July has arrived, I am not quite sure how that has happened, I feel as if I blinked and missed June… John and Peter are away at the LGA conference this week, with many officers and members from across the country, if you are attending or know someone who is, please ask them to visit ADSO at the ‘Good Governance Hub’ exhibition stand along with CfGS and LLG.
Remote meetings
Last week I received one of my usual alerts, I clicked on this one https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65996576 and was surprised to see this picture, it was taken at Essex County Council’s May Council, we are now preparing for our July meeting like many of you. As you know DLUHC still hasn’t published the consultation results on remote council meetings from over two years ago but ADSO are still pressing for them to do so with our partners LLG.
This week at Essex we had a committee that lasted just two minutes, the members not already in County Hall battled traffic, others were stuck in a lift and the cost of the travel both in terms of the money value and carbon footprint are staggering. I think we are all in agreement that some meetings work better in person, but there is certainly a very strong case for many meetings to be remote. If you have any case studies, both like the one in the BBC article or like the disaster I mentioned, please let us know by emailing john.austin@adso.co.uk
Board meeting
We have a Board meeting coming up on Friday, next week we will bring you an overview of the discussions on the Board, remember you can find out more about who we are and what we do on our website.
ADSO Conference and Awards 2023
Bookings for the 2023 ADSO Conference are coming in thick and fast, to take advantage of the early bird offer please book your place by the end of July, you can find more details and the indicative programme on our website https://www.adso.co.uk/adso-conference-2023/
The deadline for nominations for the ADSO 2023 Awards is also fast approaching, you have until 28 July to submit your nominations for the Rookie of the Year, Learner of the Year or the John Lynch Distinguished Service Award. We hope to get nominations from across the country, the work you do is vital to local democracy and we love reading your nominations and want to celebrate your success, so please do get nominating.
Good news
Speaking of success, please do send in good news that you would like included in the newsletter, we love to hear from you. Email info@adso.co.uk
That’s all from me for now, have a lovely week and enjoy the longer evenings whilst you can.
Joanna Boaler, ADSO Director of Communications