Agenda item

Councillor Douris said that the Planning Training (17^th June) was excellent.

Councillor Griffiths asked whether the attendance was better due to it being a virtual session.

KM said that they had not yet received the attendance list from Sara Whelan.

Councillor Douris said that there was a significant number of Town and Parish Councillors in attendance.

Councillor Douris noted that the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Training was taking place the following week (25^th June).

CW said that she was working with IT to get Zoom installed on Councillors’ devices.

Councillor Bhinder suggested training for Members on how to book Microsoft Teams meetings.

Action: KM said that some instructions had been created on how to book Microsoft Teams meetings and that she could send these out to him.

Members were contacted to find out what training they would like to see on the Member Development Programme for the next year and their responses published in the Agenda.

Councillor Douris asked if there were any popular responses from Members.

CW said that requests for IT Training were popular.

Councillor Freedman said that there had been significant changes made to rules and regulations due to Covid-19 and gave the example of Licensing. He suggested training on these changes.

KM said that regular papers were going to Cabinet. She added that they could speak to relevant officers of any changes if necessary and then provide either briefing papers or training sessions as appropriate.

Councillor Freedman said that it was important for Members to keep up-to-date so that they could inform residents.

Councillor Douris added that changes were happening at pace and that there were constant updates.

Councillor Griffiths said that in terms of decision-making, Members should be trained concerning legal ramifications, that they have to be re-trained for changes in law and that these should be covered in legal protocols. She added that she completely understood the importance of Members keeping informed in order to inform residents but said that officers were currently very busy. Councillor Griffiths gave the example of the Housing Teams and said that they were very busy with matters such as social distancing and shielding. She said that it was important to strike a balance.

Councillor Freedman added that changes could be difficult to predict.

Councillor Douris noted that Hertfordshire County Council were distilling each day’s information to County Councillors and suggested using this to disseminate to Members in Dacorum.

KM said that a link to LGA guidance was included weekly in Members News and that this guidance was updated regularly.

Councillor Bhinder added that there was the potential of being overwhelmed with information.

Councillor Douris asked how officers received their updates.

KM said that Corporate & Democratic Support received briefing notes, for example, on how to hold virtual meetings. She said that other teams, such as Licensing, might receive similar briefing notes related to their service.

Councillor Douris suggested directing Councillors to the link to the LGA guidance in Members News. He added that anything specific, for example re-training, could be picked up.

Councillor Freedman agreed and commented that there was no easy option.