Issue - meetings

(a)      That a ‘training needs analysis’ was undertaken of all Members by the Democratic Service Manager to better inform future development programmes.

(b)      That if Members had any suggestions for future development, they were invited to contact the Democratic Services Manager to discuss them.

(c)       That a draft training and development plan was brought back to the Committee meeting in September.

            In presenting the report the Democratic Services Manager referred to the successful Member Induction Programme which was delivered following the last Election. It was proposed to deliver a more targeted, thematic programme which would benefit Members. The WLGA were reviewing their framework which was hoped to be re-introduced within the next 12 months. Appendix 1 of the report outlined the topics which were discussed in the induction sessions and it was planned to re-visit some of the sessions to refresh and update where any changes had been made. He referred Members to point 1.05 of the report which highlighted some of the generic topics which could be included in the programme and outlined the five key areas, skills based, organisational knowledge, ethics, service or topic based and regulatory or technical sessions. The Democratic Services Manager sought Members views on what topics they thought would be beneficial and included on the training programme.

            Councillor Roz Mansell asked how much the training sessions cost. It was confirmed the sessions would be delivered by specific officers with free sessions provided Data Cymru on data management and carbon literacy training. The sessions would be free with any small cost to the Council. Most of the sessions would be delivered in house.

            Councillor Gina Maddison referred to the lone working policy and asked if this would be included in the Safeguarding training or did the Council have a lone work policy which could be shared with Councillors. The Democratic Services Manager confirmed the WLGA were focussing on sessions for this within their Framework. The Council did have a Lone Working Policy for different areas of work and he agreed to take this back as an Action. Health & Safety and Safeguarding for Members was part of the schedule and development process for the coming 12 months and beyond.

            Councillor Bernie Attridge sought clarification that it was this Committee which identified items for the Members Training Programme and asked if any training sessions agreed would be presented to full council for adoption. He asked how other Members put forward suggestions for their training needs if they were not on this Committee and commented that the Standards Committee had requested more guidance around social media. He felt it was important that the guidance was given as soon as possible as social media was a useful tool to use with the correct guidance.

            The Democratic Services Manager reported that the guidance from Welsh Government (WG) under the Local Government Elections Act stated that the Constitution and Democratic Services Committee was responsible for the training programme for Members. The Act also stipulated that Members had Individual Development Plans with regular reviews of their training schedule and needs to ensure Members were equipped with the right skills.

            The Chief Officer (Governance) agreed with the comments made around the Training Programme. Previously discussions had been held at the start of committee meetings to enable Members to suggest ideas for training on specific themes which would be beneficial to them. This could be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6