One of the first things any councillor should do to engage online with residents is to get a website of some sort. This will help people to find you, know what you are up to and to get in touch. One of the simplest, quickest, cheapest and most useful ways to set up a simple website is [...]

One of our new modules in the Modern Councillor catalogue is on the topic of the Localism Bill , which undertook to change the law to shift power away from central government and towards local people. The bill is still going through Parliament, but it will be an important piece of legislation, especially for local authorities and the [...]

David Wilcox has been doing a great job  documenting the discussions around the Big Society agenda, which according to the website, is

an organisation being set up by frustrated citizens for frustrated citizens, to help everyone achieve change in their local area. Our aim is to create a new relationship between Citizens and Government in which both are genuine partners [...]

The Improvement Service, which – according to its website – supports “Scottish Local Government and its partners to deliver better outcomes for communities”, has produced a guide for councillors on how to use blogs as tools for communications and engagement. It says:

Elected Members can put their own thoughts in writing and take it to the [...]

Wigan Council has recently begun offering Modern Councillor to its Councillors. Read what Councillor Ged Bretherton thinks of the e-learning service from Learning Pool. Where did you hear about Modern Councillor? I first heard about Modern Councillor through an awareness session set up by MDO’s here at Wigan Council. At the session I received the web address, log in [...]

Peterborough City Council has recently begun offering Modern Councillor to its Councillors. Read what Peterborough Councillor Stephen Goldspink thinks of the e-learning service from Learning Pool. Where did you hear about Modern Councillor? I attended a democratic service meeting at my council and Learning Pool’s services were mentioned during the event. Afterwards, I logged onto the Modern Councillor website, and started [...]

Ipswich Borough Council has recently begun offering Modern Councillor to its Councillors. Read what Ipswich councillor George Debman thinks of the e-learning service from Learning Pool. Where did you hear about Modern Councillor? I heard about Modern Councillor from a fellow councillor here at Ipswich who found the training to be an excellent way of getting around the time constraint [...]

Thurrock Borough Council has recently begun offering Modern Councillor to its Councillors. Read what Thurrock’s Councillor Danny Nicklen thinks of the e-learning service from Learning Pool. Where did you hear about Modern Councillor? I heard about Modern Councillor from an internal memo which was sent through our department. I contacted my Member Development Officer who forwarded my information on how to [...]

Chelmsford Borough Council has recently begun offering Modern Councillor to its Councillors. Read what Member Development Officer Marie Russell thinks of the e-learning service from Learning Pool. Where did you hear about Modern Councillor? I heard about Modern Councillor at a Learning Pool event. I was enquiring about the service for our council when I found out that Building Capacity [...]

A delegation from the Learning Pool team will be heading up to York on Saturday, 12th June 2010 for Yorkshire’s first LocalGovCamp – an informal event run by local government people for local government people. We’ll be showing off the new Modern Councillor website and encouraging as many people to sign up and try it [...]

We’re really excited and pleased with the new website for Modern Councillor – and we’re hoping you’ll love it too! The biggest change, other than the look and feel, is the new community features. Now anyone with an interest in local democracy can sign up and: Create a profile listing your details and interests, so others [...]

Democracy Pays is the title of a great new white paper by Anthony Zacharzewski of the Democratic Society – explaining why councils need to keep up resident engagement efforts, even in times of austerity. Anthony also explains how the internet can play a vital role in making such work efficient and scalable. Here’s the executive summary:

This is [...]