Welcome to June's Newsletter, for officers who support Elected Members.

Please let us know what you think of this Newsletter, feedback is always very welcome !

Improvements in the East

The East of England region is currently developing its Modern Councillor website to make it more versatile and engaging for its members. 

As well as being able to access the 12 Modern Councillor e-learning courses, the updated site will become a central point for member development activity from around the region. Members will be able to access information on tips such as Councillor role descriptions, Member inductions, involvement in the Member charter and other information about member development activity in the region

The idea was raised at a recent Member Development Network meeting and it has the aim to create an area of best practice in the region and provide a one-stop-shop for its Members.  Daniel Thorp, Policy Officer, Improvement East is developing the site along with Aine Bradley, Customer Services Manager, Modern Councillor.
If you’d like to develop your own site in a similar way please contact Aine .

Daniel says “In the East of England we are trying to do as much as possible to make our Member development accessible, co-ordinated and useful. This idea, which came as a result of a discussion at a recent network meeting, enables us to enhance the Modern Councillor tool so Members can get more out of it.”

Updated Code of Conduct Training

We have recently updated the Code of Conduct Training course.

This module provides an introduction to the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Elected Members and it explains what councillors need to do to comply with the Code.  It covers the need to register interests, the difference between personal and prejudicial interests and what action you need to take when one becomes apparent.  

The course also identifies the consequences for Councillors and their authorities in breaching the Code.  For more details on the course and to download a course synopsis leaflet click here.

Modern Councillor courses

There are now 12 courses in the Modern Councillor suite ranging from topics such as Code of Conduct and Public Speaking to Risk Management and Equality and Diversity.  

The courses are short and engaging, typically lasting just 30 minutes, and have been designed to fit in with busy work schedules.  They are permanently available and allow Members to learn at their own pace, in their own time and in privacy.  We also have individual course synopsis leaflets which you can download too.

Learners will get the most of the e-learning if the course is appended in some way to another type of learning, for example a classroom based course, as part of a blended programme.  Find out more about how to create a blended learning programme with Modern Councillor e-learning.

Member Development Officer's Packs

To help spread the word and encourage usage of Modern Councillor, we've put together support packs for Member Development Officers.

These include posters for display, course leaflets, pens and memory sticks. For more information on these, or if you would like to receive support packs please contact Emma

We've changed

You may have noticed that we've got a brand new Customer Support telephone number.  You can now reach us on 0845 174 1101 between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 5.30pm at weekends and including Bank Holidays.

Calls to this number are charged at a local rate dependant on your telephone provider and are NOT premium rate.  Calls from mobiles will vary and be charged at your service provider's rate.

If you prefer, you can always email our Customer Support team at support@learningpool.com

Check out...

We found this website interesting and thought you might too. It gives clips of Parliamentary debates and lots of links to other political websites. Check out Tom Loosemore's Blog on www.tomski.com.

To promote Modern Councillor to your elected Members and keep the service noticed why not include this advert and link on your own council’s website?  For help in how to do this please call Aine on 0207 101 9383 or email her at aine@learningpool.com.