ADSO is hosting a virtual course ‘Overview and Scrutiny’. The course will be delivered as two, three hour workshops held virtually via Zoom. Delegates will be required to attend both of the virtual workshops.
Audience
This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to develop their understanding of the main principles, roles and methodology of overview and scrutiny. The target audience will be those who need an introduction to overview and scrutiny to equip them with the basics to support Overview and Scrutiny Committees and task and finish groups. The content is also linked to Module 7 of the ADSO Certificate so it will help learners with their research for this module.
How the course will be delivered
The course will be delivered virtually, to maximise the delegates learning experience the course has been broken into two virtual workshops.
The workshops will
- Provide an understanding of the relevant legislation underpinning overview and scrutiny
- Provide an understanding of the roles and principles of good scrutiny
- Explore ideas about how to put together a Scrutiny Work Programme
- Explore how to scope a scrutiny review
- Consider the principles of good questioning
The workshops will include plenary presentations, case studies and smaller group working, enabling delegates to learn with delegates from across the country.
Trainer
The virtual workshops will be led by Peter Foulsham.
Peter is the Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager at Wyre Council, where he has worked for fifteen years, previously as the Scrutiny Officer. Throughout his working life Peter has always been involved in training and development, and has assisted ADSO in this role over the past seven or eight years. Peter is also an assessor on ADSO’s Diploma in Local Democracy.
Date and time
Workshop One: Wednesday 6th December 2023, 09:30 – 12:30
Workshop Two: Wednesday 13th December 2023, 09:30 – 12:30
Delegates are required to attend both workshops. Please note that you only need to book on the 20 Sept course date to be able to attend both workshops.
Cost
- ADSO Member rate – £110 + VAT per person to attend the course
- Non-ADSO Member rate – £160 + VAT per person to attend the course
ADSO reserve up to two places on this course for an ADSO learner depending on demand – please email adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk if you wish to be allocated a learner place.
How to book a place
Bookings will open on 1st August 2023.
To book a place please use the online booking form via the link below. The Terms and conditions of booking can be found here.
https://www.emcouncils.gov.uk/ADSO/ADSO—Overview-and-Scrutiny-/80626
Booking requirements
- A purchase order number is required for all bookings. Please make the PO out to ADSO.
- A hardcopy of the purchase order is required.
- Please provide us with your ADSO Membership number (if applicable)
Please send the above information to adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk.
Please contact the Chair of the group, James McLaughlin, if you are an MO/DMO who would like to join the group by emailing James_McLaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk
ADSO is hosting the highly popular course ‘Just a Minute’. Just a Minute will be delivered as two, virtual three-hour workshops. Delegates will be required to attend both of the virtual workshops.
Audience
This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who are required to take minutes of meetings. The target audience will be those who are relatively new to democratic service teams and those with a few years’ experience.
How the course will be delivered
The course will be delivered virtually, to maximise the delegates learning experience the course has been broken into two virtual workshops. The workshops will include plenary presentations, case studies and smaller group working, enabling delegates to learn with delegates from across the country.
This workshop aims to provide you with the skills and knowledge to write a local government minute, including:
- An understanding of the law relating to local government minutes
- Tips and good practice for local government minute writing
- An awareness of the different minutes styles used for different types of meetings
- The opportunity to apply your knowledge in practical exercises and case studies with colleagues from other local authorities.
You will need to bring pen and paper, or laptop, or your own preferred minute writing medium!
Trainers – Ian Millichap and Vicky Wemyss-Cooke
Ian has over 30 years’ experience of working in local government and has spent 15 years in senior roles. He has previously worked for London Borough of Southwark as head of the committee governance team. Ian has Clerked Full Council, Cabinet and all Major Committees and has experience of both Committee and Executive arrangements.
Vicky is currently the Committee Services Manager at London Borough of Camden and has been a DSO in London for almost 30 years and for the last 7 years has been the Committee Services Manager in Camden, managing a small team servicing Council, Cabinet, scrutiny and non-executive committees, along with a range of other bodies such as school appeals panels and tenants’ consultative committees. Throughout her career, she has also undertaken a range of roles in support of local, national and regional elections and currently serves as Chief Count Supervisor for the Holborn and St Pancras Constituency area. Vicky has been an active ADSO Member from its inception and is an assessor for the Certificate in Democratic Services Knowledge.
Date and time
Workshop One: Wednesday 17 January 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Workshop Two: Thursday 25th January 2024. 9.30am-12.30pm
Delegates are required to attend both workshops. Please note that you only need to book on 17th Jan course date to be able to attend both workshops.
