30/11/2009

Visit York, supported by Welcome to Yorkshire, has joined forces with the City of York Council to ensure this conference puts York firmly on the map for conference business in 2010 and beyond.

Ed Balls, The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, will be a key note speaker at what is widely recognized as the most prestigious conference for education and childcare professionals.

The NEEC 2010 event (formerly known as the North of England Education Conference) is expected to attract up to four hundred children's services professionals and those helping to deliver Every Child Matters, as well as people involved in research and higher education and senior politicians.

Delegates will be staying at the city's four star Royal York Hotel where the main conference will be held and other activities will be hosted at venues across the city including a gala dinner at the National Railway Museum, a civic reception at York Minster and educational forums at York College, the University of York and the University of York St John.  Additional accommodation is also being supplied by the Park Inn hotel, the Ramada Encore and the Dean Court Hotel.

The theme of the 2010 conference is ‘Unlocking Children's Potential'.  A number of internationally renowned experts in the field of education and children's services have already agreed to speak, including Sir Michael Bichard, Chair of the Soham Inquiry (who will be the Conference President); Baroness Estelle Morris, former Secretary of State for Education and Skills; Sir Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate; Sir Roger Singleton, Chair of the Independent Safeguarding Authority; and Jonathan Bradshaw CBE, Professor of Social Policy at the University of York and Associate Director of the Social Policy Research Unit, Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director, Institute for Education, and Yasmin Alibhai Brown, regular columnist on The Independent and London's Evening Standard.

The conference is being hosted by City of York Council, working in partnership with Visit York, the University of York, York St John University and York College.

Gillian Cruddas Chief Executive of Visit York, which runs the York Conference Desk, said, ‘Attracting prestigious conferences such as this, helps put York firmly on the conference map and enables the city to showcase its superb variety of venues to key influencers.'

Most recent figures show the annual value of business tourism in York to be £132 million.  2008/09 figures will be announced shortly.

Pete Dwyer, director of Learning, Culture and Children's Services at City of York Council, said "We are delighted that the Secretary of State is attending this prestigious event and are excited about the line-up of speakers we have now attracted to the city. We are even more confident that the event will add to York's reputation both as a city and as a place at the forefront of thinking on education and children's services issues." ENDS

Press Contact: For more information, please contact Kay Hyde, PR Manager, Visit York, Tel: 01904 554451, email: kh@visityork.org