I don’t want to speak too soon but it looks like spring is not that far away….cue snow over Easter!! Weather aside, this week I report back from the two sessions that ADSO supported, the Voice of the Councilor and Notwestminster, both of which were held in Kirklees.
VOICE OF THE COUNCILLOR
This was the last of the three follow up sessions, where the findings of the report were considered. The events were split into workshops facilitated by De Montfort University, Test Valley Borough Council and Kirklees. The workshops drew on some of the approaches adopted by Test Valley Borough Council and Kirklees to ensure Councillors were able undertake their roles in a positive way and provided the opportunity for delegates to share challenges as well as their personal experiences.
What next? The Voice of the Councillor will be formally launched in the House of Commons on 21 February to seek broader support. In the meantime, the findings of the three events will be collated to put flesh on the recommendations and to identify gaps. The report provides a good reference point to inform those supporting Councillors. If nothing else, using the document when developing the induction programmes and/or member development programmes, would be a useful exercise. ADSO will continue to play a key role as the discussions that will inevitably continue. We are keen to ensure that the report does not get forgotten and left to gather dust. Updates will be provided and ADSO members encouraged to participate in future discussions. We also welcome your comments/views.
NOTWESTMINSTER
On 16 and 17 February, the annual Notwestminster event was held in Huddersfield, arranged and hosted by Kirklees. You will recall the interview with Carl Whistlecraft from Kirklees last week. We will follow this up in the next few weeks and discuss with Carl how the event went and key issues for us to consider.
On Friday the ‘maker day’ workshop was held. We looked at how decision making could be made more transparent. From a practitioners perspective, I think authorities try to be open and transparent. However, when discussing the informal meetings – group, cabinet and senior management team etc – to people who do not work for a local authority or understand how things work, one can understand why it can appear strange and maybe not as transparent as one first thought.
We took an example of a budget saving and plotted the decision map, both formal and informal. The key being to ascertain where, when and how residents can discuss and submit their ideas. No one is suggesting informal discussions are not required, but it is interesting to look at the process with an impartial eye – some might say a scrutiny perspective.
I was unable to attend day 2 of Notwestminster, the main event. From twitter @LDBytes #notswestminster and comments received it looked another interesting day. There were a series of lightning talks – no time for lengthy presentations and death by powerpoint as they were limited to 2 minutes each – followed by a series of workshop sessions. Further information can be obtained here: www.notwestminster.org.uk