ADSO Members Forum
I’m going to start with comments on the members’ forum on the ADSO website. There is always a good range of interesting debates there and I would encourage even more members to visit and participate. ADSO members have an absolute wealth and knowledge and experience. The forum is a superb place to find out what is going on elsewhere, offer a colleague advice or support or place a question that doubtless somebody else is grappling with or has already thought through.
In no particular order I was very interested to see the following posts (as well as plenty more):
- Motions of no confidence, including how to deal with vexatious attempts: further posts would be welcomed here I am sure
- Coronavirus regulations – and important debate, guidance (combined LLG/ADSO) and clarification on the holding of meetings larger than 30 people, the position on hybrid meetings and so on
- How to handle part B/2/II (exempt and confidential) items including separate appendices in Cabinet meetings, especially in the virtual world
- Dealing with licencing panels virtually, especially for that crucial time when the panel and officers have to withdraw to confer in private
- Consultation on the LGA model code of conduct – ADSO colleagues are urged to tell the LGA what you think. I certainly will
- Redaction (and removing redaction) of committee reports – one ADSO colleague is looking for views on this and would certainly appreciate the experience of others. Definitely a tricky one because a balance is needed in this context between public interest and data protection and simple public record.
ADSO Annual Awards deadline
It’s thinking of all this knowledge, skill and experience that makes me wonder why so few colleagues and teams are being put forward for the annual ADSO awards. I can only conclude that you are all shy and modest!! We really would like to hear of your stories during the past year, which has surely been as testing for you as any on record. Frankly you probably all deserve an award but we can’t stretch to that, unfortunately. So please get those nominations in. The deadline is fast approaching – 31 July 2020. We want to make this a record year for submissions. You have all done brilliantly during the lockdown and we want to shine the light on your amazing work as much as we can. It’s the very least you deserve. We have streamlined the process to a short proforma so you won’t have to spend very long filling it in. As an incentive, we will donate £25 to the NHS charity for each of the first five submissions in the Team and Rookie of the Year categories. This is in addition to a £100 donation to the charity of choice to the lucky entry picked out of the hat. So promote your fantastic work, put yourself in with a chance of winning the charity draw and help the NHS too. What could be better than that?
Scrutiny Officer virtual meetings
During the lockdown scrutiny officers have been meeting virtually, facilitated by Dave Mckenna and supported by the Centre for Public Scrutiny. These are a free, informal opportunity to network and share some ideas and good practice – aimed primarily at those who work in scrutiny, but councillors are also very welcome. ADSO has agreed to sponsor these sessions and we encourage you to join them if you are involved in scrutiny. The link below gives details of two which are coming up in July:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/davemckennasolutions
ADSO/LLG Briefing on Health Protection (Coronvirus Restrictions)
ADSO has once again joined forces with LLG to produce a briefing on the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No.2) (England) Regulations 2020 (4 July 2020) relating to gatherings of people indoors and outdoors. See our website homepage for further details and related documents. We are proud of the fact that this briefing was issued within 2 working days of the regulations being issued and we thank Helen McGrath at LLG for her legal skills and support in deciphering such difficult regulations.
Free Webinar
Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) will be holding another free webinar this week and ADSO members are invited to attend. The topic is the Draft Code of Conduct consultation and it will take place on Wednesday 15th July at 12 noon. John Austin will be one of the presenters and he will be joined by Helen Lynch, from LLG and Monitoring Officer at Durham and Lis Moore, from the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC). See the LLG website for details.
Regional Reps
We mentioned last week that Michael Robson has taken over the role of regional representative for Yorkshire and the North East from James McLaughlin. We are now pleased to announce that Katherine Harclerode from Rotherham Borough Council has agreed to share the role with Michael. Thanks to both for stepping forward.
Peter Savage, ADSO Company Secretary