ADSO Conference and Launch
The newly formed Association of Democratic Services Officers held their first national conference in Birmingham in October. Hosted by Birmingham City Council, the event attracted speakers, delegates, sponsors and exhibitors from across the UK.
The council chamber was packed with 200 delegates representing 118 Authorities. In addition, Public-i videod proceedings for the live webcasts, and to record the conference content for download via the ASDO website.
The conference was opened by the Interim Chair of the ASDO, John Austin (Assistant Director of Corporate Governance, London Borough of Enfield), who also welcomed Margaret Yates (Head of Democratic Services at Birmingham City Council), and the Mayor of Birmingham Councillor Michael Wilkes, onto the platform.
Following the welcome speeches, the association was officially launched, along with the new qualifications available through the ADSO.
The keynote speech was on ‘Promoting Local Democracy’ delivered by Dame Jane Roberts, who among her many posts was Chair of the Councillors Commission, Leader of Camden Council, previously Medical Director and now Director of Quality and Performance at NHS Islington. She is also a Trustee of the Institute of Public Policy Research, Director of the New Local Government Network, Chair of the charity Parenting UK, a Non-Executive board member of Ofsted, a member of the LGA Health Commission Advisory Board.
After the main sessions of the morning, delegates divided into 4 workshop sessions covering:
‘New Executive Arrangements’
‘Councillor Call For Action’
‘Good practice in Member and Officer Development’
‘Structure and Operation of the Qualification & and New Association’ (of the ADSO)
The afternoon started with a session on the proposed regional structure of the ASDO, and concluded with a question and answer session on the future development of the association.
This inaugural event also managed to pull in a good number of sponsors and exhibitors, with 15 in total displaying their products and services: Public-i, Astech, Cognite, Datum, Fecund, James Button & Co, Municipal Journal, Opportunities, Polar Audio, Sound Advice, AVM, Weblabs & IDeA.