Weekly message from Joanna Boaler, Director of Communications

I hope that you all managed to get some rest over the Easter long weekend, it feels a long time ago already, especially after last week.

Many of you will have been busy on Friday afternoon following the announcement of death of The Duke of Edinburgh; thankfully at Essex our plans were up to-date, but it did mean I had to divert my attention away from the election and budget closure for a short while and again, as has been the case throughout the pandemic partners had to quickly come together. What I reflected on most  on Friday evening, was the agility we have in our roles to respond quickly and the breadth of the role we do, I personally need variety and Democratic Services provides it in abundance, especially in the last few years where roles have become more generic in nature.

Elections 2021
In the last week many of you will have been busy getting nominations in for the elections;  less than a month to go now! What felt like a lifetime away, now feels very close and suddenly very real. For me and for many of you I am sure the elections always bring a mixture of feelings, they are obviously very busy times and the excitement of what the outcome will be, there is some trepidation of who will elected and saying goodbye to some of them, some unexpectedly. One of my current members called me last week, just to thank me in case he is not re-elected, it made it all feel very real.  I know many of you have also turned your minds to the induction planning, it will be a little different this year with much of it virtual, I know you are all working hard to give whoever is elected the best start, good luck!

Remote meetings Hearing
Turning to the hottest topic in local government right now, you will have seen the announcement that the Secretary of State supports the action taken by us, Lawyers in Local Government and Hertfordshire County Council on the future of remote meetings. We are hopeful that it is a sign that we have the support for the change, we now just need the Judge to agree with the case before them. The date of the hearing is 21 April, we don’t expect the judgement straight away, but we will be in contact as soon as we hear. If you don’t already follow us on social media, now is a good time to do so.  Links can be found below. We have a lot of media interest at the moment, you can find some of the stories here ADSO in the news – ADSO

School Admissions Appeals
This week is National Offer Day for primary school places, I know many of you are busy with secondary appeals already, good luck with your preparation for primary schools. I have been incredibly impressed by not only those working in Democratic Services and our councillors during the pandemic, but also by the thousands of Independent Appeal Panel Members who voluntarily give up their time to hear school appeals, they have really risen to the challenge during the pandemic and have shown true dedication. We will be holding a webinar on school appeals later in the year, it will be for those who are new to appeals or who don’t directly work in appeals to learn more, look out for future communications.

ADSO Training Courses
We have two new virtual training courses on offer in May and June.  Click on the title links for full details and to book.

Law and Practice of Local Government – 25th & 28th May 2021
This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to develop their understanding of the legal framework within which councils operate and the practical application of this to the range of work areas undertaken by democratic services teams.  The course content will be relevant both to those who are relatively new to democratic services and officers with a few years’ experience.

Just a Minute – 23rd & 30th June 2021
This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who are required to take minutes of meetings.   The target audience will be those who are relatively new to democratic service teams and those with a few years’ experience.

I hope you have a good week and that you get a little respite where you can, next time I write we will have heard the outcome of the Court Hearing and will have the elections… see you on the other side!

Joanna Boaler, Director of Communications

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