Agenda, decisions and minutes

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

Purpose: To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting held on 5 October 2016.

That the minutes be received, approved and signed by the Chairman as a

correct record.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 5 October 2016,

were submitted.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be received, approved and signed by the Chairman as a

correct record.

That the principles of the proposed 2017 Member Induction Programme be approved.

The Democratic Services Manager introduced a report to outline the approach being taken to develop the 2017 Member Induction Programme.  The intention was to offer wider access but reduce the number and length of formal sessions, with greater use being made of E-learning.  He distributed a working draft of the Member Induction Programme for use following the May 2017 elections and explained that, where possible, each of the events would be held on morning, afternoon and evening sessions.

The Democratic Services Manager continued that the sessions had been categorised into those which were ‘general’, to provide briefing/knowledge development and useful information, and those that were ‘specific’ which provided training to ensure that those Members involved were provided with knowledge essential to them to carry out a particular role. 

Councillor Clive Carver raised a concern that some of the topics were too “big” to be addressed in a single session.  The Democratic Services Manager explained that as the attendance at induction training sessions was as yet unknown, delivery of the Programme would be flexible to accommodate need.

In response to a request from Councillor Chris Bithell the Democratic Services Manager confirmed that the training sessions would be open to all Members.  He said that the support, experience and expertise provided by any existing Members who may attend would be welcomed.  

Councillor Carver commented on the need for new Members to have familiarisation and training on the use of I pads as early as possible.  He also said there was a need for new Members to be provided with contact details for Officers or to be informed where those details were held electronically.    In response to the further comments made by Councillor Carver the Chief Executive acknowledged that there may have been some delay in information being updated following recent changes in staffing arrangements.  He referred to the A-Z of services which was published and agreed that an updated list of Chief Officer and Officer contact details would be provided.  He asked that if any Member experienced a problem in contacting or receiving a response from Officers or staff that they inform either his office or the respective Chief Officer.

Councillor Ian Dunbar commented on the use of external trainers and the resource implications.  Officers advised that in-house training was used to provide the majority of training sessions and external trainers were engaged only when specific skills and ‘broader’ more ‘in depth’ expertise was required.

In response to the further comments and questions raised by Members the Chief Executive outlined the role he and the Elections team played in providing guidance to potential candidates.

In response to a question from Councillor Neville Phillips the Chief Officer (Governance) explained that Members were not allowed to use Council resources for election campaigning business.  In answer to the further questions raised by Members the Chief Officer advised that the Notice of Election would be  published on 17 March 2017. 

The Chairman thanked the Committee for the positive points made and it was agreed that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

There were no members of the press or public in attendance.