In an effort to make “Learning” more focused on the specific needs of our membership, we are currently reviewing our course offerings and in July will be launching a completely new programme for the next 12 months. The new programme will offer a wider range of course, at more locations, and with more detail provided on each, to help you judge better who to nominate for the course, and the likely benefits to be achieved from it. In addition the Learning portfolio will be expanding to cover workshops, to encourage and facilitate sharing of knowledge and experience amongst participating local authorities, and a wider range of e-learning packages in support of the Socitm Continuous Professional Development scheme.

In response to feedback, our programmes will be issued further in advance, and once published, the courses advertised will not be cancelled except in the very extreme case that no-one subscribes (which virtually never happens). All our new courses will be supported by high quality notes and support material — for use as a reference after the course, and to support the value offered by the course. As previously, in addition to the scheduled public courses, we will be offering on-site courses, tailored to local needs, and in most cases, these offer better value for money for councils where there is a training demand for several staff.

Watch out for the new schedule — it will be published on the Socitm website, as well as being sent out to members and to key relevant staff in their councils.