Join us at The ICC, Birmingham on the 24-25 June 2025
Public Finance Live will return to The ICC, Birmingham on 24-25 June 2025 and will bring together practitioners, commentators and experts for sector updates, discussions and insights into public finance and public service management.
Join us at The ICC, Birmingham on the 24-25 June 2025
Public Finance Live will return to The ICC, Birmingham on 24-25 June 2025 and will bring together practitioners, commentators and experts for sector updates, discussions and insights into public finance and public service management.
PF Live by numbers
Why Attend?
Public Finance Live brings together leaders and practitioners to share insight, ideas and best practice to solve the key issues impacting the public sector and to plan for the future.
CIPFA’s annual conference is ideal both for those looking at the big public policy picture and for more hands-on updates, discussion and insights into public finance and public service management.
This flagship event provides a unique opportunity to reconnect with colleagues to inspire new thinking and strengthen networks.


Delegate Pricing
Public Finance Live 2025 will have a programme packed with sessions and networking opportunities across the two days.
View the different rates for Public and Voluntary Sector, CIPFA members, Private Sector and CIPFA students for one day or full conference attendance.
Exhibitors and Sponsors
Find out more about becoming an exhibitor and the sponsorship opportunities available
Featured Speakers

Marverine Cole
Journalist and broadcaster
Marverine Cole is a multi-award-winning journalist and broadcaster from Birmingham. Her media and journalism career spans more than thirty years, as a reporter, producer and news anchor for many of the UK’s most watched and listened to broadcasters, including Sky News, 5 News, BBC 5 Live and BBC Radio 4. She also joined the presenting team at Good Morning Britain.
As a TV Newsreader, she’s presented bulletins for the BBC and ITV in the Midlands, and 5 News, live rolling news programmes for Sky News, and a corporate news show for ITN Productions.
As a radio presenter, Marverine has presented speech and phone-in programmes for BBC Radio WM, Up All Night on BBC 5 Live, co-presented Saturday Live with Reverend Richard Coles on BBC Radio 4, and presented afternoon shows on Classic FM. She has also presented several podcasts for BBC Storyworks, Vintage Books and BBC Good Food.
When it comes to radio documentaries, Marverine conceived Luck Be A Lady Tonight about female gambling addicts for BBC Radio 4, Ladies with Lyrics – The Rise of the Female MC for BBC 1Xtra, and executive produced Where are All the Black Girls in Grime for BBC Radio 4. However, she is best known for Black Girls Don’t Cry, a BBC Radio 4 documentary that she produced and presented, and which earned her the accolade of Journalist of the Year at the Mind Media Awards.
Marverine is the resident Beer Columnist for BBC Good Food magazine and online, where she exercises her credentials as an accredited beer sommelier. As one Britain’s leading female beer experts, she’s often seen hosting live beer tastings on ITV shows like Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, and This Morning. She has also appeared on flagship Channel 4 shows Countdown and Steph’s Packed Lunch.
Marverine has presented lifestyle, food, technology, beauty, and fashion shows for Britain’s most successful and profitable shopping channel QVC. She was the channel’s first Black female main presenter in over twenty years.
Sessions
President's welcome and chair's opening remarks
President's welcome from Sir Mark Lowcock, Incoming CIPFA President and opening remarks from day two chair, Marverine Cole
How public finance professionals can save the world: combatting corruption, fraud and waste
Billions of pounds a year globally are lost from public finances to fraud and corruption, leading to increased criminality, loss of services and poorer citizens. Public finance professionals are at the heart of efforts to curtail this waste, which is particularly rife in times of crisis, such as the pandemic, and global shocks. This session will hear from international examples of effort to improve assurance, governance and public trust.
Plenary keynote 5
Session to be announced
Plenary keynote 6
Session to be announced
President's welcome and chair's opening remarks
President's welcome from Sir Mark Lowcock, Incoming CIPFA President and opening remarks from day two chair, Marverine Cole
How public finance professionals can save the world: combatting corruption, fraud and waste
Billions of pounds a year globally are lost from public finances to fraud and corruption, leading to increased criminality, loss of services and poorer citizens. Public finance professionals are at the heart of efforts to curtail this waste, which is particularly rife in times of crisis, such as the pandemic, and global shocks. This session will hear from international examples of effort to improve assurance, governance and public trust.
Plenary keynote 5
Session to be announced
Plenary keynote 6
Session to be announced

