I am pleased to say that all our subsidised places for the IIMC Symposium on 6 & 7 June have been taken up. You can still however take advantage of the early bird offer which expires on 12 April. Please follow the link below. It promises to be a really good 2 days. If you have any problems with bookings, please let me know.
https://www.iimc.com/index.aspx?nid=354
As Wayne said last week, we had a Board meeting on 29 March and I was pleased to welcome some new faces. Trudy Bedford (Liverpool City Region Combined Authority) is joining Alex Murphy as joint North West representative. Martin Elliott (Ashfield District Council) is sharing the East Midlands role with Rebecca Owen and Libby Johnstone from Wiltshire County Council is now working with Sarah Selway in the South West. It was also good to welcome Emma Tombs to her first meeting as the joint representative for the Eastern region. A very warm welcome to all four new Board members and my thanks to them for stepping forward.
That however still leaves us with a vacancy in the West Midlands. Being a regional representative can be a very fulfilling role and is great for your personal development. As you can see from the above, you don’t have to do it alone. The role can be shared. So if you are interested, please give me a call (07793 013616) or e mail me (john.austin@adso.co.uk) and we can chat it through.
ADSO is being asked to undertake peer/constitution reviews in a number of authorities. This work is growing. We now have a pool of very experienced ex- Democratic Services Officers who can provide high quality work at a very reasonable price under the ADSO banner. So if your authority is thinking of commissioning such work, please get in contact with John Lynch (john.lynch@adso.co.uk) who would be very happy to discuss your requirements and give you a quote. We can provide references if required.
Finally, you may have seen my recent post on the Members’ Forum about Council meetings. The LGA has asked if we can point them in the direction of any authorities who have had success in changing their full Council meetings to make them shorter with more engagement from the community. If you have had success in this area or know of another authority who has, please let me know.
Best wishes