Weekly message from John Austin, ADSO Chair

A belated happy new year to you all. I hope you managed to have a good break over the festive period. The respite didn’t last very long and we are now back in lockdown. I think we all predicted the current scenario. It will no doubt put additional pressures on all of us, particularly those of you with school aged children. I have just finished a meeting with somebody who had previously been supervising her daughter in an English lesson! I’m sure many of you can relate to that.

Remote Meetings
The lockdown until March brings the focus back on our lobbying to Government to extend the May deadline for remote meetings. The LGA received a response in December which said that there is no option under current legislation to extend the current regulations under the Coronavirus Act 2020 as section 78 (3) contains the sunset date of 7 May 2021.

The Government has received representations from the LGA and others from the local government sector making the case for extending and making permanent the provision for local authorities to meet remotely and or in hybrid form. The Government says they are considering this carefully. To extend the facility for councils to continue to meet remotely, or in hybrid form, would (they add) require primary legislation. Thank you to those authorities who have written to the Minister to press the case. We think pressure from councillors and local authorities is the best way of getting the Government to act quickly, so please consider doing so if you haven’t already.

We have also been working with Lawyers in Local Government to develop a briefing on hybrid meetings. Given the current lockdown, we will issue that when the time is right.

ADSO Virtual Training course – Structures and Functions – 21 & 28 January 2021
We are delighted to announce the launch of the interactive, virtual course ‘Structures and Functions’ of Local Government. This course will be delivered virtually on 21 and 28 January with 2-2.5 hour workshops on both days. Delegates will be required to attend both workshops.

The course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to develop their understanding of the different kinds of local authorities, what they do and how they fit into the wider government landscape of the UK.  The target audience will be those who are relatively new to democratic service teams and those with a few years’ experience.

The content is also linked to the Council and Governance module of the ADSO Certificate so it will help learners with their research for this module. Further details (including the booking form) can be found at https://www.emcouncils.gov.uk/ADSO/76152

LLG Wellbeing Week this week
During these difficult times, personal wellbeing is very important, so I am pleased to be able to invite ADSO members to participate in the Lawyers in Local Government Wellbeing Week commencing today, Monday 11 January. This will consist of a free daily webinar focusing on mental health and wellbeing. The website listing and programme can be found here:

https://www.llglegaltraining.org.uk/events/2021-01-15

All of the webinars will be available on catch up too. My thanks to LLG for opening these sessions up to ADSO members.

ADSO Conference 2021 Opinion Survey
We are already thinking about our annual conference in November. You should have received a brief survey asking you for your preferences in relation to a face to face or virtual event. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey so we have the best possible feedback when we make a decision at our March Board meeting. If you haven’t received the survey, please contact Sarah Hawkins (sarah.hawkins@adso.co.uk).

Newsletter email issues
We know that some members are still experiencing problems in receiving their newsletter each week. Our apologies for that but we are working extremely hard to resolve the technical issues, including trying other options. I’m pleased to say that we have had some success and the numbers not getting it are reducing. To be truthful however, we are struggling to explain the reason why for example we have members in one authority who receive it and others in the same authority who don’t! If you know of somebody who is still not receiving the newsletter, they can access the weekly message here: https://www.adso.co.uk/chair-notes/ and the Democracy Direct bulletins here: https://www.adso.co.uk/democracy-direct-bulletin/. Please also ask them to email info@adso.co.uk and we will try sending it via another route.

LGA free Councillor training sessions
The LGA has developed six new free Councillor training sessions to support members navigate the world of digital technology.  The LGA’s main training page with an overview of the sessions can be accessed at: https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/efficiency-and-income-generation/digital/councillor-introduction-digital-and-data. A follow up page with further detail and dates for each session is available at : https://www.local.gov.uk/councillor-introduction-digital-and-data-training-sessions.

Very best wishes and stay safe.

John Austin, Chair

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