Delegates were welcomed to the conference by Councillor Pat Garbutt, Portfolio Holder, Children & Young People, Wakefield MDC.		The conference was chaired by David Kidney, MP

The highlight of the conference was a live video link with the Secretary of State for Children's Services, the Rt.Hon. Ed Balls. He had hoped to be present in person, but at the last minute had to change his plans and be in London. As he was so keen to contribute to f40's conference, and he didn't want to disappoint delegates, his department organised the video facility, which allowed the presentation and question and answers session to go ahead.

       

There were three main presentations to the conference, two of which used a powerpoint presentation. These are available below.

Stephen Kingdom, Head of Funding, Schools Resources Group at the DCSF did not use a powerpoint. His main comments can be seen in the report of conference further down this page.