The committee

For the first time in its history a CIPR local group has seen a hotly contested election after more than 30 candidates put themselves forward for election to the Local Public Service Group committee (LPSG).

Candidates had to write a statement about themselves and all members of the group were balloted earlier this year. As a result there's some new blood in the committee, which also retained its key officers such as Chair and Vice chair.

Ashley Wilcox, chair of LPSG, said: "It is encouraging to see that so many of you wanted to join the committee to continue help raise the standard of communications in local public services. The group, while in a difficult financial position, has the opportunity to grow and provide not just the biggest local public services conference and awards, but branch out into regional events."

He added: "I realise that it must be disappointing to those of you who didn't get elected this time but I hope you will still be involved with the committee and group in a less formal way. The group faces lots of challenges over the coming year and it will be invaluable to have a group of friends we can call upon."

Following the ballot, long serving member Robin Treacher, has announced that he will be leaving following a great job offer. He had a parting message:

I cannot believe how quickly 30 years has sped past.

When I first entered local government as a press officer for the London Borough of Hackney I was taught two things on my first day: How to operate the telex machine as we could now send press releases directly to the media via a roll of paper with random holes punched in it - and that I should join the IPR.

As I sit here on the first day of my new job, with blackberry, palm top and iphone it seems the only constant has been the value and importance I place on our professional institute.  I was delighted when we achieved Chartered status - although I am less happy about the fact the Institute has doubled in age since I first joined!

So while I will remain a committed member, my three decades with the Local Government Group (now Local Public Services Group) has come to an end. For most of that time I have had the privilege to serve on your committee in every role from press officer to secretary, from treasurer to Chair. It has been hugely interesting, sometimes frustrating but constantly reassuring that those colleagues who pick local government as their PR field are amongst the top professionals in the game.

Local government is still the best public sector body and a rival to many of the best practices in the private sector. But things are changing again. This should mean clear and inclusive communications becoming ever more important. However, I do fear - as I have seen in cut-back times before - that chopping the communications team is a popular call and easy target. I hope we are not about to see redundancies in our communication teams.

I will be watching as events unfold.

Robin Treacher FCIPR - Formerly of London Borough of Hackney, Leicester City Council and Cleveland County Council, first qualified as a journalist in Kent. He is a founding director of DTW, DTW Vavasour and Quantum PR - three agencies which specialise in local government communications. He joined Covanta Energy in June as European Director of Communications. He has been on the local government group since 1978.

Find out more about the committee members, including their contact details.

• Chair - Ashley Wilcox
• Vice chair - Polly Rance and John Shewell
• Secretary - Diane Talbot
• Treasurer - Malcolm Stammers

Also :

• Liza Greaves MCIPR (Public PR)
• Simon Wakeman MCIPR (Medway Council)
• Faye Scadden ACIPR (Northamptonshire County Council)
• Joyce Nisbet MCIPR (The City of Edinburgh Council)
• James Dunne MCIPR (Norfolk County Council)
• Robert Webb MCIPR (Monmouthshire County Council)
• Yana De Silva MCIPR (Buckinghamshire County Council)
• Wendy Moran MCIPR (Manchester Metropolitan University)
• Helen Ashley MCIPR (Issues PR)
• Anya Richards MCIPR Powys County Council