Minutes:
M Anderson advised that we hadn’t received the report yet for the follow-up sessions so we didn’t have an accurate update. She said we had booked two dates for the PDP’s to be carried out but one of those dates had to be cancelled due to lack of bookings. T Angel explained that as of last week, 9 members had either had their follow-up appointment or an appointment had been arranged for a telephone call. She said the other 6 members hadn’t replied to arrange an appointment.
The Chairman said he had also spoken to the provider and he was hopeful to have completed all 15 sessions by tomorrow. He said he was passionate about training and continuing to improve skills and he was very disappointed in the lack of interest.
Councillor Hicks said he worked part-time so he was able to attend most training sessions but felt that those who worked full time could really struggle to find the time. He did suggest that members could have completed a telephone interview so there wasn’t really an excuse.
Councillor Douris said he found it disappointing that the PDP’s hadn’t been successful. He also agreed with Councillor Hicks and felt you really don’t know what’s involved in being a councillor until you become one.
Councillor Hicks referred to previous discussions about having refreshments at training sessions. He suggested that it could encourage members to attend if they worked full-time, were rushing around and they’re probably hungry/thirsty and want to go home but if they knew they could come along to the sessions and have refreshments they may feel more tempted.
Councillor Howard said she didn’t complete a follow-up appointment and felt that she didn’t get much out of the PDP like she had hoped.
Councillor Douris advised that in the run up to the HCC Elections, potential candidates are invited to group meetings. He added that the PDP process at HCC had not been overly successful.
Councillor Hicks said he underestimated the amount of work involved for a councillor and didn’t feel that we could prepare someone in advance for the amount of work they would be taking on.
M Anderson advised that we could consider having tea/coffee and biscuits at training sessions but it would have to come out of the member development budget. She said we used to provide refreshments years ago but the budget was taken away. She explained she would need to investigate the logistics of it due to the move to The Forum.
M Anderson explained that we tried to get members to do a report on the ‘How to Become a Councillor’ webpage so that they could explain in their own words exactly what was involved in being a councillor but we struggled to get volunteers.
The Chairman suggested that he and Councillor Douris could write something for the webpage. Councillor Douris agreed.
M Anderson said there were discussions prior to the 2015 Borough Election about Jim Doyle carrying out briefings for potential candidates but it was deemed inappropriate for an officer to be doing it.
The Chairman felt it was a member’s duty to encourage others to become a member and shouldn’t be done by an officer.
Councillor Howard said she would have found it useful to attend several meetings when she was a prospective candidate.
M Anderson suggested that existing councillors may have been put off because of the previous PDP cycle. She highlighted that we have spent approximately £4,300 on this PDP process which worked out at roughly £280 per councillor. She felt this was very expensive considering not all members had completed the whole process.
Councillor Douris suggested having a post-it wall at the post-election inductions for newly-elected members to write down what they would like to know about being a councillor. The officers felt this was a good idea that they would take forward.
Actions:
Ø Councillors Taylor and Douris to write reports for the ‘How to Become a Councillor’ webpage.
Ø Officers would circulate the PDP review report, once received