Personal Safety for Elected Members

A half-day workshop

This is an essential programme for all Council Members, particularly those who are newly elected, who need to review their personal safety and lone working arrangements. By the end of the session they will be able to:

  • Identify potential risk areas in the role
  • Carry out formal and informal risk assessments
  • Work within their Council’s policy on lone working
  • Minimise risks through the use of specific approaches
  • Avoid accelerating a situation
  • Report concerns and issues

Who should attend?

The course has been specifically written for Councillors whose work brings them into contact with the public, often on controversial issues.

Format

This is a grounded and sensible session (usually run for around 2.5 hours in the early evening) which places risk in context. The programme is built around the Council’s own safety processes and risk assessment formats. A detailed guidebook is provided which details specific personal safety tips which are related to the Councillor’s role.

Expert trainer

Miranda has more than twenty years’ experience as an independent learning and development consultant and trainer. Much of her work is focused on the VCSE sector.

She started her career working within the Management Development Unit of the Printing and Publishing Industry Training Board, moving on to a role in the Probation Office’s learning and development team before leaping across into financial services, where she was responsible for the Learning and Development of a major high street lender.

In 1992 she started her own learning and development consultancy. Working with a range of clients – including many of the locally based councils around Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire – Miranda’s expertise is in helping organisations to identify learning gaps, and to develop tailored, creative and relevant strategies for meeting these needs with a view to helping organisations to meet their objectives.

In addition to her professional role, Miranda is also very involved in local community development activities.  She is Chair of a local homelessness charity and has been instrumental in developing and facilitating community leadership programmes in both Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

See what programme participants say about Miranda’s training:

‘Superb. Clear, warm, engaging – and very well informed.’

‘Engaging and pitched very appropriately for the audience today.’

‘Great.’

‘Lively, focused, keeps it interesting.’

‘Very funny and enthusiastic.’

‘Excellent presentation style.’

‘Super.’

‘Excellent.’

‘FAB!’

‘A lot of fun.’

‘Miranda is very engaging, warm and welcoming, great trainer.’

‘She is absolutely lovely!’

‘Very bubbly manner and clearly deeply knowledgeable about her subject.’

‘Very personable and engaging.’

1 What’s happening?

  • Issues around us
  • Risks in context

2 Safety fundamentals

  • Identifying and minimising risks
  • Sensible precautions
  • Use of technology and personal safety
  • Lone working and the Council’s policy

3 Harassment and stalking

  • What constitutes harassment and definition of stalking
  • Early warning signals

4 Reporting principles

  • Importance of incidence reporting
  • Council procedure
  • What next?

Any questions? Please just give us a call on 01582 463463 – we’re here to help!