Agenda item

7.1

The Committee received a report of the Director of Legal and Governance. The report introduced the Governance Committee to a new area of responsibility added to their remit as part of the transition to the committee system: responsibility for member development. The current Member Development Strategy was appended, and the report described the training completed or planned for the remainder of this year, in line with that strategy.

7.2

The Committee was informed that the Audit & Standards Committee always had remit to consider Conduct Training for Members.

7.3

The Director of Legal and Governance explained that page 3 of the report set out the annual programme for Member Development.

7.4

The Member Development Strategy 2021-25, which was at appendix 1, aimed to provide Members with tools and ongoing skills they need to mobilise local communities, grow community capacity, support local innovation and to be able to take important decisions and represent their constituents.

7.5

The Director of Legal and Governance invited the Committee to consider the current strategy and give thought on where the strategy could be improved. Members were also asked to give initial reflections on the training provided so far.

7.6

Members of the Committee discussed Member Development and the key points to note were: - 

7.7

The Director of Legal and Governance explained that training was not strictly decided by Council Officers. The Director of Legal and Governance had regular meetings with the Whips to consider Member Development. Although she suggested essential training to the Whips at times, it was always discussed with Members first. 

7.8

The Director of Legal and Governance explained the difficulty of making training mandatory for Members. She stated that mandatory training could be imposed if Members agreed for it to be. The Committee could also determine whether specific training for Members needed to be mandatory.

7.9

A Member of the Committee stated one purpose of forming a Members Working Group was to improve how Member Training was communicated to Members. It was added that Member Training had always been poorly communicated in the past. The Member added that Members needed to be informed of training details and how it would benefit them.

7.10

A Member of the Committee suggested that Member training be accessible to Members via the Members Portal, if a Member was unable to attend a session. It was added that this had been done on previous occasions. The Member also suggested that Members had a E-Learning account, similar to Officers, which tracked all their learning.

7.11

A Member of the Committee believed that feedback should be collected from Members after training sessions, in order to improve Member Development and future sessions.

7.12

A Member raised concerns as currently, Officers who sat on the Senior Officer Employment Sub-Committee had to be EDI trained. Although, Members who sat on the panel which appointed Senior Officers, did not need to be EDI trained.

7.13

A Member of the Committee mentioned  how it could be more beneficial and engaging for Members, to have training focused on Council policies, which Members were responsible for.

7.14

A Member of the Committee stated it would be useful for Members to understand how many Members were expected to attend training. It was mentioned that this could be done by sharing an expected percentage uptake figure.

7.15

The Director of Legal of Governance asked the Committee if they wanted to gather more information on Member Development as a Committee, or task a working group with it and to report back.

The Assistant Director (Governance) informed the Committee that as part of the re-structure in Democratic Services, an Officer had been employed and tasked with Member Development. The Committee were also informed there was a Member Development Charter provided by South East Employers and that other organisations had opted-in and received Charter status.

7.16

The Committee agreed for the Member Working Group to review Member Development and the issues raised at the meeting, with the Director of Legal and Governance and report back at a later stage.

7.17

RESOLVED: that (1) members considered the existing Member Development Strategy and ongoing member development activity in the current year; and (2) for the Member working group to review Member Development with the Director of Legal and Governance.