Training and events

IPROW is continually developing new training courses, delivered by professionals in the rights of way field and tailored specifically for the needs of members. The Annual Update is a 'conference' featuring speakers and workshops on a theme of current interest.

If you are interested in more details of potential courses, contact training@iprow.co.uk. See below for more on bespoke training.

Covid-19: We do not intend to reintroduce venue events until control of the pandemic is clearly established so that participants across a range of vulnerabilities would be comfortable in a venue, and for a venue to be confident of being able to provide for us. The cost of planning a venue event and changing to virtual is high so, to provide certainty for everyone, this year’s events have been committed as virtual. We have proved over the last eighteen months that this medium is very successful and, indeed, has many benefits.

See our current events and training courses

IPROW events calendar

High Quality Training

When the Law Society still ran its accredited CPD scheme, IPROW was accredited as a training provider and was praised for the quality of the training and materials.

Courses continue to be updated and improved and new topics delivered every year in response to demand.

At any event, in addition to its content, one great benefit is the opportunity to meet other members, find out who is doing what where and how successfully, to come away with a wealth of possibilities to try and contacts for future communication.

In response to both COVID-19 and the increasing challenges to local authorities to find funding for training, not just the course itself but time and cost of travel and accommodation, IPROW has been producing courses, webinars and the conference virtually with excellent results and feedback. It is likely that this medium will continue as although there is a loss of social and networking contact, the benefits in terms of cost and time are considerable.

Bespoke Training In-House

There are decreased budgets for training but high demand with people taking on new roles and a greater need to ensure accuracy, efficiency and good practice, so you may find it more cost effective to supply IPROW training at your authority for several of your team, rather than picking one person to attend a course. It's also a useful refresher for longer term staff and, according to feedback we have had, a way to ensure everyone is working to the same protocol.

IPROW courses are continually updated and we offer an extensive selection of sessions. You can pick your ideal content from the menu for a bespoke course and get everyone up to date at once or provide your needs and let us work out the optimum content. Whatever course you are considering, we will ask for the experience of the participants and the learning outcomes that you want, so that we can advise on what is feasible within your budget and time. We very commonly find that the expectation is too high for quantity of material to cover so consider whether your desired outcome an 'awareness overview' or ability to apply the content independently. The modules below and their approximate periods give an idea of how much could be covered in a day.

For a small team, why not see if your neighbouring authorities would be interested in joining you?

Training days may be:

1. A standard IPROW course (there are some exceptions)
2. A combination of sessions from more than one IPROW course
3. New sessions developed for a specific need

Does this interest you? Prices start from £1,300 for virtual delivery, depending on the course required, the price will increase to cover tailoring to specific needs. For fifteen trainees, that’s less than £100 per person for high quality training with no additional time or travel costs. We are not currently offering training on site, but it may be feasible if our trainer is willing, however, the price will increase to cover travel time, cost and probably overnight accommodation, depending on location.

Provision is on the basis that the course is virtual or the host authority provides the room, catering, any equipment (e.g. projector) and any printing. IPROW will provide the trainer(s), including travel and accommodation (if required).

Do you really know the law and good practice for your work or are you making assumptions? Have your colleagues been telling you how to do a new task? Are any of you up to date in current good practice? Do you need inspiration on how to use your time more efficiently; how to avoid being drawn into situations that eat time for no gain?

