Agenda item

To provide the committee with an update

a)    The Committee notes the progress with Member Development and Engagement events since the last report.

b)      That if Members have any suggestions for future Member Development and Engagement they are invited to contact the Democratic Services Manager to discuss them.

                        This was a progress report presented by the Democratic Services Manager which provided information on Member Development and Engagement events held since the last report to Committee on the 17^th October 2018.   He referred Members to 1.02 of the report which outlined the workshops and briefing sessions held since October.  There were a variety of topics covered with some workshops having better attendance than others and unfortunately two of the three Welsh language sessions had to be cancelled as there were insufficient Members attending to justify three sessions.  The Understanding Performance Reporting Workshop had been re-scheduled to 29^th April next at 10.00 am.

            Councillor Bithell was disappointed with the response from Members to the Welsh Language Sessions as this was a national initiative to achieve one million Welsh speakers.  He commented it was an excellent presentation for the seven Members who attended but said it did not reflect well on the Council.

            The Democratic Services Manager commented 63 out of the 70 Members completed the Welsh Language Questionnaire last autumn which was higher that most authorities

            Councillor Healey asked for information on the process for suggesting future workshops to which the Democratic Services Manager said any Member could suggest a workshop and that it would be considered.  Councillor Healey then referred to the Welsh Formula for funding which breaks down into 70 indicators saying there was a need for discussions to develop a strategy on this.  In response the Democratic Services Manager agreed to refer this to the cross party working group for local government finance which had its first meeting later in the month.  He could foresee workshops in future coming from this working group.  

            Councillor Peers referred to a Group Leader’s meeting where the poor attendance at workshops was discussed.  He suggested it would be beneficial if Members understood why the workshop was being held, who had requested it and the aim and benefit of holding it.  Workshops came from budget meetings or Committee meetings and it would be beneficial for Members to have this information.  As regards the Welsh Language sessions he felt that would be personal choice with Members deciding if it would assist them with their Councillor role.  If Members understood what was required of them as Councillors and their obligations to Welsh Government (WG) under the Welsh Language Act maybe more would have attended.

            In response the Chief Officer said that the Council’s obligations were set out in the Council’s policy and he hoped Member would support the Council to understand the issues around the language and the impacts even if they did not wish to learn the language as policy makers.    Councillor Peers added this reinforced his earlier comment that more information needed to be provided to Members on the purpose of the Workshop.  Councillor Bithell said the sessions were not Welsh Language sessions but the purpose was to give Members a better understanding of the obligations and requirements the Council had in relation to the Welsh Language Act and the Council could incur penalties if the standards were not met. 

            The Democratic Services Manager said WG had funded the courses across Wales with a common agenda for Welsh Language Awareness.  He then referred to Councillor Peers’ comments on the workshops and said when requests from officers were received he would always look to see if a briefing note would suffice.  He understood the time constraints on Members’ time and did try to keep them to a minimum.

RESOLVED:

a)    The Committee notes the progress with Member Development and Engagement events since the last report.

b)      That if Members have any suggestions for future Member Development and Engagement they are invited to contact the Democratic Services Manager to discuss them.