Chair
- Plenary (Chair)
Marverine Cole

Sameena Ali-Khan
Journalist and newsreader
Sameena anchors national bulletins for ITV at weekends, and throughout the week on Central Tonight in the Midlands, covering a wide range of stories across daily news and documentaries.
After studying physiology and chemistry, Sameena was drawn to journalism. She first started working on radio in Manchester, and first appeared on air on BBC Radio Lancashire. Sameena remained with the BBC, going back to Manchester before stints on the BBC Asian Network, BBC West Midlands, BBC London, and Radio 5 Live.
On TV (aside from a debut appearance made whilst living in Nigeria on the country’s equivalent of Blue Peter) Sameena presented and reported for Northwest Today, Inside Out, and Midlands Today before moving to ITV.
With a presenting style combining bright and approachable with authoritative, Sameena has won numerous awards during her broadcasting career, including three RTS Midlands Best Screen Personality Awards, for her work on ITV News Central.
Sessions
President's welcome and Chair’s opening remarks
President's welcome from Sir Mark Lowcock, Incoming CIPFA President and opening remarks from day one chair, Sameena Ali-Khan
Successful devolved approaches - the opportunities and challenges for metro mayors
The challenges we face are global in nature, and yet our key issues of poverty, public health and social care and security hit closer to home. Can devolution and pragmatic problem solving enable more successful city and region-based outcomes, spearheaded by strong Mayors putting local needs first?
What are the opportunities/barriers for closer collaboration between local government and frontline services in light of the UK devolution white paper?
One year in from a new UK government, frontline services are not only dealing with reductions in budgets (in real terms) and rising demand, but long overdue funding reforms and potentially generational reforms to organisations and institutional structures through devolution. How can we work more closely across regional and local structures to deliver positive outcomes to communities?
Balancing technology and human capacity in a changing world for public finance
The global workforce challenge that we face now and in the future will not be solved by technology and/or human capacity and capability alone. Tech can be used to replace roles, to enhance productivity, to make roles more attractive, and to innovate and create new roles – all of the above, but it also depends what we ask of it. How do we tackle the great service questions and balance human insight and experience vs the 'answer flavoured products’ that AI queries may give us? And ensure quality, accountability and the future of the profession are baked into the answers for these generational questions.
President's welcome and Chair’s opening remarks
President's welcome from Sir Mark Lowcock, Incoming CIPFA President and opening remarks from day one chair, Sameena Ali-Khan
Successful devolved approaches - the opportunities and challenges for metro mayors
The challenges we face are global in nature, and yet our key issues of poverty, public health and social care and security hit closer to home. Can devolution and pragmatic problem solving enable more successful city and region-based outcomes, spearheaded by strong Mayors putting local needs first?
What are the opportunities/barriers for closer collaboration between local government and frontline services in light of the UK devolution white paper?
One year in from a new UK government, frontline services are not only dealing with reductions in budgets (in real terms) and rising demand, but long overdue funding reforms and potentially generational reforms to organisations and institutional structures through devolution. How can we work more closely across regional and local structures to deliver positive outcomes to communities?
Balancing technology and human capacity in a changing world for public finance
The global workforce challenge that we face now and in the future will not be solved by technology and/or human capacity and capability alone. Tech can be used to replace roles, to enhance productivity, to make roles more attractive, and to innovate and create new roles – all of the above, but it also depends what we ask of it. How do we tackle the great service questions and balance human insight and experience vs the 'answer flavoured products’ that AI queries may give us? And ensure quality, accountability and the future of the profession are baked into the answers for these generational questions.

Chair
- Plenary (Chair)
Sameena Ali-Khan
Hotels
Hotel bookings at a discounted rate can be made via our partner HotelMap. Click below to view the options.
Podcasts
Click below to view our podcasts, we have a series of episodes that cover the sessions from the conference.
Venue
Public Finance Live 2025 will be held at The ICC, Birmingham on 24-25 June 2025. Click below to find out more about the venue and how to get there.
Venue