You may recall that earlier in the year Communities & Local Government Select Committee launched an inquiry looking at the effectiveness of local authority scrutiny. The inquiry was put on hold following the dissolution of parliament and ahead of the June general election, but has now resumed.
An event has been arranged to hear from those who work with scrutiny committees, both councillors and officers, to help it inform its conclusions and to inform any recommendations the Committee might make to Government regarding how scrutiny functions in future. The event will take place on Monday 30th October at 11:30am and will be held on the Parliamentary estate in Westminster. If you would like to attend click here or if you have any queries, please contact Craig Bowdery, Committee Specialist, on bowderyc@parliament.uk or Ed Beale, Committee Clerk, on bealee@parliament.uk. Full details of the inquiry can be found on the Committee’s website here,
I mentioned last week that we had been invited to take part in the SOLAR conference in Glasgow on 10th November. I asked if anybody was interested in attending, with ADSO paying your expenses. I have not had any responses so far. So come on folks. This is a great opportunity (particularly for learners) to network and increase your knowledge of local government in the UK with no cost to you or your authority. It would be a great shame if we missed this chance to widen our horizons. Please get in touch with me if you are interested (john.austin@adso.co.uk)
Don’t forget to book your place for the annual conference, there are still a few places left. We are also pleased that a number of exhibitors will be joining us, Auditel, Audiominutes, Link support, Modern.Gov, and Public i. For more details and to have a look at the programme please visit our conference page