ADSO Webinar – The impact of abuse and intimidation of councillors

Abuse and intimidation of councillors is an increasing concern in local government and emerging evidence indicates that this is happening all too often and beginning to influence local democracy. Debating and disagreeing with one another has always been, and will continue to be, a healthy part of democracy, but abuse and intimidation only serves to silence democratic voices and deter people from engaging with politics.

To better understand the issue of abuse and intimidation of councillors by the public, the Local Government Association (LGA) launched a call for evidence in October 2021. The LGA has now published a report of the findings of that call for evidence and proposed recommendations to begin addressing these issues and improving the support available to councillors. You can access the full report through the following link:

https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/debate-not-hate-impact-abuse-local-democracy#detailed-examination-of-the-responses-to-the-call-to-evidence

Our speaker is Jess Norman, Senior Policy Adviser at the Local Government Association who will present the findings and recommendations in the report and answer questions from attendees.  The webinar presents an opportunity for attendees to hear about the real experiences of councillors and the impacts of abuse and intimidation on councillors and local democracy.

Attendees will also hear about good practice the LGA has identified under the Civility in public life programme and have the opportunity to ask questions and make comments about good practice they are aware of in their areas, thereby sharing good practice.

The webinar will be particularly suited to Democratic Services Officers who support councillors with issues of abuse and intimidation.

To book, click on the following link:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2391862625035580940

Please note that you will need to be able to login in to GoTo webinar in order to access the webinars.  If you are logging in from your workplace, you will need to ensure that GoTo has not been blocked by your organisation.  Otherwise, you can log on from your mobile.