Our Journey: From the Royal Courts to Winchester

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Friday 5th June 2009 marked the final day for three courses in three distinct RIPA International faculties. We said farewell to 39 delegates from 12 different countries attending our Judicial Administration, Contract Management, Monitoring and Sustainable Procurement and Effective People Management programmes.

Individuals from seven countries combined to take part in our Judicial Administration workshop. As part of a very practically focused and interactive programme our delegates gained exposure to The Royal Courts of Justice; the Sentencing and Guidelines Council; Highbury Magistrates Court and the Mayor’s and City of London County Court and Croydon Crown Court. Supporting these site visits the delegates heard from front-line experts talking about key matters in the administration of justice including records management, processes of measuring court performance, new approaches in dealing with court users, effective liaison and initiatives to enhance the swift resolution of disputes.

We received excellent feedback from what proved to be a very popular, successful and highly interactive Procurement and Contract Management programme. As part of the course the 16 participants from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, India, Ethiopia and The Gambia visited the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and Cancer Research UK, where we piloted an exchange scheme, which saw three employees from the third sector organisation return to RIPA International HQ to attend a full-day of participative sessions. The feedback was extremely positive and certainly the introduction of three UK-based delegates offered the course an added depth of thinking, experience and helped galvanise the cross-fertilisation of ideas and exchanges in knowledge between delegates and course facilitators.

Seven delegates from five nations united for our ten-day Effective People Management programme. The programme was facilitated by expert practitioners in Leadership and Human Resources. To supplement classroom-based learning the group went on three site visits. The first to the London Borough of Brent Council where they were welcomed by one of their senior management teams for a performance management focused presentation. The second London visit saw the group visit The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), a non-departmental public body working closely with the UK government. Finally, the delegation visited Winchester, home of one of the oldest Cathedral’s in Britain and South East Employers (SEE) where the participants learned of the advantages of using assessment centres in the recruitment and selection process.

We wish all those delegates that graduated on Friday every success in the implementation of their Personal Development Plans and for the continued progression of their individual development and organisational advancement. Moreover, it is our belief that this is the beginning of a longer-term relationship and we would welcome continued correspondence with regard to the challenges and successes faced by all RIPA International alumni.

Thank you and good luck.

Jonathan Evans
London Programme Manager