The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 3 letter word DEGREE DAY
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
D
E
G
R
E
E
D
A
Y
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "time for conferring" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case time for conferring = degree day.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DEGREE DAY mean?
DEGREE DAY noun- A measure of heating or cooling, computed as the integral of a function of time that generally varies with temperature.
- A unit used in estimating the fuel consumption for a building; equal to the number of degrees that the mean temperature, for a 24-hour day, is below the base temperature, often 65F.