Hello from a very wet North West.
We had the ADSO Board meeting on Friday 7th and I was delighted to welcome four new members as follows:
Susan Biddle – Director of Training
Debbie Janes – Eastern co-representative (maternity cover for Joanna Boaler)
Leanna McPherson – London representative
Pete Savage – Board Secretary
Debbie will be joined in the Eastern Region by Emma Tombs on a job-sharing basis.
Whilst I am on the subject of regional representatives, there is still a vacancy in the West Midlands. It is really important that we fill this as quickly as possible but nobody has come forward. Please don’t leave it to others. Think hard about whether you could step forward and support ADSO and your colleagues in the region. As with the Eastern Region above, we are very happy if two or even three people share the role. Get in touch please if you want a chat.
The ADSO qualifications are proving to be very popular (which is great news) and we are in urgent need of more assessors to support our new learners. If you are interested and think you have the right credentials please contact Sue Crossland at South West Councils – e mail sue.crosland@swcouncils.gov.uk
Likewise, if you are a current assessor and feel you can support more learners, please contact Sue.
I have mentioned previously that ADSO is jointly leading on the IIMC Region IX Symposium scheduled for 6 & 7 June in Stratford upon Avon. This follows two successful events in Brussels to which a number of ADSO members attended. Feedback was excellent. I am pleased to say that the Board has continued it’s policy of re-investing funds back into the development of our members. We have agreed to sponsor up to 20 members at £250 each to attend the symposium. This will cover the delegate cost. Attendees will cover their own accommodation and travel. This is a great opportunity for you to attend a truly international event. Further details, including the application process for this sponsorship, will be published early in the new year. The programme for the event will be available then too.
The dust has settled on the 2018 conference and it proved to be a very successful event. Thanks to all who supported it and sent their evaluations back. The Board reviewed the feedback, and the comments received will be taken into account when planning next year’s event. We have agreed that the 2019 event will take place in Bristol. We think it’s only fair that we move to a different part of the country as we have had the majority of our conferences in the midlands/north. The venue we are considering will satisfy number of the comments received in the feedback, including good transport links and having enough rooms to accommodate all delegates on-site. Further details will be given in due course.
Last week i spoke to Steve Garratt from Modern Gov who told me they have been acquired by Civica UK Limited. As our main sponsor Steven confirmed that there would be no change to the business and this move was a positive one for the entire ERS group. We are pleased for Modern Gov and look forward to continue working with them.
Finally, ADSO has been approached by Samuel White who is a third year politics student at Reading University. He is currently writing his dissertation on Local Government scrutiny. He has prepared a survey which examines Local Government scrutiny and assesses how scrutiny is viewed by Local Councillors. The link to the survey is provided below. He has had some issues with the distribution of his survey (firewalls etc) and I have agreed that ADSO would help as much as we can.
Could you please forward this survey to the relevant Councillors in your Authority. A good return rate will enable Samuel to carry out effective analysis and establish well evidenced conclusions which may help understand the strengths and weaknesses of Local Government Scrutiny and serve to improve scrutiny in the future.
I have asked him to share the findings with us and we can make them available to all who respond.
Survey link – https://www.esurveycreator.co.uk/s/lgscrutiny
Have a good week