From the Chair...

The LGA has published the draft Members’ Code of Conduct. This has been posted on the home page of the ADSO website. The LGA will be issuing a series of questions next week as part of its revised consultation exercise. We will circulate a link to these questions once they are available. Please ensure that … Continued

There’s only really one story dominating every aspect of our lives at the moment – the Coronavirus – so let me begin there. You may have already seen on the website or social media (thanks to those who have re-posted or re-tweeted today) that Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and ADSO have issued a joint … Continued

Hello Everyone Well if the rain and floods are not enough to deal with, we now have the delights of the Corona Virus to contend with.  I suspect many of you are already looking at contingency plans should things get steadily worse. I hope you all get through your budget council meetings this month and … Continued

Hi all, It’s me again I’m afraid. I’m standing in for Susan Biddle this week who is recovering from a recent operation. I’ve heard from her today and am pleased to say that everything went well and she’s recovering at home. We wish her well and look forward to having her back with us very … Continued

We love talking about the weather in this country so let’s not disappoint. I was going to open this week’s message with the following “Thankfully the storms seemed to have passed” but I’m not so sure now.   Many parts of the country are still flooded and/or are facing a massive clean up operation with more … Continued

So another interesting week in UK politics, and as detailed in the democracy direct, the Cabinet reshuffle was originally trailed as heralding major changes to departmental structures and recognition of climate change as an issue meriting significant status within those structures, however the reshuffle will be remembered for the resignation of Chancellor Savid Javid as the PM … Continued

Democracy, or the impact of it, is never far from the news. This country and the world are dealing with so many issues which reflect on democracy or the lack of it.  I’m thinking of, inter alia (as we used to say in Roman times): Climate crisis and different governmental responses: different nations are reacting … Continued

Now that the Christmas decorations have been put back in the loft and ‘Dry January’ is over, all Councils will now be heavily involved in budget setting meetings, whichever form of governance your Council has. If you operate scrutiny, I’m sure backbench and opposition Members will be carefully reviewing the Executive’s budget proposals and preparing … Continued

I am delighted to be asked to provide an update for ADSO members on the qualifications this week. As you are probably aware, we reviewed and updated both the Certificate and Diploma in 2017 and both take up and progress since then have been very good; 43 learners have completed the Certificate  and 7 the … Continued