Councillors operate in a fragmented, often chaotic and differentiated world with different demands on their time, resources and efforts. They face not only the formal demands of council work in cabinet, scrutiny, various committees and full council, but also a series of demands made by the public and community and by the government. In addition, councillors are ever more interacting with an array of organisations outside the council of which they are a member and which they seek to influence on both an operational and strategic level. Then there is the party and party group and the expectations they have of councillors.
DSOs are the eyes and ears of the councillor and often those to whom councillors turn to for advice, support and assistance and not just for the practical stuff – for emotional support, a shoulder to lean on.
The aim of the webinar is to provide a further insight for DSOs into the demands, expectations and life of the councillor. It will also explore some contemporary issues and how they have affected the councillor such as virtual meetings and continuing demands for more stringent ethical and behavioural standards.
It will explore the following themes of relevance to DSOs:
- The differentiated roles of the councillor
- The expectations councillors face from the council, the public, the media and the government and how they respond
- The levels of support provided and those needed for councillors
- Interacting with external agencies
- The effects of council membership of councillors’ social, private and working lives
- Behaviour and ethics
- Centralization and devolution and the councillor
The webinar will focus on what the DSO needs to know about the life of the councillor and is particularly suitable for; Democratic Services Officers in all types of local authority; Councillors; all officers who work with councillors; and Officers who wish to know a bit more about what it’s like to be a councillor.
Our speaker is Colin Copus, Emeritus Professor of local politics at De Montfort University and a Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent. Colin has worked closely with policy-makers and practitioners in central and local government and is currently the academic advisor to two All Party Parliamentary Groups and a member of the Council of Europe’s group of experts on the Charter of Local Self Government.
Our webinar is sponsored MVI AudioVisual https://www.mvi-audiovisual.com/Connect/ who provide standard software for automatic camera control, name displaying and voting automation in council chambers. MVI’s products are widely used around Europe, including the UK.
To book, click on the following link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2429717711376338192
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