Pick Your Own Modules

Available as a PDF

Subject Area	Topic	ID	Minutes
Development	The planning process, timeline of a development and an authority's obligations	B1	60
Development	Management of rights of way through development	B2	60
Development	The toolkit for asserting and protecting rights of way during development	B3	60
Development	Making robust responses - framework and policy, strategy, advice	B4	60
Development	Using design, contributions, conditions and levers to best effect	B5	60
Drafting Orders	Key features of drafting orders	D1	50
Drafting Orders	Wildlife and Countryside Act orders	D2	45
Drafting Orders	Highways Act orders	D3	30
Drafting Orders	Town and Country Planning Act orders	D4	30
Enforcement	The duty to assert and protect	E1	30
Enforcement	Policy and procedure: benefits, compliance, cost recovery	E2	45
Enforcement	Enforcement by default action: cost-effective results avoiding prosecution, implementing policy	E3	90
Enforcement	What constitutes obstruction	E4	90
Legal	Case law, important cases and how to use them for modification orders	L1	3x60
Legal	Case law, important cases and how to use them for public path orders	L2	60
Legal	Case law, important cases and how to use them for maintenance and enforcement	L3	60
Maintenance	Enforcement against the highway authority	E5	30
Maintenance	Health and Safety, Risk Assessment, Conservation Constraints	W1	30
Maintenance	Maintenance duty and law (Highways Act)	W2	30
Maintenance	Practical maintenance: cost-savings, contracting out vs in-house	W3	30
Maintenance	Inspections and liability (Highways Act s 58)	W4	30
Maintenance	Maintainable at public expense, List of Streets and Def Map crossover	W5	30
Maintenance	Working within Regulations - CDM and water, heritage, habitat, species, preservation, marine environments	W6	5x60
Maintenance	Equality Duty and applying the Gap-Gate-Stile principle	W7	60
Maintenance	Working with volunteers	W8	60
Modification Orders	The Definitive Map and Statement and continuous review	M1	30
Modification Orders	Statements of priorities and their benefits	M2	30
Modification Orders	Dedication at common law and s 31	M3	45-90
Modification Orders	Applications and discovery of evidence	M4	45
Modification Orders	Assessing and managing evidence	M5	60
Modification Orders	Decision making	M6	30
Modification Orders	The Order process	M7	45-90
Modification Orders	Objections and problem solving	M8	60-90
Modification Orders	The components of a legally valid application	M9	45
Modification Orders	Investigation practice, assessing the evidence, elements of documentary and user	M10	45-90
Modification Orders	Legal requirements of authority decision making and applying the tests	M11	60
Modification Orders	What is evidence	M12	30
Modification Orders	Why collect user evidence – the legal framework and tests	M13	30
Modification Orders	Collecting user evidence, user evidence forms, alternatives, benefits and pitfalls	M14	30
Modification Orders	Presenting User Evidence in reports and at Inquiries	M15	45
Modification Orders	Interview skills, making the most of interviewing	M16	6x60
Modification Orders	Interpretation of Section 31 and Common Law in practice	M17	45
Modification Orders	Documentary evidence, sources, uses, what to look for, how to record and manage it	M18	45
Modification Orders	Inclosure Awards	M19	30
Modification Orders	Tithe Act	M20	30
Modification Orders	Finance Act	M21	30
Modification Orders	Other sources of documentary evidence	M22	30
Modification Orders	Recording limitations and conditions and width	M23	30
Opposed Orders	Identifying valid orders, valid objections and when an Order must be sent to PINS	O1	45
Opposed Orders	Modes of determination – inquiry, hearing or written representations: differing requirements and predicting which is likely	O2	30
Opposed Orders	Preparing your case – what documents go to PINS and when	O3	45
Opposed Orders	Working smarter – minimising the workload for PINS determination	O4	30
Opposed Orders	Writing a Statement of Case	O5	45
Opposed Orders	Essentials of an expert Proof of Evidence	O6	60
Opposed Orders	Witness proofs and oral evidence	O7	30
Opposed Orders	Dealing with unusual Orders: directions, Orders made against officers’ advice, change in law or position, inheriting someone else’s case	O8	30
Opposed Orders	How to produce a good proof of evidence, identifying, evaluating and presenting the evidence, dealing with the law	O9	60
Opposed Orders	Writing the essential concise, authoritative CV for a good proof	O10	60
Opposed Orders	Lightening the workload and making your Statement of Case work for you	O11	45
Opposed Orders	How to refer an Order to PINS, checklist, document bundle, Rules, setting up an Inquiry	O12	45
Public Path Orders	Legislation: what to use when and why – HA, TCPA, magistrates, special orders	P1	30
Public Path Orders	What are the tests and meeting them	P2	45
Public Path Orders	Physical route assessment – suitability, future maintenance commitment, Equality Act	P3	30
Public Path Orders	Dealing with the subjective element – need and convenience	P4	15-45
Public Path Orders	Evaluating the case for making the order	P5	60-90
Public Path Orders	Limitations and conditions and widths	P6	30
Public Path Orders	Processing orders – contracting out, prioritisation, committee/officer decision and report	P7	30
Public Path Orders	Drafting orders – the importance of getting it right	P8	15
Public Path Orders	Opposed orders: options, making the case, what to consider from the start	P9	15

One to One Training

Sometimes one or two members of staff are in urgent need of training and have usually managed to just miss the only course on their topic that year. Rights of way being such a small field means there is rarely enough demand for IPROW to repeat a course within a year, quite often longer.

In such a situation, the ideal solution may be one to one (or two) training in your workplace tailored specifically to your requirements.

Fee for one day’s training is dependent on location and nature of the training but is likely to be around £1,300.

If you are interested, for yourself or your team, please contact training@iprow.co.uk to discuss your needs.

"Thanks for a great course and one which gave an overview of a range of legislation and always made relevant to PROW. It would have taken many other courses and those wouldn't have been PROW-focused, to learn the same without an IPROW course."

Who are IPROW training courses for?

All courses are aimed at rights of way practitioners and the majority of participants are local authority employees but are by no means exclusive to them and courses frequently have participants from solicitors, barristers or legal officers, rights of way user groups, countryside management and organisations where rights of way may affect their work such as land managers or infrastructure provision.

Next Events

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