A total of 112 delegates attended the conference at the Gailes Hotel, Ayrshire on Wednesday 18 November 2015 and heard keynote speakers Raymond Young and Alan Ferguson talk about the history of the housing sector and the world we currently operate in.

Delegates then had a choice of four workshops with both local and national speakers on Health and Social Care, Universal Credit, Energy Efficiency Measures, and Governance and Regulation.

The conference climaxed with a political panel session with contributions from all major political parties, in the run up to the Scottish Government elections in May 2016.

Feedback from delegates has been analysed which showed that most found the event to be ‘interesting and informative’, whilst some found it to be ‘political but understandably so’ and others found it ‘though-provoking’.

The political panel proved to be less popular, with many delegates finding it ‘largely irrelevant’, some finding it ‘slightly patronising’ and others did not appreciate the ‘usual political responses’ from the parties represented. One or two delegates felt that it was an ‘inexperienced panel’, given that it comprised newly chosen Scottish Parliamentary candidates for Ayrshire constituencies.