Oct
26
Thu
ADSO Regional event – East of England @ St Albans City and District Council
Oct 26 @ 11:00 am
ADSO Regional meeting – East of England @ St Albans City and District Council
Oct 26 @ 11:00 am – 3:00 pm

ADSO Regional meeting – East of England

Thursday 26 October 2017 – St Albans City and District Council at 11am

Items for discussion

o          New Member Inductions

o          Member Development

o          Local Democracy Week

o          Qualifications

o          Review of Scheme of Allowances

Board Member, Director for Development, Sue Keogh will be joining us at this meeting.

For more details or any queries please contact: Joanna.Boaler@essex.gov.uk

Nov
6
Mon
ADSO training course – “Council and its Governance Arrangements” (Leicester City Council) **Fully Booked** @ Leicester City Council
Nov 6 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to develop their understanding of Council meetings and different types of governance arrangements. The content is linked to the Council and Governance module of the ADSO Certificate so it will help learners with their research for this module.

 

Workshop topics:

  • Council meeting and its role
  • Range of powers and different types of Council meetings
  • Governance options and arrangements
  • Executive Arrangements : Leader and Cabinet and Elected Mayor and Cabinet options and how they operate
  • Case Studies: Council and Executive
  • Executive Arrangements – functions and decisions: a look at the decision making role and key decisions and the Forward Plan
  • Committee System: Looking at the committee system under the Localism Act 2011 and its role in Local Authorities
  • Case studies: Governance changes and decisions
  • Governance in the UK: looking at the different types of governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • Evaluation of Executive arrangements and the Committee system

 

Presenters:

Frankie Belloli and John Austin – ADSO Associate Trainers

 

Nov
17
Fri
ADSO training course – “Council and its Governance Arrangements” (LB Brent) **Fully Booked** @ London Borough of Brent
Nov 17 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to develop their understanding of Council meetings and different types of governance arrangements. The content is linked to the Council and Governance module of the ADSO Certificate so it will help learners with their research for this module.

 

Workshop topics:

  • Council meeting and its role
  • Range of powers and different types of Council meetings
  • Governance options and arrangements
  • Executive Arrangements : Leader and Cabinet and Elected Mayor and Cabinet options and how they operate
  • Case Studies: Council and Executive
  • Executive Arrangements – functions and decisions: a look at the decision making role and key decisions and the Forward Plan
  • Committee System: Looking at the committee system under the Localism Act 2011 and its role in Local Authorities
  • Case studies: Governance changes and decisions
  • Governance in the UK: looking at the different types of governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • Evaluation of Executive arrangements and the Committee system

 

Presenters:

Peter Sass, Wandsworth & Richmond Councils, James Kinsella, LB Brent

 

Nov
23
Thu
ADSO Annual Conference 2017 @ Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Nottingham
Nov 23 – Nov 24 all-day

This year’s annual conference will take place in Nottingham, It will be held once again at the Doubletree Hilton in Nottingham on 23 and 24th November, with the dinner on the night of the 23rd.

The theme is ‘Democratic Services – Shaping the Future”. Following on from last year, we want to ensure that ADSO members continue to be as equipped as possible to deal with the political and other challenges, increased workloads and dwindling resources faced by all authorities. We are crafting a programme to reflect those needs and some of the workshops we will be running include:

  • delving deeper into new ways of working, including change management and income generation
  • a practical lesson in starting and working within a shared democratic service
  • good practice, current thinking and challenges for overview and scrutiny delivered by the Centre for Public Scrutiny.
  • Wigan (winners of last year’s ADSO Team of the Year Award) will be sharing the secrets of how to be the best Democratic Services Team and what they’ve been working on since.

Plus, Philip McCourt, the author of the latest  “Knowles on local authority meetings”, will be running a workshop to discuss and seek new ideas from democratic services practitioners for inclusion in the next edition.

Delegates have said the facilitated discussions are useful so we are sticking with them as part of the programme, If you are interested in running a facilitated discussion or have topic ideas, please get in touch.

Key note speakers are yet to be confirmed and there are additional workshops we are finalising, watch out for updates in the weekly newsletter.

Early bird bookings are now open until the 1st September, please visit here for the booking form.

Accommodation needs to be booked separately. You can do this by going to the Doubletree booking website and use the “Group Code” ADSO17 to receive the ADSO rate (£100 B&B).

Looking forward to seeing you there, if you have any queries please contact us: info@adso.co.uk

Sue

ADSO Director of Development

Jan
22
Mon
ADSO training course – “Meetings Procedures” (Nottingham County Council) **fully booked** @ Assembly Hall, Nottingham County Council
Jan 22 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Target Audience:

This course is aimed at delegates who are new to supporting meetings and/ or those who wish to learn more about the legal aspects of servicing meetings. It is also relevant for learners undertaking the Certificate in Democratic Knowledge.

