Weekly message from Colin Copus, Non-Executive Director

An introduction to our Non-Executive Director: Professor Colin Copus
Hello everyone. It was a great pleasure to be asked to join the board of ADSO as a non-executive director and to work alongside such good colleagues dedicated to keeping local democracy going. What a challenge that has been over the last year, but without Democratic Services Officers supporting councillors through the pandemic, councils would not have continued to run so smoothly.

I am an Emeritus Professor of Local Politics, from De Montfort University, and visiting Professor at Ghent University and I have also been a council officer and an elected member, so have all the bases covered.  My role is to work alongside the directors to provide support, suggestions and ideas on the work ADSO undertakes on behalf of the profession. As a keen advocate of localism and local democracy I hope to be able to support ADSO in its campaigns, policy work and in raising the profile of the profession.  I’m happy to discuss anything local government and local politics at any time so do feel free to get in touch.

ADSO Survey on Governance Arrangements
We are conducting a very short and brief survey, only 4 questions, to create a data base of the governance arrangements of our member councils. Please click here to take the survey; it will only take 2 to 3 minutes to complete. The information you provide will be vital in constructing a full picture of governance arrangements across the country and why they change.

ADSO and the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC)
In this week’s newsletter Sarah Jeffries and Hans Rijs have provided an update from IIMC which discusses how the IIMC and ADSO can, and do, work together and sets out the benefits for both as a result of our co-operation. It’s a short piece and well worth a read.

IIMC March 2021 Update

extension: pdf

Webinar News
Our popular and successful webinar series continues with the next event, on 17th March, explores and explains the ‘Rules relating to the pre-election period’ and what you need to know at this important period. The webinar presenter is Mark Heath, one of the most experienced and respected Returning Officers in the country. For more details and to book one of the 100 available places follow the link below:  https://www.adso.co.uk/adso-training/webinar-programme/

Warning: It is almost fully booked, with just a handful of spaces left, so please book now to avoid disappointment.

The Continuation of Remote Meetings: Update on the Legal Action
I’m pleased to say that, after a lot of work over the last few weeks, the papers have been filed with the court setting out our arguments for the remote meeting provision to continue. We will be asking the court to deal with our submission expeditiously and we will keep you posted on any developments.

Regional meetings
Here’s a reminder of our upcoming regional meetings which are a valuable way of making and maintaining contacts and keeping up with changes and developments.

  • East of England – 19 March at 10am
  • West Midlands – 22 March at 10am
  • North East, Yorkshire & Humberside – 1 April at 10am

Colin Copus, Non-Executive Director

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