Change is a fact of life in local government. New political administrations continue to sweep in and set out their stall for their term. Political change, whether majority, minority or no overall control, offers opportunities to engage afresh with politicians.

Newly-returned, they are likely to be reinvigorated and needing information about current legislative and policy changes affecting public sector plc, short and long-term challenges and big ticket projects.

Councillor induction and training can be a steep learning curve both for new arrivals and returning councillors. It’s a lot of work and some pressure for staff, too.

We swapped ‘death by PowerPoint’ for play-based induction around the property-trading board game of Monopoly.