 

Workshop topics:

  • The difference between informal and formal meetings and adapting procedures for different types of meetings
  • Constitutional issues of meetings
  • What constitutes a meeting, notice, the chairman, quorum, substitutions etc.
  • Voting procedures and decision making
  • Introduction to motions and amendments
  • Rules of debate
  • Dealing with speakers, points of order and personal explanations.
  • Adjournments, exclusions and cancellations of meetings
  • Meetings Procedures surgery and general discussion
  • Conclusions, feedback and action planning

 

Midlands – Lennox Beattie, Executive & Regulatory Manager, Blackpool Council and Rosalind Reeves, Democratic Services Manager, Cheltenham Borough Council

 

Bookings are now closed

 

Jan
26
Fri
ADSO training course – “Meetings Procedures” (LB Wandsworth) @ Extension Room 1A/B, London Borough of Wandsworth
Jan 26 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Target Audience:

This course is aimed at delegates who are new to supporting meetings and/ or those who wish to learn more about the legal aspects of servicing meetings. It is also relevant for learners undertaking the Certificate in Democratic Knowledge.

 

Workshop topics:

  • The difference between informal and formal meetings and adapting procedures for different types of meetings
  • Constitutional issues of meetings
  • What constitutes a meeting, notice, the chairman, quorum, substitutions etc.
  • Voting procedures and decision making
  • Introduction to motions and amendments
  • Rules of debate
  • Dealing with speakers, points of order and personal explanations.
  • Adjournments, exclusions and cancellations of meetings
  • Meetings Procedures surgery and general discussion
  • Conclusions, feedback and action planning

 

Presenters:

London – Frankie Belloli, ADSO consultant and regional representative and Peter Foulsham, Scrutiny Officer,Wyre Council

Booking Information:

To book a place on the course, please email: Adso.training@nottinghamcity.gov.uk with the following information:

  • Name and contact details (email and telephone)
  • Job title and Local Authority
  • Date and venue of course 
  • ADSO member yes/no?
  • Additional requirements (dietary etc)
  • Purchase order number (please note that we do not accept bookings without a purchase order number)

 

Joining instructions will be sent to you once your booking has been confirmed.

 

Feb
21
Wed
ADSO training course – “Introduction to Electoral Services” (Tamworth Borough Council) @ Marmion House
Feb 21 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

This course will be facilitated in partnership with colleagues from the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA).

 

Course aims:

To provide an overview of the following:

  • The roles and responsibilities of the Electoral Registration Officer, the Returning Officer and the Council
  • The process of electoral registration
  • The key events in an election

 

Audience:

  • Staff supporting the Electoral Registration Officer in electoral registration during the canvass or on the lead up to an election
  • Staff supporting the Returning Officer in various aspects of the delivery of an election
  • Senior Council staff responsible for the electoral services team
  • Those wanting to increase their understanding of the role of electoral services

 

Content:

  • What do electoral services do the other 364 days a year?
  • What governs the work electoral services does?
  • The role of the ERO and RO
  • Electoral Registration – including overview, registration deadlines, registration throughout the year, the annual canvass and publishing the register
  • Elections – including cycles of elections, nominations and ballot papers, polling stations and staffing, different methods of voting, postal votes, polling day, the count and post election responsibilities
  • The benefits of a whole Council event approach
  • Other work electoral services must complete

 

Booking Information:
To book a place on the course, please email: Adso.training@nottinghamcity.gov.uk with the following
information:

  • Name and contact details (email and telephone)
  • Job title and Local Authority
  • Date and venue of course
  • ADSO member yes/no?
  • Additional requirements (dietary etc)

Purchase order number (please note that we do not accept bookings without a purchase order number)
Joining instructions will be sent to you once your booking has been confirmed.

Feb
26
Mon
ADSO training course – “Introduction to Electoral Services” (LB Westminster) @ 2nd Floor, 5 Strand
Feb 26 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

This course will be facilitated in partnership with colleagues from the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA).

 

Course aims:

To provide an overview of the following:

  • The roles and responsibilities of the Electoral Registration Officer, the Returning Officer and the Council
  • The process of electoral registration
  • The key events in an election

 

Audience:

  • Staff supporting the Electoral Registration Officer in electoral registration during the canvass or on the lead up to an election
  • Staff supporting the Returning Officer in various aspects of the delivery of an election
  • Senior Council staff responsible for the electoral services team
  • Those wanting to increase their understanding of the role of electoral services

 

Content:

  • What do electoral services do the other 364 days a year?
  • What governs the work electoral services does?
  • The role of the ERO and RO
  • Electoral Registration – including overview, registration deadlines, registration throughout the year, the annual canvass and publishing the register
  • Elections – including cycles of elections, nominations and ballot papers, polling stations and staffing, different methods of voting, postal votes, polling day, the count and post election responsibilities
  • The benefits of a whole Council event approach
  • Other work electoral services must complete

 

Booking Information:
To book a place on the course, please email: Adso.training@nottinghamcity.gov.uk with the following
information:

  • Name and contact details (email and telephone)
  • Job title and Local Authority
  • Date and venue of course
  • ADSO member yes/no?
  • Additional requirements (dietary etc)

Purchase order number (please note that we do not accept bookings without a purchase order number)
Joining instructions will be sent to you once your booking has been confirmed.

Jun
15
Fri
North West – Regional meeting @ Lancaster City Council
Jun 15 all-day