Budget Council meetings are upon us all. I attended the London branch meeting a week ago and listened to a fantastic presentation from Sam Bailey, the joint branch chair, on Ealing’s approach to the budget setting meeting. Sam was joined by his S.151 officer and it was great to see the excellent joint working and mutual support between the finance team and Democratic Services at this time of the year especially. The Q&A that followed included a good discussion about budget amendments and alternative budgets, which was extremely useful to many colleagues. Thanks, Sam. It was much appreciated.
Talking of branch meetings, I was also fortunate to join the Themed and Combined Authorities branch meeting on the same day as the London branch meeting. Michael Robson, the chair, suggested a workshop session at this year’s conference, focusing on the subtle differences between conventional Councils and themed and combined authorities, which I think would be an interesting and useful addition to our conference this year.
ADSO conference 2024
We are working with our conference-finding company and are continuing to explore the Midlands for the 2024 conference. Watch this space for further details.
ADSO awards 2024
A reminder that all four ADSO awards are up for grabs this year: Learner, Rookie, Team and Distinguished Service. Please start thinking about who you’d like to nominate.
ADSO AGM
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the AGM last Thursday and our sincere apologies, once again, for those who wanted to join but were not able to. Rest assured, we will change our Zoom licence to allow larger virtual meetings going forward.
The AGM agreed a new strategic plan and direction for ADSO, designed to enable the Board to move forward at pace with its objectives by investing in additional capacity in the form of a new role of Chief Executive/Chief Operating Officer, which we aim to be self-funding inside three years. This new role will not only help with achieving our ambitious plans but also with succession planning at Board level.
The AGM also agreed to freeze membership fees again for 2024 and we welcomed our new Communications Director, Diane Sims, Engagement and Communications lead for Democracy and Place-based working at Kirklees Council. Welcome again Diane and we very much look forward to working with you.
ADSO Webinar: The Modern DSO with Dr Catherine Howe – Friday 8 March
Registration is now open for our next webinar, The Modern DSO, which is being delivered by the Chief Executive of Adur and Worthing Councils, Dr Catherine Howe. Catherine will talk about how democratic decision making and design can be harnessed as part of organisational change and the opportunity Democratic Services teams have to support and be part of wider change in Local Government. Her presentation will be followed by a Q&A so do join us to hear her ideas about the opportunities of new technologies, trends in citizen participation and ideas to kick start democratic innovation.
For full details and to register for the webinar, visit our Webinar Programme page
LGA workbook on effective opposition in Local Government
The Local Government Association has recently published a workbook entitled ’A councillor’s workbook on effective opposition in local government’ on the following link: https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/councillors-workbook-effective-opposition-local-government
This workbook examines effective opposition in local government. The intended audience for the workbook is opposition leaders and deputies and ordinary opposition members but it would also be useful for council leaders, elected mayors, cabinet members and deputies and committee chairs. It is a learning and development aid to support opposition councillors in undertaking their key role in local democracy.
The workbook has three objectives:
- to highlight the important roles that opposition groups and councillors play in ensuring good governance and effective local government working.
- to identify approaches which will help opposition councillors and groups to increase their effectiveness.
- to provide practical ideas, tips and guidance to opposition councillors and groups.
‘Only Connect’
Finally, fans of this mind-boggling TV quiz show hosted by Victoria Coren-Mitchell might have spotted that a member of the winning team this series was Jack Karimi, a former Democratic Services Officer at West Berkshire Council. Many congratulations to Jack and his team, “The Thrifters”. There is certainly huge talent in the Democratic Services sector, but Jack, it seems, has more talent than most!
Peter Sass, ADSO Vice Chair