Cost
- ADSO Member rate – £110 + VAT per person to attend the course
- Non-ADSO Member rate – £160 + VAT per person to attend the course
How to book a place
To book a place please use the online booking form via the link below.
Terms and Conditions of booking can be found here.
Booking requirements
- A purchase order number is required for all bookings. Please make the PO out to ADSO.
- A hardcopy of the purchase order is required.
- Please provide us with your ADSO Membership number (if applicable)
- A few days after booking you will receive a calendar invite for the workshop(s). Please note that your email address will be visible to all participants unless you advise us otherwise.
Please send the above information to adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk.
ADSO is hosting the popular course ‘Meetings Procedures’. It will be delivered as two virtual 3-hour workshops. Delegates are required to attend both workshops.
Audience
This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to further develop their understanding of the legal and governance framework within which councils operate and the practical application of this to the range of work areas undertaken by democratic services teams. The course content will be relevant both to those who are relatively new to democratic services and officers with a few years’ experience (6 months to 3 years’ experience of supporting meetings as a guide.)
The content is also linked a number of modules especially Law and Practice module and the Structures and Functions of the ADSO Certificate and ADSO Diploma so it will help learners with their research for this module.
How the course will be delivered
The course will be delivered virtually via Zoom, and by the end of the workshop you will:
- Understand how decisions are made and reported and your role in supporting this, both in and out of meetings
- Constitutional issues of meetings- quorums, points of order
- Dealing with motions and voting including amendments, adjournments and deferrals
- Have a sense of how accountability and good governance works in local government, how Councils and Councillors are held to account and the role of scrutiny.
- Understand the rules of debate and consider the impact of politics and what this means for you as an officer of the Council.
The workshops will include plenary presentations, case studies and smaller group working, enabling delegates to learn with delegates from across the country.
Trainers – Lennox Beattie and Ian Curtis
Lennox is an experienced Democratic Services practitioner having been the Executive and Regulatory Manager at Blackpool Council for the past 14 years. He has been responsible for support to the Executive and its governance for that period. Lennox is also involved in ADSO work through the qualifications, which includes both the certificate and diploma.
Ian is a solicitor who has worked in local government in the UK for more than thirty years. He is presently Head of Governance at Fylde Council in Lancashire, where he has worked seventeen years. Ian was council’s statutory Monitoring Officer for nine years and has acted as Deputy Returning Officer for local, national and European elections. Ian is a past chair of the North West branch of the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors.
Date and time
Workshop One: Monday 22nd January 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Workshop Two: Wednesday 31st January 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Cost
- ADSO Member rate – £110 + VAT per person to attend the course
- Non-ADSO Member rate – £160 + VAT per person to attend the course
Terms and conditions for booking can be found here.
How to book a place
To book a place please use the online booking form via the link below.
Please note that you only need to book the workshop on 22nd Jan to be able to attend both workshops and attendance is required at both sessions.
Booking requirements
- A purchase order number is required for all bookings. Please make the PO out to ADSO.
- A hardcopy of the purchase order is required.
- Please provide us with your ADSO Membership number (if applicable)
- A few days after booking you will receive a calendar invite for the workshop(s). Please note that your email address will be visible to all participants unless you advise us otherwise.
Please send the above information to adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk.
Democracy Club provides some of the most comprehensive election data in the UK. Their digital tools make election information more accessible, user-friendly and readily available online, enhancing the democratic process and boosting voter engagement.
This webinar will explore why Democracy Club thought these services were needed in the first place, how they went about delivering them, and how they have worked with the electoral administration community along the way. The session will be particularly suitable for Electoral and Democratic Services Officers, councillors, or anyone working at a council.
Democracy Club are a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, powered by an incredible community of volunteers. Working in partnership with the Electoral Commission, councils and many other organisations, they build services that get people voting during national and local elections.
With their services becoming more widely adopted, they are starting to think about what they can do beyond elections. The wider aims are to make it easier for people to engage with their democracy and they consider local government as a key starting point. Local governments might be the most important layer of the state for people to understand: they hold lots of power, councillors are more accessible than MPs and the decisions made have direct effects on people’s lives.
Democracy Club are very early along in this journey, so would like to open up the conversation to ADSO members to talk about the challenges and opportunities there are to apply their approach to democracy on the day after polling day.
Our speaker is Sym Roe who founded Democracy Club in mid-2014 and has since been co-director and CEO. He now heads up all technical and delivery operations.
