ADSO is hosting the highly popular course ‘Just a Minute’ which will be delivered as two, virtual three-hour workshops.   Delegates will be required to attend both.  

Audience

This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who are required to take minutes of meetings.   The target audience will be those who are relatively new to democratic service teams and those with a few years’ experience.

How the course will be delivered

To maximise the delegates learning experience the course has been broken into two virtual workshops.

The workshops will include plenary presentations, case studies and smaller group working, enabling delegates to learn with delegates from across the country.

This workshop aims to provide you with the skills and knowledge to write a local government minute, including:

• An understanding of the law relating to local government minutes
• Tips and good practice for local government minute writing
• An awareness of the different minutes styles used for different types of meetings
• The opportunity to apply your knowledge in practical exercises and case studies with colleagues from other local authorities.

You will need to bring pen and paper, or laptop, or your own preferred minute writing medium!

Trainers 

Lennox Beattie is an experienced Democratic Services practitioner having been the Executive and Regulatory Manager at Blackpool Council for the past 14 years. He has been responsible for support to the Executive and its governance for that period.  Lennox is also involved in ADSO work through the qualifications, which includes both the certificate and diploma.

Karen Widdowson is currently Democratic Services Manager and Deputy Monitoring Officer at Charnwood Borough Council. She is an experienced Democratic Services practitioner having worked in the profession for 20+ years across all key areas of Democratic Services including meetings and civic support, member development, scrutiny, citizenship and elections.  Karen has worked for several types of local authority which has built up extensive knowledge and experience about local government decision making and different political arrangements.  Karen is also an ADSO qualifications assessor and trainer, and an Independent Person for Sheffield and Barnsley Councils.

Date and time

Workshop One: Thursday 7^th November 2024, 9.30am-12.30pm
Workshop Two: Thursday 14^th November 2024. 9.30am-12.30pm

Delegates are required to attend both workshops.  Please note that you only need to book on 7th November course date to be able to attend both workshops.

Cost

• ADSO Member rate – £110 + VAT per person to attend the course
• Non-ADSO Member rate – £160 + VAT per person to attend the course

How to book a place 

To book a place please use the online booking form via the link below.  Terms and conditions for booking can be found here.

Booking requirements

• A purchase order number is required for all bookings made out to ADSO.  Courses cannot be attended if a purchase order is not received.
• A hardcopy of the purchase order is required.
• Please provide us with your ADSO Membership number (if applicable)
• A few days after booking you will receive a calendar invite for the workshop(s).  Please note that your email address will be visible to all participants unless you advise us otherwise.

Please send the above information to adsotraining@emcouncils.gov.uk.