I hope those of you that managed to get some time off from election duties enjoyed the Easter weather last weekend. I see temperatures are back to normal again. Good luck on Thursday. Speaking of elections, Peter Stanyon, Chief Executive of the AEA summed up what all elections staff are going through at the moment. See his article from the LGIU bloghttps://www.lgiu.org.uk/2019/04/23/but-you-only-work-one-day-a-year/ Our thoughts are with all those staff dealing with the various elections at the moment.
Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) have received requests for clarification on calculating the date of a councillor’s retirement or start of their term of office after scheduled local elections on 2 May 2019, They sought advice from Tim Straker QC of 4-5 Grays Inn, you can find the advice here: https://www.lawyersinlocalgovernment.org.uk/news_articles/calculation-of-councillor-s-term-of-office
Local authorities are increasingly establishing new forms of service delivery to respond to budget pressures, increase efficiency and provide value for money with ever diminishing resources. Democratic Services Officers are being asked to support these new bodies, many of which operate at arms length to the Council and outside of the more traditional governance processes. Different relationships, partnerships, responsibilities and lines of accountability are being formed. This requires new skills and knowledge on the part of DSOs – the same as the company secretarial role in the corporate sector. This has extended our role. We should see this as an opportunity. ADSO is responding to this and will be running a new course early in September covering the areas set out below. Please await further details including location and cost.
* the types of new service delivery models currently operating
* the legal framework relating to these bodies
* their relationship with the local authority including accountability, reporting lines, conflicts of interest and the role and status of those that serve as Directors on those bodies (i.e. independents, councillors and senior management of the company) serving on those bodies
* the role of DSOs as Company Secretaries or company secretarial support and the new skills and knowledge required.
We are delighted to say that we now have regional representatives for the West Midlands. They are:
Jess Bayley (Bromsgrove & Redditch Borough Councils), Amanda Scarce (Bromsgrove & Redditch Borough Councils) and Sheena Jones (Worcestershire County Council)
Our thanks to all three for stepping forward and taking on the role. We look forward to working with them to re-energise the region. They will be arranging a regional meeting before the summer break.
John Lynch
Finance Director