The webinar is sponsored by FCS Software Solutions Ltd https://fcssoftware.co.uk/, specialists in the development of cloud-based solutions for the Democratic Services sector.
ElectionsPro is a cloud-based solution that delivers IER, the annual canvass, elections, and referendums. The solution also includes a cloud-based scanning app, an election staffing portal, a count results and display module, automated NLPG integration, automated local data matching, an automated data governance tool (to support GDPR compliance), and Gov.Notify, email, and SMS integration as standard.
FCS also provide additional electoral services such as the mobile canvass application (CanvassPro) and a fully integrated online, phone and SMS canvass response service.
AppealsPro is the UK’s leading school admission appeals software solution, and in 2024 FCS will be launching ComplaintsPro as part of its case management solution, and are continuing to work with local authorities in the development and trialling of our committee management solution, CommitteesPro.
To register, click on the following link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6970755721753528160
Please note that you will need to be able to login in to GoTo webinar in order to access the webinar. If you are logging in from your workplace, you will need to ensure that GoTo has not been blocked by your organisation. Otherwise, you can log on from your mobile.
ADSO is hosting the highly popular course ‘Just a Minute’. Just a Minute will be delivered as two, virtual three-hour workshops. Delegates will be required to attend both of the virtual workshops.
Audience
This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who are required to take minutes of meetings. The target audience will be those who are relatively new to democratic service teams and those with a few years’ experience.
How the course will be delivered
The course will be delivered virtually, to maximise the delegates learning experience the course has been broken into two virtual workshops. The workshops will include plenary presentations, case studies and smaller group working, enabling delegates to learn with delegates from across the country.
This workshop aims to provide you with the skills and knowledge to write a local government minute, including:
- An understanding of the law relating to local government minutes
- Tips and good practice for local government minute writing
- An awareness of the different minutes styles used for different types of meetings
- The opportunity to apply your knowledge in practical exercises and case studies with colleagues from other local authorities.
You will need to bring pen and paper, or laptop, or your own preferred minute writing medium!
Trainers – Ian Millichap and Vicky Wemyss-Cooke
Ian has over 30 years’ experience of working in local government and has spent 15 years in senior roles. He has previously worked for London Borough of Southwark as head of the committee governance team. Ian has Clerked Full Council, Cabinet and all Major Committees and has experience of both Committee and Executive arrangements.
Vicky is currently the Committee Services Manager at London Borough of Camden and has been a DSO in London for almost 30 years and for the last 7 years has been the Committee Services Manager in Camden, managing a small team servicing Council, Cabinet, scrutiny and non-executive committees, along with a range of other bodies such as school appeals panels and tenants’ consultative committees. Throughout her career, she has also undertaken a range of roles in support of local, national and regional elections and currently serves as Chief Count Supervisor for the Holborn and St Pancras Constituency area. Vicky has been an active ADSO Member from its inception and is an assessor for the Certificate in Democratic Services Knowledge.
Date and time
Workshop One: Wednesday 17 January 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Workshop Two: Thursday 25th January 2024. 9.30am-12.30pm
Delegates are required to attend both workshops. Please note that you only need to book on 17th Jan course date to be able to attend both workshops.
Cost
- ADSO Member rate – £110 + VAT per person to attend the course
- Non-ADSO Member rate – £160 + VAT per person to attend the course
How to book a place
To book a place please use the online booking form via the link below.
Terms and Conditions of booking can be found here.
Booking requirements
- A purchase order number is required for all bookings. Please make the PO out to ADSO.
- A hardcopy of the purchase order is required.
- Please provide us with your ADSO Membership number (if applicable)
- A few days after booking you will receive a calendar invite for the workshop(s). Please note that your email address will be visible to all participants unless you advise us otherwise.
Please send the above information to adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk.
Please try to re-book this as it was noted as full on EMC website in error
ADSO is hosting a virtual it’s highly popular course ‘Overview and Scrutiny’. The course will be delivered as two, virtual three-hour workshops. Delegates will be required to attend both of the virtual workshops.
Audience
This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to develop their understanding of the main principles, roles and methodology of overview and scrutiny. The target audience will be those who need an introduction to overview and scrutiny to equip them with the basics to support Overview and Scrutiny Committees and task and finish groups. The content is also linked to Module 7 of the ADSO Certificate so it will help learners with their research for this module.
How the course will be delivered
The course will be delivered virtually, to maximise the delegates learning experience the course has been broken into two virtual workshops.
The workshops will
- Provide an understanding of the relevant legislation underpinning overview and scrutiny.
