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 

Michael Robson
Michael has recently taken up a senior governance role in the North of Tyne Combined Authority, previously working in the Democratic Services Team at North Tyneside Council for over 30 years. During this time Michael has supported a wide variety of democratic functions, including regulatory and scrutiny committees, the health & wellbeing board and school admission appeals. Since electing its first Mayor in 2002, North Tyneside has experienced significant periods of political turbulence, particularly when the Council and its overview and scrutiny committees were controlled by the opposing group to the Elected Mayor.   Michael serves on the ADSO Board as a representative for combined and themed authorities. As well as a trainer, Michael is also a qualified A1 Assessor working with learners undertaking the Certificate in Democratic Services.

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 – Tuesday 18th March 2025, 1.30pm-4.30pm
Workshop Two – Tuesday 25th March 2025, 9.30am-12.30pm

Delegates are required to attend both workshops.  Please note that you only need to book on 18th 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 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.  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.