ADSO is hosting the interactive, virtual course ‘Working in a Political Environment’.  This will be delivered as two, virtual 3-hour workshops.  Delegates will be required to attend both of the virtual workshops.

Audience

This course is aimed at Democratic Services Officers who wish to work more effectively with elected members. The target audience will be those who are relatively new to democratic service teams and those with a few years’ experience.

The content is also linked to Module 6, Members and Officers in Local Government,  of the ADSO Certificate so it will help learners with their research for this module.

How the course will be delivered

The course will be delivered virtually, to maximise the delegates learning experience the course has been broken into two virtual workshops.

The workshops will seek to:

• Explore and better understand the differences between the roles and responsibilities of elected members and officers.
• Examine the legal, constitutional and procedural framework regulating the conduct of members and officers.
• Enhance your understanding of the political environment around you.
• Develop your knowledge and skills of how to operate effectively in a political environment.

The workshops are designed to be interactive and include a lot of smaller group working and case studies. Participants are encouraged to take an active part in the course and to learn from the experiences of other delegates from across the country

Trainers 

Gennie Holmes
Gennie has worked in Local Government since 1996 and in democratic services since 2011. She works as a Scrutiny Co-ordinator at Coventry City Council. She co-ordinates the West Midlands Scrutiny Officer network and co-chairs the County and Unitary Scrutiny network. As well as scrutiny she manages the delivery of the Members Training Strategy and runs the in-house ‘Good Governance’ training for officers and external partners. Gennie completed the ADSO Diploma in 2019.

Karen Widdowson
Karen 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.

Dates and times

Workshop One – 10th March 2026, 9.30am-12.30pm
Workshop Two – 17th March 2026, 1.30pm-4.30pm

Delegates are required to attend both workshops.  Please note that you only need to book on 10th March 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
• ADSO Certificate in Democratic Services Knowledge Learner – Free

How to book a place

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

Booking requirements

• A purchase order number is required for all bookings made out to ADSO (please see note above).  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.