- Provide an understanding of the roles and principles of good scrutiny.
- Explore ideas about how to put together a Scrutiny Work Programme
- Explore how to scope a scrutiny review.
- Explore ideas for measuring effectiveness.
The workshops will include plenary presentations, case studies and smaller group working, enabling delegates to learn with delegates from across the country.
Trainers – Tracy Tiff & Peter Foulsham
Tracy has worked in Local Government since 1995, moving to Democratic Services in 1997. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge in governance, constitution and Overview and Scrutiny. Tracy gained valuable experience from worked at Northampton Borough Council from 2001 to 2021, transferring to the Unitary Council – West Northants Council in April 2021; where she is continuing in the field of Democratic Services.
Peter is the Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager at Wyre Council, where he has worked for seventeen years, previously as the Scrutiny Officer. Peter has been involved in training and development throughout his working life and has worked with ADSO in this role over the past eight or nine years. Peter is also an assessor on ADSO’s Diploma in Local Democracy.
Date and time
Workshop One: Tuesday 30th January 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Workshop Two: Tuesday 6th February 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Delegates are required to attend both workshops. Please note that you only need to book on the 30 Jan course date to be able to attend both workshops.
Cost
- ADSO Member rate – £110 + VAT per person to attend the course
- Non-ADSO Member rate – £160 + VAT per person to attend the course
Please email adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk if you wish to be allocated a learner place.
How to book a place
To book a place please use the online booking form via the link below. The terms and conditions of booking can be found here.
Booking requirements
- A purchase order number is required for all bookings. Please make the PO out to ADSO.
- A hardcopy of the purchase order is required.
- Please provide us with your ADSO Membership number (if applicable)
- A few days after booking you will receive a calendar invite for the workshop(s). Please note that your email address will be visible to all participants unless you advise us otherwise.
Please send the above information to adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk.
ADSO is hosting the popular course ‘Meetings Procedures’. It will be delivered as two virtual 3-hour workshops. Delegates are required to attend both workshops.
Audience
This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to further develop their understanding of the legal and governance framework within which councils operate and the practical application of this to the range of work areas undertaken by democratic services teams. The course content will be relevant both to those who are relatively new to democratic services and officers with a few years’ experience (6 months to 3 years’ experience of supporting meetings as a guide.)
The content is also linked a number of modules especially Law and Practice module and the Structures and Functions of the ADSO Certificate and ADSO Diploma so it will help learners with their research for this module.
How the course will be delivered
The course will be delivered virtually via Zoom, and by the end of the workshop you will:
- Understand how decisions are made and reported and your role in supporting this, both in and out of meetings
- Constitutional issues of meetings- quorums, points of order
- Dealing with motions and voting including amendments, adjournments and deferrals
- Have a sense of how accountability and good governance works in local government, how Councils and Councillors are held to account and the role of scrutiny.
- Understand the rules of debate and consider the impact of politics and what this means for you as an officer of the Council.
The workshops will include plenary presentations, case studies and smaller group working, enabling delegates to learn with delegates from across the country.
Trainers – Lennox Beattie and Ian Curtis
Lennox is an experienced Democratic Services practitioner having been the Executive and Regulatory Manager at Blackpool Council for the past 14 years. He has been responsible for support to the Executive and its governance for that period. Lennox is also involved in ADSO work through the qualifications, which includes both the certificate and diploma.
Ian is a solicitor who has worked in local government in the UK for more than thirty years. He is presently Head of Governance at Fylde Council in Lancashire, where he has worked seventeen years. Ian was council’s statutory Monitoring Officer for nine years and has acted as Deputy Returning Officer for local, national and European elections. Ian is a past chair of the North West branch of the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors.
Date and time
Workshop One: Monday 22nd January 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Workshop Two: Wednesday 31st January 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Cost
- ADSO Member rate – £110 + VAT per person to attend the course
- Non-ADSO Member rate – £160 + VAT per person to attend the course
Terms and conditions for booking can be found here.
How to book a place
To book a place please use the online booking form via the link below.
Please note that you only need to book the workshop on 22nd Jan to be able to attend both workshops and attendance is required at both sessions.
Booking requirements
- A purchase order number is required for all bookings. Please make the PO out to ADSO.
- A hardcopy of the purchase order is required.
- Please provide us with your ADSO Membership number (if applicable)
- A few days after booking you will receive a calendar invite for the workshop(s). Please note that your email address will be visible to all participants unless you advise us otherwise.
Please send the above information to adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk.