Agenda item

Members are asked to consider the report

M Anderson advised that members didn’t achieve their training target for 2014/15 however that was expected in the final year of their term and she felt positive that we would achieve this year’s target. She said we kept within the £8k training budget for 14/15 and made some significant savings. This year the budget has increased to £11k to incorporate the cost of PDP’s and essential training for new and existing members. She explained that we were still part of the Herts Member Development Network group and the next meeting was scheduled for 22 October which DBC were hosting. She invited the Chairman to the meeting, which he accepted but advised he may be late.

Councillor Adshead asked how much of a saving was made from the £8k budget. M Anderson said she didn’t have the figures to hand but she would let him know.

Councillor Taylor explained that at a recent Conservative group meeting he was asking members to let him and Councillor Harden know of any problems with the iPads so they can feed them back to Gary Osler in the I.T. department and he can provide them with further training. Councillor Taylor highlighted that the support he had received from Member Support, in particular Catriona and Trudi, had been exceptional.

Councillor Hicks said the problems seemed to be with Good rather than the iPad.

Councillor Adshead agreed with Councillor Hicks as he couldn’t access Good Share and added that there were limits to the iPads and he finds the software frustrating.

M Anderson said the introduction of iPads had been discussed for several years and it was a huge step to take. She said members were doing really well and although there are a few people that aren’t keen most are embracing it. She advised that Member Support had booked a two hour slot every Tuesday morning from 10am-12pm for members to come in the office and ask any questions they may have and receive additional support. She encouraged members to share their knowledge with each other if they’re confident in using the iPad.

Councillor Hicks said if all the software was up and running properly in the first instance then less people would have had issues.

M Anderson advised that we were all still learning and we will continue to have teething problems but once we know about each issue we can resolve it.

Councillor Conway said she loved her iPad apart from not being able to see when capital letters are on or off.

Councillor P Hearn said she found spreadsheets difficult to read on the iPad. M Anderson advised that was something they were looking at before the budget time approaches.

Councillor Taylor said he finds life easier with the iPad and too much paper was wasted in the printing of each agenda.

Councillor Adshead asked if they could have meeting dates entered in to their Good calendar. M Anderson said that was part of the next stage they were looking in to.

Councillor Hicks asked if he was able to change the colours of his calendar entries. M Anderson said she would have to investigate and come back to him.

Councillor Hicks asked if he was able to search for a particular word within a document. M Anderson said she would come back to him on that matter.

Members were advised not to accept the software updates on the iPads.

Actions:

• Member support to advise the amount of underspend for last year’s training budget.
• Members to advise Councillors Taylor and Harden of any issues with their iPads so they can feedback to I.T.
• Member support to investigate if it is possible to change the colour of calendar entries.
• Member support to investigate if it is possible to search for a word within a document on the iPad.