "hands-on" experience and acting as a central point for the interchange of ideas and best practice within the sector. As a serious and professional training operation we are pleased that we attract serious and committed delegates and speakers. We hope to see you sometime during the year and look forward to your ideas, views and feedback on our events, conferences, training and programmes.
Frances Lister and Alison Taft on behalf of the Unipol Training Team.
A Note on 2001-2002
We are already working on next year's programme, which should be available by May 2001 and should cover September 2001 to July 2002. 26 events, including a higher level of residential events, are planned. Our training programme will respond to the new needs created by ever expanding student numbers and the widening diversity of the student market. Next year will also look at the whole range of increasingly diverse partnerships being formed with private sector suppliers. In addition to this, our emphasis on consumer rights and responsive services and standards will continue.