August is flying by. We have local lockdowns, quarantine, the exam fiasco, and still a doubt about schools fully opening. And I’ve just heard that my local Pizza Express is closing! But the big question (at the time of me writing this anyway) is “Where’s Boris?”. I find it incredible that a Prime Minister could adopt such a low profile whilst everything around him is going pear shaped. But we are living in very strange times. But ADSO carries on regardless!
ADSO Awards 2020
We have had an excellent response to the 2020 awards with a good spread of authorities across the country, so a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who submitted nominations. The best of luck to you all. The judging panel will have a very tough job on their hands. The panel will be chaired by John Lynch and will also include Colin Copus, Sue Keogh and Steve Garratt from Civica.
Code of Conduct Webinar
One of our commitments following the Code of Conduct webinar was to publish the questions and answers on the website. My apologies but that has not been done yet. We will upload them as soon as possible.
Regional Rep for South West Region
I reported in a previous Democracy Direct that Sarah Selway had stood down from her role as regional representative in the South West and that Libby Johnstone would be taking over. I’m now pleased to announce that Douglas Campbell at Swindon Borough Council has agreed to support Libby. Thank you Douglas and welcome to the ADSO Board!
Survey on Remote Meetings
As part of our partnership working with the LGA and others, we are carrying out a short survey on remote meetings. This is to inform our lobbying strategy to Government to permit remote meetings after the regulations expire in May 2021, so we need your input. Please make every effort to complete the survey. The link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M5KQYL8. We have worked hard to engage with the LGA and they now see ADSO as a valuable partner. A good response from us on this survey can only improve that situation.
On-line Scrutiny sessions
Some of you may have attended the on-line scrutiny sessions run by Dave Mckenna. I attended the last one and really enjoyed it. ADSO is sponsoring three of the events in the autumn on the following dates (between 2pm and 4pm each time):
- Wednesday 16th September
- Thursday 8th October
- Wednesday 4th November
The September session will focus on how to build a better relationship between scrutiny and the executive. You can register via the following link – https://scrutinymeetup.publicgov.co.uk/2020/08/19/scrutinymeetup-9-executive-protocol/
Bevan Brittain article on Devolution: Combined Authorities and Unitarisation
There is no legal bulletin this week but you may be interested in the article from Bevan Brittan on Devolution which you can download above.
Thank you for your continued support to ADSO and have a good week.
John Austin, ADSO Chair