Agenda item

To consider a report by the Democratic Services Manager (copy attached) to seek the Committee’s views on the contents and direction of the training and development Programme.

The Democratic Services Manager (DSM) introduced a report on member training and development (previously circulated) which sought the views of the Committee on the content and direction of the training and development programme.

The DSO reminded the Committee that in September 2018 the Council had agreed its mandatory training requirements for members which were:

·         Code of Conduct - once a term, and all members had attended this training.

·         Planning – two training events each year (for Planning Committee Members)

·         Licensing - two training events each year (for Licensing Committee Members)

·         Data Protection and GDPR – annual training

·         Local Government Finance - once a term

·         Safeguarding - once a term.

·         Corporate Parenting – once a term.

The DSM advised that annual training for councillors on data protection and GDPR issues was more than was required for the Council’s officers. He reported that the Council’s data protection officers thought this frequency of training for members was not required and sustaining annual training for all members would divert their resources.

The Committee agreed that data protection training should remain as mandatory training but should be required once a Council term, rather than annually.

Members also made the following points regarding training:

·         Offering new councillors half day sessions with each department would help them learn about the Council’s services and their role in shaping and supporting them.

·         Training on prioritising workloads had been offered previously and could be a useful and popular addition to the training programme.

·         Training for new members on the Council’s standing orders and familiarity of taking part in webcast meetings would be welcomed. The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services (HLHRDS) confirmed that all members had been invited to a training session last December aimed at being effective in their roles, and this had included Council processes and standing orders.

The Committee agreed that more training for members on their ICT equipment was required, particularly for new members. Councillor Timms had found that iPads were not appropriate devices for undertaking the range of duties expected of councillors and training on using iPads to organise information and records would have been welcomed.

The HLHRDS informed the Committee of the process used to choose the ICT equipment for the new Council after the 2017 elections. He advised that shortly before the elections, a group of members had trialled a range of devices. The Council had previously used iPads and existing members’ familiarity proved to be part of their appeal. In addition though, the trial group had found that the iPads’ 4G mobile connectivity and longer battery life (than the other trial devices) led them to recommend iPads for the new Council term.

The DSM referred to the Council’s statutory obligation to offer members a Personal Development Review. The Reviews were a way for a member and the Council to mutually assess a member’s personal development needs. The review would be set within the context of the role of the member, their aspirations for what they hoped to achieve, the purpose and aspirations of the Authority and the needs of the community. They were not performance appraisals.

The DSM reported that members had last year been invited to take part in a Review but there had been little interest at that time and information would be re-issued for this year.

RESOLVED – that the Democratic Services Committee:

(i)        Recommends to Council that the mandatory Data Protection and GDPR training be required once a Council term instead of once a year; and

(ii)       That information on Personal Development Reviews be circulated to the political groups.